Toastmasters International -Leading Lights in South Africa

The image shows three women sitting together on a couch in what appears to be a cozy living room setting. They are all smiling and dressed in formal attire, suggesting a social or professional gathering.

From left, Aletta Rochat, Charlotte Kemp, and Verity Price. Photo credit: KOA Photography

Three longtime Toastmasters, including new International President Aletta Rochat, DTM, are blazing trails and bringing attention to the public speaking talent in Africa.

The three women, all friends in Cape Town, South Africa, have distinguished themselves with singular accomplishments. Rochat is the first Toastmasters International President from Africa; Verity Price, DTM, AS, was the first Toastmaster from that continent to win the World Championship of Public Speaking^®; and Charlotte Kemp was the first person from Africa to head up the Global Speakers Federation, which she led from 2022 to 2024. The organization serves as a central hub for professional speaking associations around the world.

Rochat and Price are longtime Toastmasters, and while Kemp doesn’t currently belong to a club, she was a member for nearly 10 years and served in numerous leadership roles.

Rochat, Price, and Kemp all say they hope their breakthrough successes will inspire other Toastmasters in Africa. Rochat remembers how exciting it was when Price won the World Championship in 2021 and how “exceptionally proud of her we were.”

“I got to talk about and demonstrate the incredible speakers we have [in Africa] and the work that is being done, the wisdom that is here, the insight that is here.”

—Charlotte Kemp

Her friend’s triumph, she adds, was a “way of showing people that it’s possible that somebody from Africa can do it”—win the top speaking prize. And now she herself has achieved a first as well.

“Like Verity and I both say, we might be the first [from Africa], but we won’t be the last.”

Price agrees. “I think it’s an important thing—that you just need to see someone doing something ahead of you that makes you go, ‘Well, I can do this.’

“That’s why I’m so excited to see Aletta take the helm [of Toastmasters] and hopefully inspire future leaders coming up behind her to see that this position can be held from people living on our continent.”

Kemp speaks passionately about the misperceptions people have of public speakers in Africa. She recalls an experience from several years ago that she says was a defining moment for her. Kemp went to a high-profile conference where all the attention was given to speakers from the United States—even though the conference was in Tanzania. Ultimately, the American keynoter withdrew at the last minute, reportedly because they felt the conference wasn’t a prominent enough platform.

“What we were seeing is that in Africa, [event organizers] were saying, ‘Oh, yeah, we’ve got people here, but it’s the people from outside of Africa who have the real wisdom.’ And this is a lie about Africa that I’m really dedicated to overturning,” says Kemp, also a past president of the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa.

When she became president of the Global Speakers Federation, she traveled to other countries and spoke often about Africa. “I got to talk about and demonstrate the incredible speakers we have here and the work that is being done, the wisdom that is here, the insight that is here.”

Rochat is reflective of that kind of talent, say Price and Kemp, who praise her poise and her leadership presence.

“She just has a kind of gravitas,” says Kemp, a 2009–2011 Toastmasters Area Governor. “It just feels like she is always professional and polished and under control. She never seems fazed by anything.”

Price, a member of the ToastED Toastmasters club in Cape Town, echoes Kemp’s assessment. “Aletta just has this extraordinary graciousness in how she connects with people, whether she’s onstage or just one-on-one,” Price says. “She listens, she’s attentive, she asks reaching questions, she allows people to think. She is the epitome of grace.”

“I’ve known her since she was our District Governor [2013–2014], and I’ve watched her consistently lead and serve and support. I just can’t think of a better person to be at the helm of Toastmasters.”