A member of the United Kingdom Federation visited South Africa in 1947 and, with the help of the Mayoress of Durban, started the first club in that city on the 19th January 1948. The Johannesburg Club was founded in 1948 and Corrie van den Bos was elected as Founder President. Clubs were formed shortly thereafter in Pietermaritzburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, East London, Kimberley, Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth.

The Inaugural Meeting of the South African Federation of Business and Professional Women was held in Johannesburg on 2 to 4 October 1948, when the nine clubs decided to form a Federation, with Corrie van den Bos as Founder President.

Corrie van den Bos was a great leader and constantly stressed that women should not demand rights unless they were prepared to accept the responsibilities that went with them.

She insisted that this provision be written into the Universal Declaration of Human Rights when this was being considered at the International Board Meeting in Holland, at which she was our South African delegate.

Her favourite quote remains relevant today:

"No rights without duties, no freedom without discipline.'