In South Africa, where the resilience of women has long been the backbone of communities, a new generation of leaders is rediscovering the transformative power of intergenerational knowledge sharing. It is in the passing down of wisdom, from grandmother to mother to daughter, that stories become strategies and lived experience becomes leadership.
This belief came alive at the third annual Women Leading Knowledge (WLK) Breakfast 2025, hosted by the Gautrain Managment Agency in partnership with the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) and Wits Business School (WBS). This year’s WLK rooted on the theme of intergenerational knowledge sharing, shone the spotlight on the importance of women in sustainable societies and the echoes the aspirations of SDG goal 5 on achieving gender equality.
The gathering of more than 200 women comprised of seasoned professionals, emerging changemakers, and community leaders, was not just another leadership breakfast. It was a movement rooted in memory, survival, and the determination to build sustainable societies.
The event began with welcoming messages from women leaders from each of the partners. Led by Professor Louise Whitaker (GIBS Deputy Dean ) as the host, she reminded the audience that the moments of connection between women foster the much-needed positive influence in society. Dr Gobind, Wits MBA Director likened the nostalgic moments of teatime with various tea sets as an opportunity for conversation connecting and passing knowledge from the old and the new generation. Whilst Ms Mamela Luthuli the GMA board member shared the intergenerationally of her business journey as it was shaped by her mother even though she was not a conventional businessperson.
The event placed intergenerational mentorship at the centre of its theme. As keynote speaker Professor Babalwa Magoqwana, Director of the Centre for Women and Gender Studies at Nelson Mandela University, reminded the audience:
“Our grandmothers didn’t have MBAs, but they had spreadsheets of wisdom. We must stop measuring value by modern metrics and start recognising the power of ancestral intelligence.”
Magoqwana’s address challenged women leaders to rethink leadership as an act of conscience, not replication of existing power structures. Drawing on rituals, stories, and lived experience, she urged women to preserve knowledge like a community would preserve shared livestock, never depleted, always sustained for future generations. Furthermore, as Prof Magoqwana delivered her keynote it became clear that much needs to be done in addressing the cost of care as articulated in the SDG
From the opening performance of the Xibelani Dancers to the heartfelt moments of silence for women lost to poverty, violence, and inequality, the morning struck a chord that went beyond networking. It was a call to remember, reconnect, and resist the erasure of women’s voices.
Panel discussions, moderated by Ms Ntombi Meso with figures such as Dr Sizakele Marutlulle (GIBS), Ms Lungi Ngaphi (motivational speaker and life coach), and Prof Magoqwana built on this theme. They explored how language can preserve culture, how broken family structures can be healed through shared wisdom, and how intentional mentorship creates a cradle of support for women breaking new ground.
Dr Marutlulle captured the burden many women face as pioneers:
“Too many times we are accelerated into positions without the support to match our consciousness. We need cradles that hold us, not just titles that weigh us down.”
The event served as a reminder that women’s leadership is not about titles, it is about legacy. It is about recognising that sustainability is built not just on infrastructure or economics, but on the intangible wealth of intergenerational knowledge.
As the morning closed, Prof Magoqwana’s words echoed through the room:
“The generation without formal education knew how to survive. They taught us through stories, rituals, and resilience. We must ask ourselves: how did they know what they knew? And how do we honour that knowledge today?”
The Women Leading Knowledge Breakfast 2025 made it clear: the future will not be shaped by those who simply hold power, but by those who dare to honour the wisdom of the past while activating the potential of the future. Ms Viwe Mgedezi emphasised this point by drawing from the quote by Nokulinda Mkhize “Eldership is a vanguard role”.
In her closing remarks, Ms Rethabile Ntlatleng reminded the audience that the WLK thought leadership platform deliberately honours women leaders h “those who came before us, former television news anchor and media stalwart, Dr Noxolo Grootboom, we honour her today for her contribution to the newsroom and many lives impacted through the art of language. And in true Noxolo style she shut it down with a voice and closing tag line familiar to many of us “Ndinithanda noke emakhaya”.