African Motherhood and Bosadi (Womanhood) among Pentecostals and Evangelicals: A Mohlakeng Perspective since the 1980s

This article looks at some lived experiences of five African women in Mohlakeng township, situated in the West Rand District Municipality of Gauteng, South Africa, between 1980 and 2018. Four are Pentecostal pastors and one is an Evangelical pastor. Their biggest challenge was to demonstrate that they were equally capable as their male counterparts in leading a local church and functioning as pastors. These women displayed aspects of African motherhood and Bosadi (womanhood) as three functioned as pastors and two functioned in other non-leadership roles alongside their male counterparts. The article applies a combination of participatory observation and literature review as a research method.