Celebrating 60 Years of Impact: Gloria Bongekile Ngema-Zuma’s Milestone Birthday

Friends of Gloria Bongekile Ngema-Zuma, wife of former South African President Jacob Zuma, gathered to honor her remarkable journey as she celebrated her 60th birthday on 1 January 2025. More than just a celebration of life, the occasion was a testament to her unwavering commitment to securing a healthier and empowered future for Africa.

Affectionately known as Bongi, Gloria Ngema-Zuma has dedicated much of her life to raising awareness about diabetes and promoting wellness. As the founder and patron of the Bongi Ngema-Zuma Foundation, she has translated her personal experiences and passions into a broader mission: ensuring that no one succumbs to the lack of awareness about diabetes.

A Legacy of Awareness and Empowerment

The Bongi Ngema-Zuma Foundation, established as a fulfillment of her vision, focuses on knowledge sharing and awareness around diabetes, education, and other health-related interventions. With an emphasis on rural development, women and children’s empowerment, and education, the foundation’s initiatives are making a tangible difference in communities across South Africa.

For Bongi, the work is deeply personal. Her late mother, Prisca Ngema, lived with diabetes for nearly three decades before her passing in 1997. This experience instilled in her a profound sense of purpose to address South Africa’s silent epidemic of diabetes. “I raised my hand and decided to lead from the front,” she often says, a commitment that led to the formation of her foundation.

Recognized Leadership

Bongi’s relentless efforts have not gone unnoticed. Her accolades include:

African Female Leader of the Year 2016 by African Leadership Magazine, acknowledging her contributions to diabetes awareness.

Recognition as one of Amazon Watch Magazine’s Top 100 Most Influential Women in Emerging Economies at the SAAMEA Summit in Dubai in 2016.

The MEC Service Excellence Award in 2015 by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health for her impact in diabetes care.

An Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Shaw University in North Carolina, USA, in 2014, where she was lauded as a “Health Care Trailblazer, Visionary, and Global Leader.”

A Beacon of Hope

As Bongi marks her 60th year, her life’s work remains a shining light in the fight against diabetes and the broader efforts to uplift disadvantaged communities. Each initiative under her foundation reflects her unwavering belief that life’s true meaning is found in service to others.

Her friends and supporters, in celebrating this milestone, also celebrate the legacy she continues to build—a legacy of health, empowerment, and hope for Africa’s future. For Bongi Ngema-Zuma, life is not just measured in time but in the lives changed, a principle she lives by every single day.