Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe is a Johannesburg based entrepreneur and the executive chairperson of African Fashion International (AFI). A company that owns and hosts Fashion weeks in South Africa. AFI’s mission is to promote and develop South African and African fashion and to bring it into the mainstream. Through partnerships with various companies and government, AFI brings together fashion designers, media, retailers and consumers.
The leading lady is not one to toil with opportunities; she has consciously and tactfully worked out her career path with determination and focus. She started her career in medicine at Wits University and eventually became a medical doctor; she has since then been involved in several health works and organizations. She has also worked in both the public and private health sector as a general practitioner. The progressive rise in her medical career propelled her to relocate to the United States with her family. Upon her return to South Africa she opened one of the first women’s health clinics in Johannesburg.
Few years down the line, Precious left the medical practice to head the Motsepe Foundation, an organization she started in partnership with her dear husband Patrice Motsepe; the former president of Business Unity SA and the Black Business Council. The Motsepe Foundation focuses on Health and Education in the poorer communities in South Africa. Through the Foundation, she continues to focus on a lot of advocacy work around the girl child and Women’s Health Education. Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe has been able to promote her passion for women’s health and her active involvement in the fashion business through projects such as the Design for Life Breast Cancer Campaign, which supports education and diagnosis of breast cancer in Women in rural communities and townships. She hopes to use the fashion industry, which often receives a lot of media attention, to bring focus to health issues in poor communities in South Africa.
What I find really interesting about this great woman is that she has a clear vision of her mission, though the journey was not always smooth, yet she maintained focus and balance, defied the conventional and eventually gained mastery of her calling.
Precious holds a Diploma in Reproductive Health and Child Health. She is a Patron of Birdlife South Africa and also Patron of Child Welfare South Africa. She is a past President of the Cancer Association of South Africa and is now its lifetime member. She sits on the board of Synergos, an organization dedicated to addressing global poverty and social injustice through collaboration with governments, business and civil society, by creating sustainable systems change.
Although precious started off with medicine, she knew that being a doctor was not all there was especially for her. It was clear that she had a higher calling. Her passion for fashion was ever present in and with her, even as a child in Sunday school.
According to her; “as a young girl I always enjoyed the feel and look of clothing. Growing up in Soweto, you socialised at weddings and church – those were times when you could shine and put on your best outfit and I enjoyed that. I couldn’t sew to save my life at school, but when playing with dolls with my siblings and cousins, I had the fashion sense, in terms of knowing what looked good on the dolls. And the passion grew from there. So going into the fashion industry was an easy transition for me, because I felt I could make a difference by investing in the growth of industries that define who we are as a nation. The fashion and arts industry is important in that regard, as well as the way it employs thousands of people, such as fabric makers, seamstresses and beaders”.
Now I lack words to express the extent of the pain I feel when I see young people who have made a duty to restrict themselves in every way, never willing to learn, re-learn and even unlearn; Making mockery of the divine gifts that were freely given to all, Africans especially. That is why I feel exceptionally pleased to share the story of this pacesetter; a woman that started out with a clear picture of her purpose and mission. To her, restricting oneself to a particular career or discipline is clearly myopic and totally unacceptable. She believes that everyone is endowed with great potentials and talents that must be maximized.
In her words:  “I never agonised about not practising medicine. I believe you need to find things that you enjoy doing and explore them to the fullest, but don’t get stuck with them. I don’t believe in this myopic view of our careers, where you have to study something and then you have to work in that career for the next 50 years. It’s like buying an expensive hammer and for the rest of your life you’ve got to be hammering in nails. I really don’t believe that. I think medicine, in many ways, prepared me for many other things that I could do. Passion, hard work, honesty and respect for others is something I carry with me wherever I go. I hope that in 10 years’ time I will go into something else. I believe in reinventing myself as a human being. There are people who want to stay in a career and explore it to the maximum, but I like change”.
Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe has also been recently appointed Gift from Africa’s Champion for Africa, a Global Fund Initiative that seeks to mobilize private sector support in Africa in the fight against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
I wish I can tell you a secret about this woman of influence…………..maybe I can, if you promise not to tell. Alright here it is, she has an intense phobia for lightning. Hmmmmm.
I’m Monica I’d Love To Be A Model In Your Agency And Fashion Shows. The Reason I’m Desperately Writing To You Is Because I’m Literally Pouring My Heart Out To You, At A Point Were Me, My Mother And My Three Brothers Are About To Get Evicted In The Apartment We Live In, Its Terrifying Because We Have Nowhere Else To Go. To Add That My Big Brother Has Two Babies (One Is A Month And The Other 2years) Seeing My Mother Panicking The Way She Is At This Moment Breaks My Heart, I’m Unable2 Sleep At Night Browsing The Internet For Jobs, Finding Ways2 Helping My Mother. When I Was Young I Always Had Fantasies Of My Future Your Everything I Always Wanted2 Be And More I Genuinely Envy You But Sadly I Got The Opposite Of Everything Worst Of All I’m Turning 21 And Still Haven’t Completed My Matric Its Depressing At Times I Feel Worthless I’ve Never Even Had My Nails, Hair And Makeup Done. Mam If There’s Any Possible Way You Could Help Me Find A Job In The Media Industry I’d Genuinely Appreciate Every Bit Of It. “Mashabelamonica@gmail.com” That’s My Email If Needed
Isihlangu Sezwe Youth Empowerment research shows most communities around Durban Kwa Zulu Natal are challenged with the following issues
Youth imprisonment,Teenage pregnancy,Poverty,Unemployment,Alcohol drug abuse,Crime,Hiv and Aids
To resolve these challenges we have created mechanisms to decrease the demand and supply of drugs,through prevention,early intervention,treatment and maintenance of discipline
By providing a service and create job opportunities.
By building a facility in a rural area to facilitated individuals to reach his or her optimal intellectual,social functional level and implement educational,skill development programs.
We need sponsor and support to make this possible.
Thank you
Good day my name is nathi i am shoe Designer from Johannesburg and i am really asking foryour help i would like to setup a shoe factory here in the heart of Jozi but i am asking For finical back up to make this come true help me please i am really good at what i do Designig Shoes
My name is Austin Sithole, I am 24 years old, my dream is to become a successful entrepreneur. I am smart and very particular about things with lots of room for understanding, knowledge and learning.
My passion is driven by my desire of living and leading a legacy. Not only for my future kids but for nations, even beyond my existence.
I come from the community of Jeppestown, not so far from Johannesburg central and I have been part of this community since the year 2000, I know its issues, and I am most certainly passionate about youth development, be it on a community level, be it financial literacy or just building and sustaining projects that will keep our youth busy and on a better track to leading their lives to a better future.
The textile and clothing sector is the second largest sector in Africa after agriculture. Yet it is by far one of the most neglected.
South African designers have the style and tenacity to compete with international designers. We are privileged with a diverse culture and we are the future of international fashion. However, there is no business without support, no growth and no success.
We, HourGlass Media will be hosting a fashion show and pageant in Jeppestown on the 3rd of December 2016. We are inviting all fashion lovers, locals and families to enjoy with us as we appreciate our African beauty, style and design.
We would also like to invite local establishments to sponsor us and help us not only make this event a success but to showcase their values of growth, youth and community development on many levels.
Almost every young girl has dreamed of becoming a model and through this pageant we have been graced to fulfill the dreams of just 70 of the young dreamers.
Fashion is a way to communicate with young people and it being the second largest sector in Africa means it cannot go unnoticed.
I unfortunately cannot pull all of this by myself. If only I had all the resources in the world I would.
I am currently well on the way of raising the required amount of money for the venue, but I also require sponsorship to carry out the entire project successfully and to give away some prizes for the participants of this event. This will not only benefit my business or the stakeholders involved, but this will also play a role in motivating the youth and creating a new and positive hope for the future in the minds of the few.
We have managed to package the following prizes:
1) Branding consultation for the top 3 models in each gender.
Each one also gets a personal website designed for them and hosted for a year, (total value of about R7 000).
2) The winning models will also become the faces of a new website to be launched on the event date titled bestlocaltailors.co.za.
3) We are also giving away a professional studio and outdoor photography and video voucher to the total value of R20 000 from HourGlass Media.
I have managed to put the above together but I would like to have support from external stakeholders to make them sweeter and to really try and encompass that value for our young people.
We would appreciate sponsorship in the following: (no particular order)
– Cash totaling R7,000 – This will be divided amongst 6 winners. (R2000 cash prize for first female model, R1000 for second female model. And R500 for Third female model. Same applies for male models giving a total of R7,000.
– Vouchers in the form of clothing vouchers, Perfume, Spa vouchers, treatments for females, Footwear vouchers, Lunch or food vouchers.
– A Smart phone, a Lcd TV.
– Educational vouchers, scholarships, internships, bursaries.
– Short courses, on design, entrepreneurship, make-up etc
– Cash sponsorships to pay for entertainment. We plan to use young known individuals to raise the traction and capitalize on attracting our main audience. (youth)
– We require sound sponsorship, speakers and dj equipment.
– Camera equipment, We currently have 3 camera’s booked to photograph and record the entire event, however we require at least 2 more to record and capture the entire event so we can document it’s importance and inspire those that did not attend to be a part of the next event next year.
– We need companies or individuals to volunteer as mentors and coaches for some of these young people.
I have outlined, very ambitiously the type of help we require and I’ve written them specifically to be clear as well as to show how passionate I am about the success of this event and the overall influence it will have in my community.
In the most recent years, youth have found themselves inactive unless they have lots of money to spend on extracurricular activity that they are interested in.
The youth of today due to lack of activity find themselves falling into the pull of drugs and alcohol abuse and this leads to other serious problems at times, like not finishing school, venturing into crime activities and encountering illness and disease, and this is a serious and growing Pandemic.
It is said that no matter what, but at the end of the day your environment plays a big role on how you pan out, not regarding the rare cases where people defy such environments.
About Austin
I am a 24 year old unemployed youth. I’ve been part of a organization called Activate which selected a few young people from different provinces to train them on project management, how to be more assertive, on personal and community level development, and currently I am part of the Aspire Learnership Foundation which is Under South Africa’s Leading insurance Company, Discovery.
Through this program and Learnership I have grown as a person and I have learnt to not only rely on employment to live and lead a pleasant life but that I can also create my own economy never mind how challenging it is.
Through this passion I also plan to impart this knowledge to many other young people that have not had such privilege so that we can re-write our stories as the South African youth.
Media coverage is one of the fastest and most prominent forms to get word out in this age and therefore I plea to have this event published and announced in public spaces as this will not only reach our audience but it can also raise the legitimacy of this project in the public eye and any aspiring youth.
I currently have a huge profile of models that are excited about this event as well as designers, however there are still a few spots left for either to participate in this show.
The Event is on the 3rd of December 2016.
Venue: Bertha Solomon
Jeppestown
Johannesburg
2094
This event will be a day event. A fashion show and pageant which will comprise 70 youth models and 20 local Designers to showcase their design skills through aspiring young models.
Even if you will not be part of this event we are inviting you to share this message and tell everyone to join us as we leave a blue print in South African Fashion, design and modeling.
Yours Sincerely
Austin Sithole
078 255 7324
078 6092 843