First black SA woman in landmark Everest summit
Saray Khumalo, a business executive from Johannesburg, reached the summit after bad weather, injury and tragedy thwarted three previous attempts
Kathmandu — A South African business executive reached the top of Mount Everest on Thursday in what is believed to be the first summit of the world’s highest mountain by a black African woman. Saray Khumalo, 47, reached the top of the 8,848m mountain after three previous bids were thwarted by bad weather, injury and tragedy. Khumalo’s Summits with a Purpose expedition organiser said she was the first black African woman to reach the top of Everest. “Khumalo is the first African woman to summit Mount Everest, in support of her cause of promoting access to education for African children,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Twitter. “She reminds us that through courage and perseverance, we can achieve our highest ambitions, for the greater good of humanity.”
Khumalo is a Zambia-born Johannesburg resident.Nepal’s tourism department confirmed that Khumalo had made the summit but had no record on whether she was the first black African woman. In 2017, strong winds and frostbite forc...
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