During the month of August, the AWCA holds its annual Woman of Substance Awards Fundraising Gala, where the award is bestowed upon deserving recipient. The event is not only about honouring a woman who has reached the pinnacle of their professional journey and has demonstrated commitment towards the development of women and communities, but also a platform whereby funds are raised for the AWCA bursary programme. In light of a key challenge facing aspirant Chartered Accountants being a lack of funding, the AWCA bursary programme was launched in 2005. Through which financial support is provided to black female students studying towards the Chartered Accountancy (“CA”) qualification. The majority of funds are raised through the annual Woman of Substance Award Gala.The AWCA Woman of Substance Award was created to honour women who drive the erosion of stereotypes and break down barriers for the creation of opportunities for the participation of black women in key strategic areas of business; mentor young women and participate in society by contributing towards social upliftment in communities which they come from or any other communities in South Africa or the rest of continent.

“Every year, AWCA presents an exceptional woman who has played a significant role in the uplifting of black women and has demonstrated quality and successful leadership in areas of governance and business to attain gender equality with the Woman of Substance award. Dr Mahlati was a perfect fit for this award as she is constantly breaking barriers.” said AWCA President Zama Khanyile.

Previous recipients of the accolade include:

AWCA has funded over 129 students from undergrad to postgraduate level who consistently managed to maintain an above 60% pass rate on an annual basis. With Black female Chartered Accountants only making up ~11% of the total number of CAs in the country, we still have a long way to go.