Three members of Young Women for Life, a movement representing rape survivors in South Africa’s informal settlements, joined nearly 1,000 people in Johannesburg on October 29 to witness American philanthropist Melinda Gates in conversation with journalist Redi Tlhabi about her book The Moment of Lift.
The high-profile event, held at Fox Junction in partnership with Pan Macmillan and the Nelson Mandela Foundation, was part of a series of engagements marking the Foundation’s 20th anniversary. It brought together activists, leaders and advocates from across the continent — including Graça Machel, Zanele Mbeki, trustees of the Mandela Foundation and representatives of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — to reflect on the barriers that continue to hold women back and how collective action can lift them toward equality.
But among the many voices in the room, those of the young survivors stood out most powerfully. Representing some of South Africa’s most marginalised women — those living in informal settlements and bearing the brunt of sexual violence — they were determined to make sure that conversations about gender equality did not ignore the urgent crisis unfolding in their own communities.
One of them, Nobuhle, took the microphone during the event to speak about what it means to seek justice as a rape survivor in South Africa. Her words cut through the evening’s celebration of empowerment and progress with the raw truth of lived experience.
“Our justice system is not built for survivors,” Nobuhle said. “It is biased towards the accused. We are questioned, doubted, and humiliated. We face second victimisation — not from our attackers, but from the very system that should protect us.”
She spoke of the enormous barriers survivors face when reporting rape: police who discourage them from opening cases, investigations that drag on without resolution, and courtrooms where they are treated as if they are on trial. Most painful of all, she said, are the low conviction rates that leave countless perpetrators unpunished and deter many women from reporting their rapes at all.
“Many survivors stay silent,” Nobuhle explained. “They ask themselves, ‘Why go through more pain if nothing will happen to the man who hurt me?’”
Her testimony echoed one of the central themes of Gates’ talk: that women around the world still lack agency over their bodies, their time, and their futures. Gates reflected on how unpaid labour, lack of access to reproductive health care, and deeply entrenched gender norms keep women from reaching their potential. She called for urgent action to rebalance responsibilities in the home, expand access to contraception, and dismantle systemic barriers that trap women in cycles of poverty and inequality.
“Our economies are built on the backs of women’s unpaid labour,” Gates told the audience. “If we don’t redistribute it, women will never reach their full potential.”
She also emphasised that listening — especially to women themselves — is essential for meaningful change. “You have to get the women alone and really listen to what they need,” she said. “That’s how we change the world.”
For Nobuhle and her fellow activists, that listening must extend to survivors of sexual violence — women whose lives are shaped by trauma but who are too often excluded from the very spaces where decisions about gender justice are made. Their presence at the event was both symbolic and strategic: a reminder that gender equality cannot be achieved while survivors are still silenced and perpetrators still walk free.
As the evening ended, Gates urged the audience to become role models for change. “You role model what you want in the world — through your actions, your words, what you teach your children, and how you lift others,” she said.
For the young women who spoke truth to power in that room, the message was clear: they are not waiting for change. They are demanding it. And they will continue to speak — in courts, in communities, and on global stages — until a justice system that believes survivors, protects them, and holds perpetrators accountable becomes a reality in South Africa.
“We are not victims,” said Nobuhle. “We are survivors. And we will not stop fighting until justice is done.”
