Throughout history, strong and courageous women have with resiliency helped pave the way for men to achieve their successes as leaders of political parties, leading businessmen, brilliant surgeons, religious leaders, etc.
The Al Jama-ah Party is no exception; behind its successful leader, who is South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Social Development and President of the party, Hon Ganief Hendricks, is the First Lady, Mrs Fatima Hendricks.
Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings Upon Him) said: “The Condition of a Society Depends on the Consciousness of its Women.” This saying recognizes women as true agents of change – they have been contributors to the success of their husbands, children, families, colleagues, communities, societies and even nations.
This First Lady, has obtained a BA hon degree in Social in 1974 and have practiced as such mainly focusing on family preservation. In between raising her four beautiful children, she has 26 years’ experience in social work which took her into various fields. “My career as a social worker was interrupted to raise my children, a duty which I am eternally grateful for,” says asmiling and satisfied Hendricks.
During her career, she practiced Family Reunification with FAMSA, Department of Social Services (perhaps this explains it all how her husband ended up being the Deputy Minister of what is known now as Social Development); Child Welfare Society, Cape Mental Health society, SHAWCO in Kensington and Elsies River and BABS.
She was instrumental in the opening and managing of the Child Welfare Society in Mossel Bay in the Southern Cape. Apart from being a Social Worker, she is also a qualified Estate Agent; she managed her own estate business in Mossel Bay and Pietermaritzburg.
She briefly lectured in the Social Work Department at UWC (University of the Western Cape) where she supervised the practical training of students. After she stopped in the formal social work structures, offered voluntary counselling for abused women focusing mainly on the spiritual aspects along with Marital Therapy.
Since 1995 she has continued to do voluntary counselling, but this time from the airways of the popular community radio station, Radio 786. She started her shows with advising on ‘Methods of survival’ and later the programme which became known as ‘Community Pulse’ addressed topics on ‘addiction.’
Furthermore, she presents programmes on the online radio station, ‘Radio Jeem’ on which she produces her own shows on Mental health, Marital Counselling, ‘Needs of the Elderly’ and ‘Empowerment of Women.’ “My passion has always been the upliftment and restoration of the dignity of women,” says Hendricks. She has done her own research on psychological matters to prepare her programmes for radio broadcast.
Programmes on ‘Empowerment of Women’ focusses extensively on co-dependency: where women are addicted to bad relationships with unstable men. She also pursued studies in Deen at IPSA (International Peace College South Africa) which prompted her to provide spiritual counselling. She also worked for the National Ulama Council in the department where fasakhs (women’s requests for an annulment of a marriage) were granted to abused women. When asked what gives her the most satisfaction today, she says: “What gives me the most Pleasure is reading and understanding the Qur’an on a daily basis”.