On the 19th of September 2026, Indaba Lodge looked different.
A sea of pink. A wave of nude. Heels, hats, soft glam, big energy. No empty chair in the house. For the 7th year in a row, Brenda Langa’s Cebuk Women Empowerment Event sold out.
R550 a ticket. No big billboard campaign. Just women telling other women, “You need to be there.”
This year’s assignment was simple and needed: Self Discovery & Regain Positive Energy.
“We as women, we pour into everyone else and forget ourselves,” Brenda said after the event. “We lose our grip. Saturday was about calling women back to themselves.”
And they came back.
The stage was stacked — finance and future planning, women and the law, affirmation and life lessons, and the Word to anchor it all. Zethu Biyela (Yiyo lenhliziyo) had the room on its feet, phones up, singing along. This wasn’t a conference where people check the time. People were taking notes.
The most raw moment didn’t come from the stage. It came from the floor, when women stood up to share where they come from.
One of them, Sis Nomthandazo, told how she grew up pushing a vendor trolley — and still does on her off days. Today, that same woman has built rental cottages, built a house for her mother, and bought her own home in Veldenvlei. Permanent job and all.
That is what Cebuk is about. Not just pretty dresses and decor. Real life, real business, real God.
Brenda is clear about the anchor: “Cebuk cannot be separated from Christ. God has been our pillar from day one.”
Seven years in, the model still works because it stays close to the ground. The organisation was built to make women-owned small businesses visible in Richards Bay, and now it’s training them — business management, work essentials, even plumbing and handyman skills.
No big corporate name behind it. Some sponsors asked to stay anonymous. Local support like Culture Water at Mzingazi and a discounted rate from Indaba Lodge for the women who slept over kept it going.
After the event, the message from the women was loud: bring the finance and law speakers back next year.
Brenda herself keeps it humble: “I had hopes and aspirations, but I didn’t think we will push this far. God did.”
The 8th and 9th editions are already in the pipeline, with bigger projects to be revealed.
If you missed the 7th and you felt it on social media be on the lookout for the 8th one that will take place next year.
To join the movement: Facebook — Cebuk Women Empowerment Organisation / Instagram — Cebuk_Women_Empowerment / 083 210 6204
By Nokukhanya Moloi
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