Simone commenced with active community engagement during the period of liberation and served on the executive committees of political liberation structures. As Parliamentary Constituency Officer to Willie Hofmeyer, then Member of Parliament of Ward 59 (Claremont-Rondebosch), she assisted in the formation of the Co-ordinated Action for Street People, and creation of employment opportunities for this marginalised community.
As Executive Member of the local committee of Strandfontein’s, (Cape Town) Women Against Violence, an association founded at that time in 1984 in response to three successive female murders in the immediate area, she assisted in conscientising protective structures, such as the South African Police Services, as to the need for special emphasis on requisite humanitarian response training for the police services to deal with violence against women. She is still active in the political arena and currently serving as an executive member of the newly formed Democratic Congress Party. Her portfolios are those of gender and women’s issues as well as arts and culture.
Her most significant achievement within the milieu of transgender issues was the successful presentations of submissions as part of the Cape transsexual Support Group, which resulted in the promulgation of the amendment of Act 49 of 2003, vs. the The Alteration of Sex Description and Sex Status Bill 37 of 2003, which was eventually approved and signed into law by former President Thabo Mbeki.
In addition she sits on various Boards such as Requiem for the Living - (Patron – Archbishop Emeritus, Desmond Tutu). A section 21 organisation promoting hope through music to the HIV/AIDS community, sufferers, activists and organisations with primary beneficiary respective Food Garden Permaculture Projects. She also serves on the South African National Commission to UNESCO, a body which oversees structures and formulates recommendations on UNESCO draft resolutions and policies for submission to the National Minister of Education, as South Africa’s official delegate to UNESCO.
Simone has had a chequered career as a cabaret artist, with voyeurism into ballet as an extra in Spartacus and other works; a beautician, secretary in the Department of Health, Boutique Manager, Cultural Co-ordinator and Arts Project Manager. She currently manages her own Cultural Management company, Hathor.EA with special emphasis on international cultural exchange projects. She has a passion for languages and speaks fluent French, Afrikaans, smatterings of Spanish and a progression of intelligible Urdu.
Back to short version and other MC members.
|