WATCH | Rachel Kolisi pays tribute to women in heartwarming video: ‘We have a lot of work to do’

Rachel Kolisi says more needs to be done towards the development and protection of women in South Africa.

She shared a video to pay tribute to some of the powerful women responsible for taking care of their community by feeding the poor in the township of Zwide, in the Eastern Cape.

Rachel and her husband, Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, are involved in numerous charity projects through the Kolisi Foundation. The Springbok captain narrates the video, sharing some of his childhood experiences with poverty and the role of the women who made sure he never went to bed hungry.

“We grew up in communities helping one another and that's why it was tough for me to go to Zwide and look at all the ladies I used to ask for food; a cup of flour, mealie-meal for my grandmother to cook. Now I'm able to do the same and I haven't forgotten about them,” he said.

Kolisi says the foundation plans to do more for the community than helping out with food parcels. “We will do a lot of things as a foundation, you know, I also want to be a better man.

“We will get people to educate us, the children and the ladies as well on how they are more than whatever the other person thinks of them. They should be treated as gold. We can relay that message to children as well.”

As South Africans commemorated the 64th anniversary of Women's Day on Sunday, Rachel changed her Instagram profile picture to pink, to symbolise the strength and courage of women.

In a short video shared on Instagram, she said “this is also to encourage unity among women. I think that there is no better time for all of us to come together in a common cause. I don't believe that there is anything more powerful either.”