SA TV maven Bonang Matheba is tired of people asking her when she is getting married and having children.
That was the unwavering message Matheba delivered on Monday as a panelist at the #WeSeeEqual Gender Equality Summit hosted by UN Women in Mumbai, India.
Rocking a monochrome maxi dress, the 31-year-old star spoke during the hour-long The Unstoppable Girl – Rewriting the Rules session.
Speaking alongside Bollywood actress Richa Chadha and Egyptian star Amina Khalil, she said her wish was for society to celebrate her for her career successes.
“We always teach girls that they must aspire to be a wife or mother. I turn 32 in June and the one thing I always get asked is ‘when are you getting married? When are you having children?’’’ she posed.
“No honey, I want to make some money, I want to travel the world. I want to come to Mumbai. I want to speak at the UN Women’s Summit. I want to be an inspiration,” she said amid a roaring applause from the audience that included UN Women executive director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
“I don’t have a husband and children. That will come at a later stage. Why is it that the things that I have achieved with the help of my mom and sisters can’t be celebrated?
“Why does it have to be validated if there is a man next to me?”
She also advocated for girls’ education as an empowerment tool.
“To enable girls to be unstoppable we have to give them access to education.”
– Sowetan
