Mountains of Change: How Angela Yeung's Everest Expedition Tackles Gender-Based Violence
Angela Yeung, a Johannesburg entrepreneur and social activist, has been raising awareness about genderbased violence (GBV) in South Africa through her daring mountain expeditions. Her latest venture involved climbing Mount Manaslu, the world's eighthhighest peak in the Himalayas, and displaying 6,200 bras at Constitution Hill to symbolize the widespread issue of GBV.
Angela Yeung, a Johannesburg entrepreneur and social activist, has been raising awareness about gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa through her daring mountain expeditions. Her latest venture involved climbing Mount Manaslu, the world’s eighth-highest peak in the Himalayas, and displaying 6,200 bras at Constitution Hill to symbolize the widespread issue of GBV.
Fighting GBV: A Personal Commitment
Yeung’s nonprofit, Impilo Collection Foundation, collected bras to raise awareness about GBV, and with the help of social warriors, she handed a memorandum to the Department of Public Safety, urging them to address this issue. She also washed and distributed bras to 3,100 women in Gauteng on Women’s Day last year. Yeung’s passion for fighting GBV can be traced back to her personal triumph in 2017 when she successfully located her biological mother after a 30-year search.
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Supporting Caring4Girls and Other Causes
Yeung has also supported the charity Caring4Girls, which provides sanitary products to girls who cannot afford them, helping them continue their education. During the pandemic, her foundation collected food for an orphanage, an old age home, and a GBV shelter.
Personal Achievement and Social Change
Before her Himalayan adventures, Yeung climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in 2018. Her commitment to fighting GBV is reflected in the 630 hours of rigorous training she invested in preparation for the climb. Yeung’s mountain climbs serve as powerful symbols of overcoming hardship and persevering through adversity, inspiring change in South Africa.
Emma Botha is a Cape Town-based journalist who chronicles the city’s shifting social-justice landscape for the Mail & Guardian, tracing stories from Parliament floor to Khayelitsha kitchen tables. Born and raised on the slopes of Devil’s Peak, she still hikes Lion’s Head before deadline days to remind herself why the mountain and the Mother City will always be her compass.
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