Former Mossel Bay and Garden Route leader voted as SACBW national president

NATIONAL NEWS - Ziva Spangenberg, a former South African Council for Business Women (SACBW) Mossel Bay branch leader and former Garden Route regional leader, has been appointed the SACBW national president for 2025.

Spangenberg lived in Hartenbos before relocating to Swellendam recently.

Publisher

She is the owner and CEO of OneLife Publisher, and has published a number of books for authors as well as her own titles.

She has authored more than 30 of her own publications including magazines. She is the CEO of Vision2Victory Academy. Spangenberg has a doctorate in theology.

Her appointment as national president was announced at the SACBW national awards evening in Paarl on Saturday, 19 October, and she takes up office in this role in January 2025.

Spangenberg had been the SACBW Western Cape provincial leader since 1 January before this latest appointment.

Feather in cap

An additional feather in her cap is that the Western Cape won Province of the Year at the awards last Saturday night.

Spangenberg was Mossel Bay branch leader in 2022 and then regional leader for the Garden Route in 2023.

Mossel Bay won best SACBW branch in SA for three consecutive yearrs - 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Also, for two years in a row Mossel Bay women won the SACBW National Business Woman of the Year award: Marlene Smit in 2021 and Dinette Wessels in 2022.

With regards to her new position, Spangenberg said: "I will strive to unite and empower women and grow the footprint of the SACBW in all nine provinces, for it to become the preferred networking platform for all business women in South Africa."

Criteria

There are official criteria regarding those who wish to stand for SACBW president and an official nomination process for national executive committee members who vote for the president.

When asked which strengths she brings to her role as president, Spangenberg says: "The ability to empower and inspire other women, to connect people and to establish successful collaborations.

National theme

"Our national theme for 2025 will be Innovate to Grow, which will also be one of my personal goals."
Spangenberg notes: "With SACBW's legacy of 36 years in existence and 16 former presidents, it immediately comes to mind that I have big shoes to fill, however, my vision is not to fill their shoes, but to honour their legacies, to celebrate the present and to embrace the future."

An SACBW national media release congratulated each of the 51 entrants in the awards.

The national Business Woman of the Year award went to a woman from the Mbombela (Nelspruit) branch and the Branch of the Year Award was also won by the Mbombela branch.

Ziva Spangenberg