WeeklySA_AdminSYMBOL: A brainchild of Johannesburg businesswoman, the initiative features as its theme a collection of bras…
By Jacob Mawela
A day after this year’s launch of the annual 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign, mountaineer and philanthropist, Angela Yeung launched “the EmpowerHer: 8 849 Bras for Humanity
National Exhibition” as part of a mission to empower survivors of gender-based violence.
Opening at the exhibition at Women’s Jail at the Constitution Hill in Braamfontein, the Johannesburg-based founder of Impilo Collection Foundation said the initiative was a national awakening which had begun when a young girl once requested of her, “please, bring me a bra next time”.
The event was also to highlight the plight of victims of gender-based violence, a spiralling menace which recently prompted President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare it a national disaster.
On May 24 this year, Yeung became the fourth South African woman to summit Mount Everest while symbolically carrying a bra to the summit.
In her opening address to an audience which included Nepal’s ambassador Professor Kapil Man Shrestha -and Joburg’s “Old China Town mayor” Walter Pon – among others – the Brand South Africa ambassador mentioned that the request cracked open a reality which stayed with her into the heart of the Himalayas and followed her to the top of the world where she raised a bra on the summit of Mount Everest for every survivor who ever felt unseen, unheard and unprotected.
Yeung cautioned that the bras – which took her entity four years to collect – weren’t on display as a decoration, but as a testimony which served to reassure victims of gender-based violence that: “we see you, we will not be silent”.
The number of bras were a symbolic target representing every metre, every story for every voice demanding change, she said. She added that the mission was to deliver every one of the underwear to women and communities who needed them the most, across all provinces of South Africa.
“When I stood on the summit of Everest, I promised that every metre climbed would represent a voice for change. This exhibition is that promise fulfilled, a reminder that healing begins when we stand together,” surmised Yeung.
The exhibition’s main installation is titled “The Mountain of Bras”, and is composed of multiple bras symbolizing unity, resilience and collective strength. It is housed in one of the spaces where women such as Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Fatima Meer were once incarcerated during the apartheid era.
The launch included a panel discussion titled “From Bystander to Ally – How Communities Can Interrupt Violence”,which explored themes of dignity, gender and healing through art and activism.
It featured Thando Gumede, an internationally acclaimed human rights defender and GBV policy contributor as well as that of Dr Keitumetse Mashego, a clinical psychologist and advocate for mental health and emotional resilience.
The exhibition opened at a time when South Africa continues to face one of the highest rates of GBV in the world – a tide Yeung’s foundation seeks to turn into action through empathy, education and solidarity. Furthermore, Impilo is building a collective movement which calls every South African to rise together.
Having opened on November 26, the exhibition will be accessible for public viewing until December 10.
Subsequent to its Johannesburg leg, the exhibition is scheduled to be displayed under the theme “Carriers of Courage”, at other venues across all of the country’s provinces in 2026.
Impilo Collection Foundation encourages support for its mission from individuals, private sector and communities to donate, partner and collaborate.
In five years, the foundation has delivered a ton of sanitary pads; 10 000 litres of sanitiser to 60 000 learners, hospital beds, books, blankets, stationery and uniform; and early childhood development educational programmes.
