Public Sector Leaders | August 2023

AUGUST | 2023

Meet CEO of the Water Research Commission Jennifer Molwantwa - guardian of our most precious resource Celebrating Women’s Month

IN OTHER NEWS African women in space

VIVA!

Congratulating Top South African sports women

LEGAL MATTERS

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Working towards a healthier you

Contents

12

AUGUST 2023 | ISSUE 30

Editorial 32 | Women in Sports

Breadwinner’s Goal: Fun, glory, gees and ubuntu

36 | Female Icons in the Public Sector Cabinet leading the way in gender parity

50 | 4 Programmes Empowering Young Women Entrepreneurs Unlocking women’s business potential is key for our economy

60 | Richest Women in Africa

Who are the 5 wealthiest women on the continent

62 | 2023 BRICS Summit Looking at Africa’s future

41 | Women’s Rights

The road to meeting SA’s gender equality goals

10

43 | The Women of 1956

Celebrating the 1956 women’s march

46 | Mining

30

Women driving transformation in mining

Features 10 | Addressing the Nation 12 | Cover Story

Meet Water Research Commission CEO, Dr Jennifer Molwantwa, and Chairperson, Dr Rethabile Melamu

28 | Women in Leadership

Cracking down on corruption through new Auditor-General powers

30 | Trailblazer

Khetiwe Sibanyoni is fighting GBV through survivor support

38 | In Other News

African women pioneering space exploration

4 | Public Sector Leaders | August 2023

52 | Regional Focus

Powering change: Energy resilience prioritised in Western Cape

54 | Legal Matters

Promoting gender diversity in the workplace through legislation

56 | Financial Fitness

Tips on debt management

58 | Upcoming Events August is Women’s Month

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August 2023 | Public Sector Leaders | 5

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EDITOR’S LETTER

BY FIONA WAKELIN

Letter from the Editor Welcome to the August edition of Public Sector Leaders (PSL)

In his letter to the nation, penned “From the desk of the President” on Monday, August 7, His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa focused on the achievements of South African women in the sporting arena: “Our women’s national football team, Banyana Banyana, the reigning Women’s Africa Cup of Nations champions, has delivered some stunning performances in the FIFA Women’s World Cup taking place in Australia and New Zealand. Our women’s netball team, the Proteas, put in a strong showing at the Netball World Cup that ended in Cape Town.

“In February, we hosted the first ICC Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup to take place on African soil. Our national team made history as the first South African team to reach the final,” – President Ramaphosa.

It is a busy month for public sector leaders, with President Cyril Ramaphosa receiving the Review Report of the National Development Plan (NDP) presented by the National Planning Commission (NPC) at the Union Buildings and His Excellency meeting with African Heads of State who are part of the African Peace Initiative on the Russia-Ukraine War on the sidelines of the 2nd Russia-Africa Summit. President Ramaphosa also attended the Welcome Reception in honour of the Heads of State and Government ahead of the 2nd Russia -Africa Summit which took place on 27-28 July, 2023.

Our cover icon this month is the CEO of the Water Research Commission, Dr. Jennifer Molwantwa. It’s an undeniable fact that bears repeating: “Water is life.”

This seems to be a simple point, but once one begins to delve deeper into the work of the Water Research Commission, it’s clear that protecting such a scarce resource is everybody’s responsibility. Under the leadership of Dr. Molwantwa and Chairperson, Dr. Rethabile Melamu, the Water Research Commission is playing its part to address the country’s challenges through innovation in the water and sanitation sector.

In this bumper edition of Public Sector Leaders, we include regulars such as Addressing the Nation - Letter from the Presidency - and a Calendar of Commemorative Events. In Other News, we turn our gaze to the stars: women in space: Adriana Marais, Jessie Ndaba and Sara Sabry, a young Egyptian astronaut and founder of the Deep Space Initiative. Legal Matters looks at the all-important issue of gender diversity in the workplace and our Woman in Leadership this month focuses on Auditor General Tsakani Maluleke. Keeping with the theme of Financial Fitness, we zoom in on debt management. Our Regional Focus is the Western Cape and our Trailblazer is Khethiwe Sibanyoni.

The articles in PSL August celebrate all things related to women empowerment and we have included for your reading pleasure a women’s rights feature; we take a look at the lessons from the 1956 march; and, like President Ramaphosa, we celebrate the achievements of top South African sports women.

Whether you are in the public sector, the private sector, supply chain or an interested individual, PSL has something for you.

We hope you enjoy the read.

FIONA WAKELIN | GROUP EDITOR

ADDRESSING THE NATION

BY FIONA WAKELIN

Addressing the Nation

S

outh Africa’s sportswomen are showing the way to a more equal society

In his letter to the nation, penned “From the desk of the President” on Monday 7 August, His Excellency focussed on the achievements by South African women in the sporting arena: “Our women’s national football team, Banyana Banyana, the reigning Women’s Africa Cup of Nations champions, has delivered some stunning performances in the FIFA Women’s World Cup taking place in Australia and New Zealand. Our women’s netball team, the Proteas, put in a strong showing at the Netball World Cup that ended in Cape Town.

“In February we hosted the first ICC Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup to take place on African soil. Our national team made history as the first South African team to reach the final,” – President Ramaphosa.

These achievements have been accomplished by overcoming adversity and achieving success despite all odds.

President Ramaphosa invoked Women’s Day and how these achievements are a reminder of the journey we have taken in building a South Africa where women are full and equal participants in society. They are also a reminder of how much further we still need to go.

“Participation in sport provides numerous benefits and positive effects. Engaging in sports helps maintain a healthy lifestyle, improving overall physical fitness, building strength, perseverance, endurance and flexibility. Regular physical activity through sports can also reduce the risk of chronic illnesses. Sports can also impart critical life skills like discipline. These skills also include leadership, time management, goal setting and problem-solving.

“Competing in sports fosters a sense of empowerment among women, helping them build confidence in their abilities and break gender stereotypes. Through sports, women can challenge societal norms, experiencing personal growth and achievement. All of these can enable women and girls to be more assertive and confident in society, and can support the fight against discrimination and gender-based violence,” – H.E. Ramaphosa.

President Ramaphosa went on to mention that there are both private and public programmes developing mass participation in women’s sports and that one of the major issues is that male-dominated team sports like football, cricket and rugby still receive the lion’s share of funding and sponsorship - these codes all have established professional leagues, whereas women’s football, cricket and rugby do not. All of this contributes to the huge disparity between the remuneration of female and male athletes – which is an affront to South African sportswomen.

His Excellency suggested that sponsors and sporting bodies should direct greater resources to women’s sports – which would then grow and attract larger audiences – this would have a domino effect because with a greater following, women’s sports events will provide greater value to sponsors.

“The success of the major women’s sports tournaments that have been hosted in South Africa will no doubt bolster our bid to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2027. Our nation’s sportswomen have proven themselves, time and again. It is up to us, as a society, to provide the necessary environment that will enable a new generation of women and girls to thrive and excel in sport.

“Working together as government, business and the sporting fraternity we can level the playing field for women’s sports in our country. And by so doing, we will take another step towards a more equal society,” – President Ramaphosa. n

August 2023 | Public Sector Leaders | 11

COVER STORY WATER RESEARCH COMMISSION

CEO, DR JENNIFER MOLWANTWA WATER RESEARCH COMMISSION

Water Research Commission CEO, Dr Jennifer Molwantwa, and Chairperson, Dr Rethabile Melamu Protecting our most vital resource

By Fiona Wakelin and Koketso Mamabolo

I

t’s an undeniable fact that bears repeating: “Water is life.” This seems to be a simple point, but once one begins to delve deeper into the work of the Water Research Commission, it’s clear that protecting such a scarce resource is everybody’s responsibility. Under the leadership of CEO, Dr Jennifer Molwantwa, and Chairperson, Dr Rethabile Melamu, the Water Research Commission is playing its part to address the country’s challenges through innovation in the water and sanitation sector. Here the CEO and Chairperson share with Public Sector Leaders an important message, mapping out the Commission’s work, approach and aspirations.

STARTING AT THE SOURCE “I keep telling my colleagues about my grandmother, who I believe is my greatest inspiration,” says Dr Molwantwa, describing how she learnt from an early age the importance of using water wisely. “She lived in the rural areas of the North West and I visited during the school holidays. There was no waste management, there was no water available except for one community borehole. So I

learned water science at a very early age. She explains how her grandmother would take her through the consequences of allowing water to drip from the buckets they used to fetch water. Their garden was irrigated using recycled water and they dug an array of pits in the yard to separate refuse into different piles. Bottles and cans in one, vegetable peels in the next, paper, ash and manure in others.

Dr Molwantwa recalls how they always waited a day before drinking water they had just brought home. Her grandmother would put a tiny amount of bleach and place the water in the sun. Drinking water was separated and placed behind a door, and Dr Molwantwa realised later that it was to prevent the water getting polluted, shielding it from any debris flowing in. These were lessons in scarcity, and the ability for us all to play our part in protecting our most precious resource.

“So you can see how water science was done by a woman

that didn’t have much, and no education. Look at rural women and how they are really making the most out of the little available water,” says Dr Molwantwa.

“We recently started a programme in Giyani, where we are supporting about 500 subsistence farmers, mainly women, teaching them on how to utilise their business knowledge and enhance, but also making sure that they provide for their children.”

Dr Molwantwa opens a window into how the Water Research Commission has evolved over the years, and speaks passionately about the role it has to play in the country and beyond. The Water Research Commission (WRC) was born out of a crisis, when droughts had struck South Africa and, as a result, the WRC was established in 1971 through the Water Research Act. Dr Molwantwa explains to Public Sector Leaders that at the time it was recognised that the country required a focus on research in “water provision, water availability and water

August 2023 | Public Sector Leaders | 13

COVER STORY WATER RESEARCH COMMISSION

resource management,” in order to find solutions.

“And over the last 50 years we have worked on that mandate, where we are actually coordinating, collaborating and ensuring that research development and innovation takes place within the water sector.

And we really focus on identifying the research needs,” says Dr Molwantwa.

“Going forward, we have to be the entity for government to call on when faced with water security, climate change, monitoring, risk etc... We have a critical role in supporting the Department of Water and Sanitation, and the different spheres of government.

Such a specialised entity must be used optimally, to provide evidence-based solutions, with a

quick turnaround. The people, and government, should see the value in our methods, solutions and advise.”

Dr Rethabile Melamu highlights the role the private sector could play: “The WRC has the potential to support the innovation ecosystem to commercialise water and sanitation, create some entrepreneurial ventures and create much needed jobs.”

Dr Molwantwa identifies the different stakeholders who rely on the WRC’s work, including the Department of Water and Sanitation, the environmental sector, mining and agriculture, with a more recent focus on local government.

“Once we’ve identified the needs, we then craft our research

14 | Public Sector Leaders | August 2023

agenda in-line with being able to respond, which is ensuring that we have water security in South Africa,” adds Dr Molwantwa. The WRC is leveraging technological innovation in the sector for development and planning around water resources, identifying systems to monitor and the quality of the available water. “We’re also doing a lot of advisory work. And that involves supporting local governments, or municipalities, in identifying some of the technology they want for water treatment works or waste water treatment works,” explains Dr Molwantwa. She describes the WRC as a “catalyst” in their work with municipalities, ensuring that the right technology is procured.

The importance of the work is highlighted by the work they’ve been doing for the Department of Water and Sanitation around

the recent cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal, just outside of Johannesburg, with trust in their position as an independent body with sound methodologies and technical expertise.

“We can be trusted to provide the truth without fear or favour, and we have also identified new and emerging health risks and we’re working with the different departments.”

Since it began its work more than half a century ago, the WRC has evolved from the basic research it was conducting in the early days, with a shift towards what Dr Molwantwa describes as stakeholder-oriented research which is geared towards solving particular issues.

“We realised that what you call ‘blue side’, or innovative research - new research that postgraduates do in the universities - does contribute to solutions. But we’ve also said we need to do more with applied research; research outcomes that can really be implemented, make a difference, solve problems and we need to make sure that we’re also developing innovation and technologies that we can showcase to the local municipalities.”

FLOWING IN A NEW DIRECTION In her two decades of experience in water management, Dr Molwantwa has seen how the government, through the Department, has changed its role in managing water resources and planning development.

“We’ve seen that there’s a lot of work that’s been done in terms of treatment, regulations, guidelines and a lot of that work has come

out of the Water Research Commission,” she says.

This does not mean that the country isn’t still facing a range of challenges which the WRC is working tirelessly to address.

Water quality has been in decline over the years, with pollution and issues with solid waste management compounding the ageing infrastructure and a lack of highly skilled personnel in municipalities. Technological developments have improved the ability to use monitoring equipment to assess the pollution.

Dr Molwantwa details how the pesticides and fertilisers used in the agriculture sector, and chemicals being used in the cosmetics industry, can have long-term effects on genes and cause hormonal imbalances.

“We’re finding now that there are new and emerging contaminants of concern, and we really have to start dealing with finding an implementation plan for how we’re going to phase these out. How do we phase in new and biodegradable and environmentally friendly chemicals and alternatives to make sure that the environment and water resources are safe?”

She explains that the country uses a unique water provision model, flowing from the regulator to the water provision authorities such as local government, with the WRC pushing for self-regulation.

“Having conducted a study that identified flaws in the current model of water service delivery, we propose that an entity with technical and highly skilled personnel is required to deliver water services to our people. there should be procurement

process that can yield quick turnround times. Different options of delivering water in sanitation must be considered taking into consideration the climatic conditions, infrastructure, source water etc...”

“What needs to be looked at is how do we review and redefine this model to ensure that there is effective water provision,” she says, also touching on the importance of reaching far flung areas, which are in danger of being neglected.

“What about those that are in the areas where there’s no water?”

Dr Molwantwa also highlights the work the WRC is doing around extreme weather events such as flooding, along with extended periods of drought: “We have modelled for flood lines. How we modelled for where development can take place has to change,” she says.

“So now we’re working on new modules around flood and drought identification and warning systems so that we can be prepared.”

“What’s important is that we need to recognise that climate change is here, and we need to change our behaviour around water management, water development and water use, so that we are sustainable,” emphasises Dr Molwantwa.

Sustainability, which organisations are grappling with through the standards being set in ESG frameworks, is something organisations are embracing, albeit with more still needing to be done, as Chairperson, Dr Melamu, explains:

August 2023 | Public Sector Leaders | 15

sustainability and water security,” says Dr Molwantwa.

COVER STORY WATER RESEARCH COMMISSION

She provides an example of a water recycling project which the WRC has been working on for the past decade.

The non-reticulated toilets, which she says would be perfect for rural schools where there are no recycling facilities, allow for solids to be separated from the water which can then be used for irrigation purposes.

Solids can, after treatment, be used as environmentally f riendly fertilisers.

DR RETHABILE MELAMU WATER RESEARCH COMMISSION

“Most organisations have paid limited attention to the ‘environment’ aspects of ESG such as accounting for the carbon footprint of the organisation.”

Dr Molwantwa echoes this point, reiterating the need to develop in a sustainable manner and create awareness amongst communities and public officials.

“We can’t just keep giving and developing everywhere and thinking there’s going to be water,” says Dr Molwantwa. “One of the challenges around that is that now we are facing not only climate change but also the lack of energy availability.”

She calls for a more considered approach to pumping water, using gravity and solar energy to move water from one place to another.

And while the 2030 deadline for the National Development Plan is fast approaching, Dr Molwantwa is encouraged by the work already being done by the Department of Water and Sanitation to establish water management agencies at the local level, which allow for communities to get involved in decision-making and for greater awareness of the behaviour required for sustainable water availability.

“We really have to work hard.

It takes everyone. I always say water is not just the government’s business.”

THE BEST KEPT SECRET “Technology will obviously bring us a big game changer in terms of

16 | Public Sector Leaders | August 2023

The private sector is also coming to the party. “There have been exciting businesses whose growth I have witnessed,” says Dr Melamu.

“Innovations in the water space include macadamia nut shells as part of filtration systems for the purification of water, especially in rural areas. I have also witnessed some innovative technologies for treatment of acid mine water, a prevalent challenge in provinces such as Gauteng.”

“You know, water is life,” says Dr Molwantwa, speaking of how the rapid growth of the population puts a strain on water resources, as well the movement of people from rural to the urban areas, which is causing imbalances in the water supply.

In South Africa, the WRC works closely with the private sector to look at prototypes and models for ways to develop them for local use and the commission also has close ties with the international water research community, being founding members of the Global Water Research Coalition.

“In this international platform we discuss ways in which to improve our technologies, ways to improve planning, and how to manage resources,” explains Dr Molwantwa.

“The research team from South Africa sometimes gets involved in a project where they each contribute case studies from different countries.

“We get to learn, faster, what others have done or what others have done in the long term, and get to see what the challenges are and see where the opportunities for technological development are.

“Our researchers at the WRC, highly skilled in technical areas, get to also participate in international conferences, workshops and training, to gain knowledge, develop better skills, but to also develop their careers.”

The WRC are also members of the African Water and Sanitation Association, as well as the International Water Association.

And as Dr Molwantwa notes, this international cooperation shows the role the WRC is playing to solve global challenges, not just those limited to our own borders.

Together with the University of KwaZulu-Natal and their partners, including universities from other parts of the world, the WRC has adopted sanitation technology which has been developed through funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

“It is key with every project that we have, we’ve got an element of knowledge dissemination. So we don’t say, ‘just do the project, and then finish and walk away.’

We do training.”

She cites the example of the investment they’ve made in MOOC (massive open online courses), which are freely available online.

“It’s not just us who are partnering, we also have international lecturers

who contribute around sanitation, water and training for public service officials, for business people, for industries.”

Their doors are open to anyone operating in the public sector with a problem that needs solving.

Dr Molwantwa laments the lack of awareness around the WRC’s work amongst the South African public, as well as some public officials.

Dr Melamu considers their work to be the best kept secret.

“Start at the WRC,” says Dr Molwantwa. “When we have the information we make sure we get you that information and assist you in being able to understand that information.” n

“We need to find the mechanism to now take the WRC out there to make people see the impact of the work that we do, but also where possible to make a difference, change culture and behaviour,” continues Dr Molwantwa.

“We’ve got very good researchers, but scientists are not the best communicators. They communicate in a scientific environment, in a scientific manner.

So we also need to start looking at bringing in onboard, within the WRC, service providers from the social sciences, people that can decode and transcribe complex, technical information and make it simple for people to understand, so that we’re not speaking from an ivory tower.”

“We have developed what we call a refined tool. And we are empowering communities to be able to know if their dam or water resource is safe to swim or to see if their activities as a community are contributing to the deterioration of the quality in the water. We’ve done training at a lot of schools. We did that in support of the departmental programme called Adopt a River.”

Dr Melamu is excited about positioning the WRC as a market intelligence and data hub for the water and sanitation sector. And, as Dr Molwantwa says, the WRC’s work is for the good of the public.

CONTACT Telephone: +27 12 761 9300 Email: info@wrc.org.za Address: Lynnwood Bridge Office Park, Bloukrans Building, 4 Daventry Street, Lynnwood Manor Pretoria, 0081

August 2023 | Public Sector Leaders | 17

UNIVERSITY OF MPUMALANGA

BY FIONA WAKELIN

A leading light:

Professor Thoko Mayekiso, VC, University of Mpumalanga BACKGROUND Professor Thoko Mayekiso, started her academic career as a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the then University of Transkei (now Walter Sisulu University). She rose through the ranks as an Associate Professor, Professor, Head of Department of Psychology and Vice Dean at the same University and then proceeded to the University of the Witwatersrand where she occupied the positions of Head of School, Chair of Psychology, Deputy Dean and Acting Executive Dean of the Faculty of Humanities. At the Nelson Mandela University Professor Mayekiso was Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and later, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Engagement. In November 2014, she assumed the position of ViceChancellor at the University of Mpumalanga.

Together with training received in Clinical Psychology and exposure to empowerment programmes such as the HERS-SA Academy, and the Higher Education Leadership and Management (HELM), the above four institutions have contributed in different ways to her leadership development - as has been the exposure to studying and working in Germany, where she obtained her PhD in Psychology (cum laude) at the Free University Berlin and working in the United Kingdom as a Clinical Psychologist.

“My field of study is Psychology and I am a registered Clinical Psychologist with the Health Professions Council of South Africa. My research interests are in Child and Adolescent Psychology and in particular adolescent adjustment disorders including HIV and AIDs. In recent years, I have

20 | Public Sector Leaders | August 2023

started conducting research on leadership and in particular women leadership in higher education”.

The expression “rising through the ranks’’ appositely describes her academic and professional trajectories, and prepared her for the role of Vice-Chancellor.

“When I was 13 years old, my father made the following observation, ‘You are a girl of determination’. His words became indelibly etched in my heart and mind. I keep reminding myself in my leadership journey, that I am a woman of determination. This helps me navigate any leadership challenges that I am confronted with. I believe that determination is the driving force towards excellence and, in order to work consistently and tirelessly at something, one needs perseverance. The experience, for example, of having to study Psychology in Germany, in German, and doing very well, having learnt the language in only six months, made me realise my excellent abilities as a person. These experiences increased my self-belief and self-esteem and I believe enabled me to unleash my potential and become the best I can be, thereby attain the highest position in University management and leadership. This contributed to the development of mental toughness and a ‘’never say die ‘’ attitude which came in handy to

navigate difficult situations in the workplace,” - Prof Mayekiso.

THE UNIVERSITY The University of Mpumalanga (UMP) enrolled the first cohort of students in 2014 and since then has experienced a rapid increase in enrolments: 169 students started in three programmes in 2014. Nine years later, in 2023, the University enrolled 8348 students in 65 programmes with 80% of the students coming from the Province of Mpumalanga.

UMP is a 21st century institution and as a result there is an understanding and appreciation of the potential impact of technology on university operations.

CURRICULUM ALIGNMENT WITH THE NATIONAL ECONOMY The curriculum offered at the University is aligned to the national economy. The Programme Qualification Mix takes into consideration the needs of the province and the country as a whole. Agriculture, Hospitality, Tourism, Nature Conservation and Environmental Sciences are among the courses and qualifications offered by UMP, and are in high demand in the province. The programme offering is also informed by the national list of scarce and critical skills and the University offers a number of qualifications in ICT starting from Higher Certificate to Postgraduate Diplomas well as Doctoral programmes in

From the outset, UMP acquired state of the art ICT infrastructure to enable access to the latest technology. Before COVID-19, the University used online teaching and learning as a form of blended learning. The University had acquired the Moodle Learning Platform for this purpose.

“Our journey has been guided initially by Vision 2022 and recently by Vision 2030, which position UMP as ‘An African University leading in creating opportunities for sustainable development through innovation’. Therefore, the developments over the past nine years have been directed towards advancing this vision.

Agriculture, Natural Sciences and Development Studies - which addresses the need to increase the production of Doctoral graduates and the number of academic staff members with Doctoral degrees as per the National Development Plan.

HIGHLIGHTS From the very beginning as Vice Chancellor at the University, Professor Mayekiso prioritised the establishment of international partnerships to facilitate both staff and students exchange which have provided staff and students with study abroad opportunities.

August 2023 | Public Sector Leaders | 21

PROF THOKO MAYEKISO, VICE CHANCELLOR (RIGHT), WITH CHANCELLOR, DEPUTY CHIEF JUSTICE MANDISA MAYA (LEFT)

“We have created an environment conducive to teaching, learning, and research. The campus infrastructure provides a multifaceted environment which inspires both social and intellectual exchange in an atmosphere that is unconventional, original, and creative.”

its 10th year anniversary on 03 November, since its establishment in August 2013. The University was officially launched on 31 October 2013. One of the highlights was the appointment of Justice Mandisa Maya as the Chancellor of the University of Mpumalanga in 2021.

WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME OF HER HIGHLIGHTS? “I am privileged to be the first Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mpumalanga as that will be recorded in the history of the institution as the Founding Vice-Chancellor. There will always be one Founding Vice-Chancellor and that is a humbling experience to be part of the pioneering journey, “luhambo lwemhlahlandlela”. The privilege of starting a new University has been a source of positive energy and motivation for me. I am grateful to the University Council for the confidence they bestowed upon me for this critical role.

“The new programmes, for example in hospitality, tourism, agriculture as well as nature conservation, spoke to the needs germane to the region.

Investment in training competent Foundation Phase Educators and giving the isiNdebele and siSwati languages a prominent profile are some of the unique contributions UMP is making in the region.

The deliberate pursuit of being an African university saw us seeking collaboration with other institutions of higher learning on the continent. The country has benefitted from having a gateway to Mozambique and Eswatini in an academic sense. The reciprocity – continentally speaking, is standing us in good stead - and expanding the footprint of higher education, where it previously had no presence.

Some of our students have qualified and have jobs because of UMP. Some students have been accorded a second chance – due to the reasonable fees UMP charges the students. Access for success is huge in our realm and our pass rate is 85%. The University is creating employment opportunities in the Province and is contributing to the economy of Mbombela, in particular.

“Starting a new University can be described as an exciting challenge. In my inauguration address in 2015, I made the following statement which continues to guide our development as the University, “Pioneers have to build a firm foundation, mindful that what they are creating should be durable, marketable, sustainable and enduring. Generations yet unborn, must find a thriving University, one they will be proud to join, because we who pioneered it, laid a firm foundation, and got into this immense project with body, mind and soul”. UMP will be celebrating

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“We have NRF-rated researchers who serve as mentors and coaches to emerging academics.

We pull a golden thread between teaching and learning, research and engagement, and provide development opportunities in all the three core missions of the institution.

“The state-of-the art facilities provide a conducive environment for teaching, learning, and research. We have enabling policies and make funding available so that our staff can pursue higher degrees and attend conferences nationally and internationally.

We provide a collegial context and have earmarked dates on the University calendar where we have awards ceremonies – recognising excellence among staff and students but also empowering others to follow in the illustrious example set by others.”

LEADERSHIP STYLE Prof Mayekiso believes in situational leadership which means the leadership style she adopts is informed by each situation: “I lead from the front, from the middle and from behind as each situation presents itself. At the same time, I draw on the insights on human behaviour gained from my discipline, Psychology, to inform my leadership style. I also believe in leading by example. The same demands that I make on myself – discipline, dedication, meeting deadlines and ensuring that we always work at peak performance, are demanding that I make on my colleagues as well.

I practice principled leadership which is leadership that is informed by one’s values and ethics.

A principle is a general belief that one has about the way one should behave. It is a set of rules of personal conduct. The principles that have informed my leadership journey are the following: The principle of listening; the principle of engagement; the principle of communicating effectively; the principle of promotion of teamwork; the principle of appreciating connectedness; the principle of trustworthiness; the principle of self-acceptance; the principle of caring deeply for all staff; leading with integrity and practising fairness.”

talented people and have been able to share in their achievements and celebrate them.

“The greatest privilege comes from working with students, being able to help them succeed, to share in their successes and to work to ensure that they have a learning experience that sustains them for the rest of their lives. It is a privilege to be in a position to influence future generations. It is important to realise that it is not about you as a person, but about the contribution you are making to the lives of others.

Mentoring and coaching younger generations of students and emerging academics is something I find extremely rewarding. To closely watch a student grow from a timid individual, to a confident and selfassured person in a short two year period has made me value the career that I have entered.

“There are so many exciting opportunities on the horizon. Holistic development of students, research excellence, academics who relentlessly pursue knowledge, and getting indigenous knowledge systems to have equally weighty equity like Western epistemologies while solving uniquely African challenges keep one motivated.

“The journey is long, and creating opportunities is an endless exercise – setting a firm foundation on which future generations can build should be taken with both hands.” n

A MESSAGE TO YOU, OUR READERS: “The challenges of life never stop. Humans draw inspiration from other humans, especially those who excel and distinguish themselves from others. Those of us who are privileged to lead should realise then when we excel and go the extra mile in what we do, we will inspire others.”

WE ASKED PROF MAYEKISO WHAT EXCITES HER ABOUT WHAT SHE DOES: “When I reflect on my experiences over the past nine years, I am amazed at the people I have met, the places I visited and the opportunities afforded to me. I have known and worked with gifted and

August 2023 | Public Sector Leaders | 23

INTERVIEW MASKEW MILLER LEARNING

Ruth Shogoe -

Group Executive Corporate & Public Sector, Maskew Miller Learning

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R

uth Shogoe was appointed as the Group Executive Corporate and Public Sector at Maskew Miller Learning effective July 1, 2023. Her new role entails maintaining and building strategic relationships that strengthen Novus Holdings as well as Maskew Miller Learning’s offerings. She believes everyone has something to give, and together we can build a great society Firstly, please tell us about how your career path led to you becoming the Group Executive Corporate & Public Sector at Maskew Miller Learning I have gained valuable expertise in the field of Human Resources for at least 14 years, with my most recent role being HR Executive for Maskew Miller Learning.

My industry exposure was obtained across the e-commerce, fintech, digital banking, education, and media sectors. I come from a solid commercial educational background and have acquired a BCom Economics & Econometrics Degree, an HR Strategy Diploma, and a Master of Business Administration. In addition, I have an Executive Coaching certificate as well as a Change Management Practitioner Certificate.

What are your key responsibilities at the company?

In my new role, I will be maintaining and building strategic relationships that strengthen Novus Holdings as well as Maskew Miller Learning’s offerings. The role is created to partner with Public Sector stakeholders in alignment with President Ramaphosa’s expression of “the need for the private sector to work with the government to overcome economic obstacles.”

Please share some of your most memorable milestones at Maskew Miller Learning.

My most memorable moment has been the first time we had an office relaunch post-pandemic. The hype, excitement, and passion of seeing real people and celebrating together was epic. I was asked to facilitate the order of the day and it was a great cultural fit moment for me.

Please touch on the importance of “uplifting, developing and advancing learners by being the leading provider of innovative, trusted, and quality educational content and resources” in South Africa.

We understand the significance of ensuring that

the intended curriculum translates into the enacted curriculum in the teaching process. The translation from the intended curriculum to the curriculum experienced by students is possible when high-quality educational materials and resources are part of the teaching and learning process. Critical issues such as ‘reading for meaning’ can only be addressed when learners are provided relevant content and resources.

The education space is confronted with the challenge of an extensive collection of available content, spanning both free and paid options. Selecting content and resources that are aligned with the requirements of teaching and learning is complex. Not all available content adheres to sound pedagogical principles. Hence, our commitment at MML lies in meticulously integrating appropriate teaching and learning frameworks when we craft materials and resources, catering to the needs of educators, learners and lecturers.

What has the rebranding meant for the organisation?

The fact that we can say we are a “Proudly South African” company is everything right now. A sense of locality, pride, relevance, and opportunity to align our efforts to solve real socio-economic challenges through education. The MML team worked very hard to rebrand our new purpose, vision, mission, and values. Not only was the focus on culture, but we also revamped our software and systems all around as well as rebranded some of our products. This was a season of building afresh while maintaining our core business.

Our people have been at the heart of everything we do and hence we successfully managed to move the needle.

Please share a message of inspiration for our readership.

Looking at the South African landscape, we are faced with many socio-economic challenges, some of which are out of our control. Despite the reality, it will take all of us having the mindset to make a difference to positively shape the future of our country. Education is one aspect of doing so and empowering the youth, and hence we need to put all of our efforts into investing in and encouraging the next generation. n

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ADVERTORIAL MASKEW MILLER LEARNING

Meet Robo -

a new friend to the Smart-Kids family

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obo is one of our proudly South African additions to the well-loved Smart-Kids series for Foundation Phase Coding and Robotics. She is an endearing humanoid robot and a new friend to the Smart-Kids characters. Her silver exterior, pink bow, cute costumes and glowing circuits show young learners that both girls and boys can be tech-savvy superstars.

Robo opens an exciting and imaginative world to young learners from all around the country, taking them on a journey into the coding and robotics space. With her guidance and participation in activities, Robo teaches young boys and girls logical thinking, decomposition skills, internet safety, and how to code using coding blocks. Most importantly, she ignites confidence and models collaboration in problem-solving, empowering learners to tackle any challenge and unleashing their boundless creativity.

In a field traditionally dominated by males and most often marketed to little boys, Robo promotes gender equality and inclusivity in the robotics workforce. Robo’s impactful presence in the series encourages learners that robotics is indeed for everyone, paving the way for greater female representation in STEM careers and leadership positions. n

The Robo Team

Carmen Meyer

Claire Verstraete

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Jashanta Naidoo

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WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP: AUDITOR GENERAL

BY JESSIE TAYLOR

Cracking down on corruption through new Auditor-General powers

A

uditor-General Tsakani Maluleke has embraced new powers afforded to her in recently passed legislation to clamp down on corruption. She estimated that her zero-tolerance stance on corruption had saved the government more than R630-million in potential losses thanks to accounting officers being compelled to act after being issued with material irregularities.

SA’s first female auditor general Ms Maluleke recently told Parliament that the powers given to the Auditor-General in the Public Audit Amendment Act are starting to bear fruit, preventing further losses to the state. She said that in the 2021-22 financial year, 179 material irregularities were identified in national and provincial government entities, leading to a loss of R12-billion.

However, the losses could have been significantly more without the new powers. Ms Maluleke estimated that accounting officers’ actions after being issued with material irregularities prevented the loss of a further R636-million.

She believes the additional powers have started to move accounting officers from inaction to action in the quest for clean government.

Ms Maluleke is the first woman to be named South Africa’s auditor-general in the institution’s 100-year history. She was also the first female deputy auditor-general.

She has more than 20 years’ experience as a Chartered Accountant, working in the private and public sectors in various areas, including auditing, consulting, corporate

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advisory, development finance, investment management and skills development agencies.Ms Maluleke has also served on the Presidential BEE Advisory Council, where she successfully led a subcommittee that developed recommendations for broad-based black economic empowerment, as chairperson of the CA Charter Council, and as a non-executive member of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (FAIS) Ombud committee, where she advised the setting up of the FAIS Ombud office.

She has a passion for actively contributing to advancing black men and women in the accountancy profession, and she has worked with various organisations, including Business Unity South Africa, African Women Chartered Accountants, and the Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants of Southern Africa (Abasa), of which she is a past president. She currently holds the position of the non-executive chairperson of the board of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. She is also a fellow and moderator of the African Leadership Initiative and the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Taking a tough stance on corruption Ms Maluleke said for years, the Auditor General of South Africa had sounded the alarm over increasing mismanagement, the leakage of public funds, and increasing irregular expenditure – demonstrating that little attention was being paid to the Auditor General’s reports.

When the Public Audit Amendment Act came into effect in 2019, it allowed the Auditor General of South Africa to refer suspected material irregularities found during audits to public bodies for further investigation and to compel

accounting authorities to “take appropriate remedial action” where irregularities exist.

Should accounting authorities or officers fail to implement the Auditor General of South Africa’s remedial action, the Auditor-General can issue a certificate of debt requiring the officer or authority to repay the amount in question.

Ms Maluleke said the Auditor General of South Africa was encouraged to see improved responsibility from heads of departments to respond to material irregularities.

She said they started subjecting departments and entities to queries into material irregularities after the law was passed. These were found in vulnerable areas like procurement, payments, resource management, revenue management and misuse of public resources.

“We identified 179 material irregularities for provincial and national government together, and 169 of those had an estimated financial loss of R12 billion. We also identified that nine of these related to causing substantial harm to public institutions,” she said.

About the Auditor-General of South Africa The Auditor-General of South Africa is the supreme audit institution of South Africa. By law, it is the only institution that has to audit and report on how the South African government is spending taxpayers’ money.

It was established in 1911, but the roles and responsibilities of the organisation were expanded when the South African Constitution came into effect in 1996.

The Auditor-General of South Africa annually produces audit reports on all government departments, public entities, municipalities and public institutions. In addition, the audit outcomes are analysed in general reports that cover both the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) cycles, and the Auditor-General of South Africa produces reports on discretionary audits, performance audits, and other special audits. n

“In the majority of instances, accounting officers have taken appropriate action. Eighty-two per cent of instances are where accounting officers are taking the right sort of action. Essentially, the encouragement we want to communicate is that there is improved responsibility in the system. Accounting officers are responding to material irregularities,”said Ms Maluleke.

In addition, the Auditor General of South Africa has referred eight material irregularities to public bodies, such as the Hawks and Special Investigation Unit, for further investigation.

“The big story here is we have been able to use this instrument [material irregularities s] to get a number of accounting officers to shift from inaction – which was the big worry when the law was changed – to action, which is what we want to see,” Ms Maluleke said.

“The reality is that public sector performance, accountability and consequence management will be realised only if all role players diligently execute on their given mandate and collaborate in instilling a culture of accountability and positioning public institutions to better serve citizens.”

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TRAILBLAZER - KHETHIWE SIBANYONI

BY JESSIE TAYLOR

Fighting genderbased violence through survivor support

K

hethiwe Sibanyoni spent her lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic assisting the victims of genderbased violence by providing them with a small token of comfort. Today, she has launched a foundation that works to combat gender-based violence and provide support to victims of it.

Giving comfort to gender-based violence survivors Khethiwe started by putting together comfort bags to offer hope to survivors of gender-based violence.

Today, she has developed Khethi’s Foundation which works to reduce femicide and gender-based violence through collaboration, raising awareness, and supporting and empowering survivors.

She assists women who are in danger or are experiencing gender-based violence to connect with shelters and the police to allow them to access safety and social services, saying her work is “moving a victim from a place of pain to a home of healing”.

The foundation focusses on detection, prevention, and correction, and is developing an Educare programme

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that will empower survivors with knowledge, practical skills, and training for economic independence.

“After thorough research, we realised that genderbased violence numbers are fuelled by high dependency on male counterparts, especially for financial security. This programme, therefore, aims to provide these survivors with knowledge, practical skills and training so they have realistic incomegenerating options”.

This will allow more women to become economically independent and reduce their vulnerability to gender-based violence.

Research showed that during the lockdown, calls for help from women experiencing gender-based violence increased dramatically. At the time, the government gender-based violence and femicide command centre alone recorded more than 120 000 victims in the first three weeks of lockdown.

She started the Comfort Bag Movement to provide survivors with essential items and a sense of dignity when they arrived at shelters.

“Many times these survivors would arrive with minimal or no items at all. The bags are meant to offer feelings of support and dignity and further grant economic relief to these gender-based violence shelters and victims,” - Khetihwe.

The bags contain among other things, a face cloth, soap, body lotion, hairbrush, sanitary towels, toothbrush, underwear, a notebook and a pen and each one costs around R300 to make.

Initially Khethiwe used her social media accounts to make a call for donations, as well as receiving sponsorship from family and friends, but soon the project was supported by the Epic Foundation. which helped her identify areas where there was a great need for comfort bags.

Fighting the ‘second pandemic’ At the time, President Ramaphosa dubbed genderbased violence as the “second pandemic” South Africa was facing.

To address the scourge of gender-based violence, he established the National Strategic Plan on GenderBased Violence and Femicide on 30 April 2020.

The Plan shows a high-level political commitment to acting decisively against gender-based violence and feeds into President Ramaphosa’s Emergency

Response Action Plan developed in partnership with civil society, activists, and researchers.

The National Strategic Plan, which had around R21billion allocated towards it, aims to eradicate genderbased violence by 2030. The 23-year-old activist from Germiston said she said she expanded her work of providing comfort to women who had experienced gender-based violence after she realised there was a need for a more systematic approach to address the growing issue.

Gender-based violence in South Africa The World Health Organisation estimates that 12.1 in every 100 000 women are victims of femicide in South Africa each year. This number is five times the global average.

South African women are vulnerable to high levels of intimate partner violence and sexual violence. This is evidenced in statistics that between 25% and 40% of South African women have experienced sexual or physical intimate partner violence in their lifetime.

The most recent quarterly crime statistics revealed that in the first three months of 2023, 1 0512 women were raped, 1 485 attempted murders of women were reported, and 969 women were killed. n

Source: The Citizen | Wits Vuvuzela | Briefly | LinkedIn | SAPS | World Health Organisation

August 2023 | Public Sector Leaders | 31

WOMEN IN SPORT

BY KOKETSO MAMABOLO

The Breadwinner’s Goal Fun, glory, gees and ubuntu

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here are three ideas around sport that seem to always capture the imagination. The first idea relates to the age-old concept of play. Here, the need to have fun, to explore possibilities, and enjoy the thrill of competition is seen as an intrinsic part of what makes us human. While we mostly associate it with children, even the greatest athletes on the biggest stages are merely participants in the never-ending search for fun.

WOMEN IN SPORT

BY KOKETSO MAMABOLO

The second describes the modern world, one where there are less wars over territory, less battles for nations to rally behind. Sport, in this instance, can be seen as a less brutal way of settling disputes where the stakes are much lower. In this idea, pride and glory can be obtained without lives being lost, without land being ravaged and whole nations being conquered

When Madiba first wielded the power of sport, Magaia was but a toddler. Born in December of the year of South Africa’s democracy, the world she was born into is different to the one she dazzles with her talent. Since the 90s, women’s sport has steadily fought for its place in the global arena, capturing hearts and extending the table for the next generations to have a seat.

The third idea is one which has, since the dawn of democracy in South Africa, become a compelling motif during times of success for the teams and athletes who are afforded the privilege of representing their countries. It is one that evinced a sense of hope for former President Nelson Mandela when he tried to use sport to unite a nation fresh from the divisions that had defined our society for decades, perhaps even centuries.

Banyana Banyana at the FIFA Women’s World Cup

Banyana Banyana head coach, Desiree Ellis, celebrating with President Ramaphosa When Banyana Banyana striker Hildah Magaia found herself on the end of a perfectly timed reverse pass from forward partner Thembi Kgatlana, her nickname, ‘breadwinner’, echoed across the country like a chant that was conjured up to keep a loss away from the women who were carrying the hopes of a nation during the team’s last group game at this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.

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Back home, while Banyana Banyana were threading passes and methodically working their way to the knockout stages, our national netball team, the Proteas, were lighting up the country’s most popular tourist destination with a wonderful display of skill and athleticism. Despite the 6th place finish, few will forget how they fought in the third quarter against a Jamaican side who looked poised to make it all the way to the final. The support and admiration they received, from people of all genders and races, highlighted quite clearly the undeniable power of sport to connect people purely on the basis of the place they call home.

Hildah “Breadwinner” Magaia

In those moments, all three of those ideas make sense.

When Italy equalised in the 74th minute of that nerve-wracking game against Banyana, the nation became aware of how quickly glory can be taken away, and Kgatlana’s winning goal, followed by the sound of the final whistle, gave us all pride in living here, being who we are collectively Earlier this year, when Kirsten Neuschäfer became the first woman to win the Golden Globe race (a solo yacht race around the world) the president of SA Sailing spoke of her achievement, a 50 000 km journey which involved more than 200 days alone at sea, with the same spirit that was alive at the CTICC, in Australasia, and at Newlands for the Women’s Cricket World Cup.

The Proteas players and staff with the Deputy President

The third idea comes back to what Madiba was working towards when he was building on the late Archbishop Tutu’s idea of a rainbow nation. But this time the script is playing out differently. The athletes themselves are using their status, influence and talent to drive transformation on global stages. They know how they can bring people together, even if it’s for sixty, ninety minutes or even the last day of a 234 day-long journey across the planet that everyone calls home. n

Proud supporters at the Netball World Cup at the CTICC

“We are so proud of Kirsten. She has made not only the country’s sailing community but the whole of South Africa proud and provided an exceptional example to both women and men of what’s possible with incredibly hard work and determination.”

Kirsten circumnavigated the globe without the use of modern technology. She was the only female contestant. A South African.The glory was hers, the pride ours. That’s the first idea.

When Banyana danced in celebration, we remembered why we say people ‘play’ sports.

That’s the second idea.

The yacht Kirsten Neuschäfer used to sail around the globe

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FEMALE ICONS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

BY JESSIE TAYLOR

Cabinet leading the way in gender parity

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hile women in South Africa may still be underrepresented in politics, they do hold their share of responsibility when it comes to South Africa’s Cabinet. Appointed in March this year, half of the posts are held by women – representing the dynamics of South African voters.

According to the latest Gender Series Volume IX: Women Empowerment report by Stats SA: They are more likely to hold mayoral positions than women (68% vs 32%) and parliament seats (54% to 46%). At the local government level, males were more likely to occupy councillor positions than females.

This is despite more women appearing on the voter’s role during elections.

“More women than men registered to vote and turned out to vote in the general and municipal elections in 2019 and 2021, respectively. Limpopo KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape were the provinces with the highest share of women registered to vote in the most recent local government elections.”

However, progress is being made in some areas.

The latest Gender Series report showed that Cabinet had reached parity, as 50% of the seats comprised women. Women’s seats in Parliament increased from 33% in 2004 to 46% in 2019.

“Politically, there is significant progress towards gender equality in Parliament with the number of women in parliamentary seats having increased since 2004,” the report said.

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Currently, out of 30 positions, 15 are held by women. Here, PSL lists female icons in the public sector:

Hon. Sindisiwe Chikunga: Chikunga was appointed Minister of Transport in March after serving as the Deputy Minister of Transport.

She previously held the positions of Deputy Minister of Public Service and Administration and Deputy Minister of Transport.

Hon. Thokozile Didiza: Didiza serves as the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development. Hon. Didiza was South Africa’s first woman Deputy Minister of Agriculture, a role she held between 1994 and 1999.

Hon. Mmamoloko Kubayi: Kubayi is the Minister of Human Settlements. She has served as a Minister in five portfolios: Tourism, Science and Technology, Communications and Energy. She also acted as a Minister of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hon. Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams: Ndabeni-Abrahams was appointed Minister of Small Business Development in August 2021 after serving as the Minister of Communications. She previously held the roles of Deputy Minister of Communications and Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services.

Hon. Naledi Pandor: Dr. Pandor was appointed Minister of International Relations and Cooperation in June 2019. She previously served as the Minister of Higher Education and Training, and the Minister of Science and Technology. She has been a Member of Parliament since 1994.

Hon. Barbara Creecy: Creecy has served as the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment since May 2019. She is one of the longest-serving Members of the Provincial Legislature, having joined the legislature in 1994.

Hon. Patricia De Lille: De Lille is the Minister of Tourism.

Before her appointment in March, she held the position of Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure. She is alsocurrently the leader of the political party GOOD.

Hon. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma: Dr. Dlamini Zuma was appointed as the Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities in March.

She was Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs before the appointment and has previously served as Minister in The Presidency: Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.

Hon. Noxolo Kiviet: Kiviet is the Minister of Public Service and Administration, a role she took up in March. She previously served as the Deputy Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure.

Hon. Thandi Modise: Modise is the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, a role she took up in August 2021. She previously served as the Speaker of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces.

Prior to her move to the national government, she was the Premier of the North West province.

Hon. Thembi Nkadimeng: In March, Nkadimeng was appointed Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. She was Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs before that. Between 2014 and 2021, she served as the Executive Mayor of Polokwane Municipality in the Limpopo Province.

Hon. Angie Motshekga: Motshekga has held the position of Minister of Basic Education since May 2009. She is also a member of the ANC National Executive Committee and the ANC Women’s League President.

Khumbudzo Ntshavheni: Ntshavheni was appointed Minister in the Presidency in March, moving her from her Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies post. She previously served as Minister of Small Business Development.

Hon. Lindiwe Zulu: Zulu has been the Minister of Social Development since May 2019.

She was previously appointed as the Minister of Small Business Development, the special advisor to the President on International Relations, and the South African Ambassador to Brazil.

Hon. Maropene Ramokgopa: Ramokgopa is the Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. She is a policymaker and diplomat with nine years of experience in economic diplomacy, multilateral diplomacy and diplomatic advisory roles. n

Source: SA Gov | Statistics SA

August 2023 | Public Sector Leaders | 37

WOMEN IN SPACE

BY JESSIE TAYLOR

African women pioneering space exploration

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frica is looking to the skies for inspiration in its technological advancement. And as African states are increasing the number of satellites they develop and launch into space, three African women are becoming the faces of the continent’s space exploration efforts.

African countries have launched over 40 satellites since 1998, with half of those sent to space in the last five years. In addition, the first satellites to be entirely developed in Africa were launched by South Africa’s Cape Peninsula University of Technology in January 2022. Between now and 2025, African nations are set to launch over 100 new satellites.

Satellite technology is a tool for African nations to improve agricultural productivity and resource management and connect Africans to the global network and its resources. Over the past several years, African nations have been using satellites to get a better view of continental problems such as climate change and terrorism, as well as to tackle the root causes of socioeconomic challenges.

However, the continent’s space exploration dreams have not stopped at satellites: three African women are at the forefront of space exploration.

Dr Adriana Marais The South African quantum biophysicist is preparing for life on the moon or other planets.

In 2019, she founded Proudly Human, an organisation that balances working towards the off-world settlements of the near future with uplifting communities already living in extreme environments on Earth. Dr Marais leads the organisation’s Off-World Project, which carries out a series of habitation experiments in the most extreme environments on Earth to prepare for life on the moon, Mars and beyond.

She is the director at the Foundation for Space Development Africa and is working towards Africa’s first mission to the moon with the Africa2Moon Project. The project hopes to inspire and educate a new generation of engineers and scientists on the continent, with the dream of placing a probe on the lunar surface or in orbit around it.

Dr Marais is currently a researcher at the University of Stellenbosch, the National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Sciences, and Singularity University. She also works as a scientific moderator on space resources with the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator and chair of space sciences at Tod’Aérs Aeronautics and Space Research.

Since childhood, Dr Marais has dreamed of living on another planet and she was in the running to move to the planet as part of the 100 Mars One Project.

Jessie Ndaba Jessie Ndaba is one of Africa’s finest aerospace engineers and co-founder of Astrofica, a company pioneering space technology through satellites. The company looks to pioneer Africa and its people forward to its rightful place in the global economy by building space systems and components of satellites.

The South African has a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Witwatersrand and is an alumnus of International Space University. She also worked on the SumbandilaSat program, the first government satellite under the directorship of the Department of Science and Technology.

Ms Ndaba has always been passionate about how space science and technology could impact the continent’s socioeconomic and human capital development and believes that Commercial Space companies have an essential role in implementing the African Space Policy.

Ms Ndaba says that one of her greatest fulfilments is seeing the “eye we have placed in space” delivering results, saying that we use space technology – such as that developed by Astrofica – daily.

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Sara Sabry Egyptian astronaut Sara Sabry is the first woman from Africa and the Arab world to travel to space.

Ms Sabry was launched into space in August 2022 on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket after she was selected by Space for Humanity to go on a mission to experience the Overview Effect and bring that back to Earth. She was selected as the world’s second Citizen Astronaut out of thousands of applicants from all over the world, and her seat to space was fully sponsored by both Space for Humanity and Blue Origin.

She has experience in fields such as Mechatronics and Computational Fluid Dynamics, Stem Cell Development, Robotic Surgery and Bioastronautics. She also has experience as a yoga instructor and CrossFit coach in Egypt.

She is pursuing her PhD in Aerospace Sciences at The University of North Dakota, focusing on Spacesuit Engineering and Design.

Ms Sabry founded Deep Space Initiative (DSI), a non-profit organization that aims to increase accessibility in the space field by providing opportunities for research and education while enabling deep space exploration for all humankind. Deep Space Initiative aims to provide global access to space exploration, emphasising the importance of Africa’s involvement in developing space technology and legislation reforms.

She believes that regional and international efforts should be stepped up to allow more Africans to engage in space exploration. n Source: 702 | Astrosarahsabry.com | Business insider | Guardian | Harvard International Review | Proudly Human | Space Generation Advisory Council | Space in Africa

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WOMEN’S RIGHTS

BY JESSIE TAYLOR

In pursuit of equality: The road to meeting South Africa’s gender equality goals

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s in many parts of the world, gender inequality remains a challenge in South Africa. And while the country continues to make great progress in empowering women and creating equal opportunities, there is still work to be done if we are to meet the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Today, more women have access to education, participate in the economy and hold political leadership positions than in 1994. But women still face inequality in accessing employment, are more likely to experience poverty, and are often victims of gender-based violence.

A global effort towards equality The SDGs are a global call to action to end poverty, protect the earth’s environment and climate, and ensure that people everywhere can enjoy peace and prosperity.

They seek to achieve gender equality by 2030.

The SDGs aim to end all forms of discrimination and violence against all women and girls everywhere, whilst also recognising and valuing unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services,

infrastructure and social protection policies, as well as ensuring women’s full participation and equal opportunities for leadership in political, economic and public life.

The Goals call on countries to implement reforms that give women equal rights to economic resources.

However, reports have raised a red flag that achieving them appears to be stagnating, and more than three billion girls and women still live in countries with poor scores for gender equality.According to the Equal Measure’s 2022 SDG Index, the global score for gender progress increased only from 66 to 67.8 out of 100 between 2015 and 2020 and South Africa is ranked ‘fair’ with a score of 70.1 as of 2020. This is well above the regional average of 52.

The index found that not one of the 144 countries has achieved gender equality. Only one country in every four is making fast progress towards gender equality and it

August 2023 | Public Sector Leaders | 41

is estimated that only around 71% of gender targets will be met by 2030 at the current rate.

However, many countries are making some progress towards equality, among them South Africa. According to the World Economic Forum, South Africa is ranked 17th out of 136 countries in terms of gender equality.

Encouraging women’s participation locally South African women are taking up more and more leadership positions, especially in politics. South Africa recently ranked as 8th highest proportion of women in Parliament in the world and more than two out of every five Parliament seats are held by women. Prior to 1994, there was less than 3% representation.

Globally, one of the biggest challenges facing women is unequal access to education. However, South Africa is making great strides in reducing this inequality. The literacy rate among women is increasing, and the enrolment rate for girls aged between seven and 15 is on par with that of boys. In addition, more women are now attaining tertiary education than in 19494.

Despite more women having a tertiary education, unemployment still affects more women than men.

However, female labour-force participation has increased from 10% over the last decade and the unemployment gap between men and women is gradually narrowing.

The number of teenage pregnancies is slowly decreasing, and around 80% of South African women of reproductive age said they had their family planning needs met.

The government has put in place legislation to improve the participation of women in the economy and has also prioritised the provision of basic services in rural areas, particularly to women.

Gender-based violence has also received significant attention from the government. To address the scourge of gender-based violence, President Cyril Ramphosa established the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based

Violence and Femicide in 2020. The Plan shows highlevel political commitment to acting decisively against gender-based violence, as part of the president’s Emergency Response Action Plan and had around R21billion allocated towards it, with the aim of eradicating gender-based violence by 2030.

Working towards an equal future The Equal Measure’s Index found that South Africa needs to commit to “strong and renewed efforts” if it hopes to stay on track in reaching its gender equity goals.

One way the government can do this is through amending legislation to improve healthcare, food security and education for women. Increasing employment of women, and giving them access to leadership positions, is also key to promoting equality.

While South Africa has laws such as the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act and the Employment Equity Act, implementation of these is falling short, according to the Commission for Employment Equity.

This can also be achieved through investment in social services and infrastructure, as well as creating a space for women’s rights organisations to engage the government.

Equal Measures has also highlighted gaps in gender data, making it difficult to accurately measure the conditions women face. It suggested that gender be included in data such as crime statistics and food security, and that the official Time Use Survey — last conducted by Statistics South Africa more than a decade ago and which reflects the gender disparities in unpaid care – be resumed.

Gender inequality has been linked to increased levels of poverty, and increasing the amount of economically active women can transform the country’s economy.

Women are also more likely to invest their earnings into the care of their children, in areas such as education, ensuring a stronger future for all of society. n

Source: https://data.unwomen.org | https://southafrica.un.org | https://www.dailymaverick.co.za | https://www.equalmeasures2030.org | https://www.gcis.gov.za https://www.psyssa.com | https://www.statssa.gov.za

FEATURE

BY FIONA WAKELIN

The women of 1956

Celebrating the 1956 Women’s March

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n 9 August 1956, more than 20 000 women of all backgrounds and cultures, some of them with infants on their backs, gathered to protest against unjust apartheid laws, in a moment South Africans commemorate annually.

The march marked a critical moment in the liberation struggle, ensuring that women were seen as visible participants in the fight against apartheid.

During Women’s month, celebrated in August in South Africa, we pay tribute to the women who marched to the Union Buildings in protest against the extension of Pass Laws to women. But the month is also an opportunity to reflect on those women who shaped the liberation struggle through their strong leadership.

To commemorate this leadership, we honour the four women who led the 1956 women’s march: Rahima Moosa Rahima Moosa was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and became politically active as a teenager, along with her identical twin sister, Fatima, in her hometown of Cape Town. Later in life, the two would use their identical looks to confuse security branch officers and avoid harassment by switching identities.

After dropping out of school in Grade 11, Rahima Moosa became active in labour politics, joining the Cape Town Food and Canning Workers’ Union. She became more active in the liberation struggle, and after marrying Dr Hassen Moosa in 1951, she moved to Johannesburg and became involved in the Transvaal Indian Congress and later the ANC. She helped organise the historic march while she was pregnant with her daughter, Natasha.

In the early 1960s, Rahima Moosa became listed and remained so until 1990 when the ANC was unbanned. She died shortly afterwards, in 1993, after years of deteriorating health.

Lilian Ngoyi Lilian Ngoyi, who helped mobilize thousands of women, was the one to knock on then Prime Minister Hans Strijdom’s door to hand over petitions against the Pass laws.

She became involved in politics after taking up work as a machinist in a clothing factory in 1945. While in this position, she joined the Garment Workers Union (GWU) and soon became one of its leading figures. She went on to join the ANC during the 1950 Defiance Campaign and was arrested for using facilities in a post office that were reserved for white people.

Ngoyi was a gifted public speaker and a champion of women’s rights. She held the position of president of the ANC Women’s League and became the president of the Federation of South African Women in 1956.

However, she was also targeted by the State for being a radical opponent of apartheid. Only months after the Women’s March, Lilian Ngoyi was arrested for high treason with 156 other political figures was one of the accused in the four– year-long Treason Trial. She was imprisoned on several occasions, often placed in solitary confinement. She was issued banning orders in 1962, which were in effect until 1975. She passed away on 13 March 1980 at the age of 69.

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Helen Joseph Helen Joseph grew up in London and became a teacher after graduating with a degree in English from the University of London. She taught in India for three years, before moving to Durban. It was here that she met and married dentist Billie Joseph.

During the Second World War, Joseph worked as an information and welfare officer in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. Among her duties was to teach women about the South African government system and this exposed her to the country’s inequality. She was inspired to become a social worker, and after moving to Cape Town, joined the Garment Workers Union. She was a founding member of the Congress of Democrats and involved in the Federation of South African Women. She was a leading figure in organising the Women’s March, but only months later faced charges of treason.

She was banned in 1957 and became the first person to be placed under house arrest in 1962. Joseph suffered years of police harassment and survived a series of assassination attempts, including bullets shot through her bedroom window late at night and a bomb wired to her front gate. Her ban was finally lifted when she was 80 years old. She passed away in 1992.

Sophia Williams-De Bruyn Sophia Williams-De Bruyn became involved in labour politics while working at a textile factory during her school holidays, to earn pocket money. She was soon approached to represent workers and after increasing her involvement in the Textile Workers Union, continued working at the factory and did not return to school. She later became a founding member of the South African Congress of Trade Union (SACTU), the predecessor of the Congress of South African Trade Union (COSATU).

Her work with labour unions saw her interacting with political movements such as the ANC and she became involved in the Coloured People Congress, and she began mobilising women around pass issues and other unjust laws. She was only 18 when she led the Women’s March.

Williams-De Bruyn is still a champion for women’s rights, and today works as a commissioner at the Commission for Gender Equality. She has remained politically active through the ANC’s Women’s League.

During her lifetime, she has been honoured with numerous awards, including Ida Mntwana Award in Silver for exceptional service rendered to the women of South Africa in 1999, the 2001 Women’s Award for exceptional national service, the Mahatma Gandhi Award for her extraordinary contribution to the establishment of democracy in South Africa, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Johannesburg. n

Source: https://mg.co.za | https://ourconstitution.constitutionhill.org.za | https://www.globalcitizen.org | https://www.gov.za/WomenDay2022 https://www.kathradafoundation.org | https://www.sahistory.org.za | https://www.uj.ac.za

August 2023 | Public Sector Leaders | 45

GENDER TRANSFORMATION IN MINING

BY JESSIE TAYLOR

Women driving transformation in mining

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raditionally male-dominated, the mining industry has been under great pressure to shift towards gender inclusivity. While the industry may still have a long way to go, several women are taking up leadership positions within the mining sector, paving the way for greater gender equality.

According to the Minerals Council South Africa, women represent 12% of South Africa’s total mining labour force, with the number of women employed by the sector having increased from around 11 000 in 2002 to 56 000 in 2019. 17% of top leadership positions are held by women.

Mining is a key industry in South Africa, accounting for around half a million direct jobs, and the transformation of this industry will go a long way to improving South Africa’s gender equality goals.

To address the challenges faced by women in this sector, the Minerals Council has developed a task team to oversee gender transformation in the industry.

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Here, PSL lists some of the women who are at the forefront of the industry’s transformation:

Thabisile Phumo Thabisile Phumo, Executive Vice President of Stakeholder Relations at SibanyeStillwater, has been tasked with turning around the tragic legacy of Marikana, the site of a massacre in which 34 miners were killed in 2012.

Thabisile heads up the Marikana Renewal Programme, implemented following Sibanye-Stillwater’s acquisition of Lonmin’s operations in Marikana in December 2019, to promote a positive legacy of restitution and renewal.

Under the Marikana Renewal Programme, she has established broad-based community engagement platforms with communities living within and around Marikana and has led the investment of more than R116 million into infrastructure in these communities. The Renewal Programme has also ensured that the widows of miners who tragically lost their lives in 2012 are provided with houses.

Thabisile has over 25 years of experience in corporate affairs in the public and private sectors and has served in roles at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Commission for Gender Equality.

Nolitha Fakude In May 2021, Nolitha was appointed as the Minerals Council of South Africa’s first female president in the organisation’s 131-year history.

She is well known as a corporate activist and businesswoman with a passion for leadership development, especially for women in the workplace. She has held numerous roles in South Africa’s mining sector over the past few years. She is considered a well-respected authority on transformation and empowerment, having held positions on the management teams and boards of various oil and gas, petrochemical, financial services, and retail companies.

She currently serves as the chairperson of both Anglo-American South Africa’s management board and the Minerals Council’s Women in Mining Leadership Forum. The forum aims to ensure that the mining industry at least doubles the percentage of women in mining by 2025 while working towards 40% women’s representation across the industry and 50% in management in the next 10 years.

Her vision is to create visible upliftment for women and marginalised groups in the workplace and allow them to be meaningful participants in the economy.

August 2023 | Public Sector Leaders | 47

Mbali Milanzi Mbali Milanzi is the Commercial Director at Tshepa Basadi Group. Tshepa Basadi, meaning “Trust Women ‘’ in Setswana, was established in 2017 with three employees. Today, the women-led company employs more than 70 people and provides skilled project management consulting and resourcing services, including technical services such as engineering design and construction management.

Mbali is passionate about advancing female representation by aligning project decisions in the interest of women and improving the participation of women in the project management office within the mining industry.

She has experience as a sales director, chemical engineer and project manager in charge of executing large capital projects for international companies.

Along with female empowerment, Mbali is passionate about upskilling and creating opportunities for South Africa’s unemployed youth.

While there may be numerous challenges facing the mining industry’s transformation journey, the rise of technology is likely to bring greater possibilities for gender equality. The industry is moving away from manpower towards automation and robotics, creating space for women to take more of an active role in the sector’s workforce.

This diversity will be critical for the sector in the future, and gender empowerment in the mining sector has the potential to be a driver for gender parity in the country. n

Source: Adcorp | Commission for Gender Equality | Engineering News | ESI Africa | Medium | Minerals Council of South Africa | Mining Indaba | Mining Review | Sibanye Stillwater

48 | Public Sector Leaders | August 2023

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4 PROGRAMMES EMPOWERING YOUNG WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

BY SINAZO MKOKO

Unlocking women’s business potential is key for our economy

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hile gender equality is yet to be achieved globally, efforts by the civic, private and public sector are being made to ensure that women are at the forefront of economic emancipation in South Africa. In October 2022, Stats SA released theGender Series Volume IX: Women Empowerment, 2017 to 2022 report which showed that there are still gender disparities despite the progressive laws and interventions aimed at women empowerment.

Stats SA stated: “Empowerment of women is core to South Africa’s processes of sustainable development. Leaving no one behind means addressing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and inequalities.”

Here Public Sector Leaders lists 4 programmes/ initiatives aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs in South Africa.

Women Empowerment Fund (WEF) Are you a black woman who owns a business or starting one? The WEF could be the answer to your financial problems. The empowerment fund aims to accelerate the provision of funding for businesses.

Founded in 2014, the fund has a mission “to affirmatively drive the value and volume of approvals for and disbursement to businesses that are owned and managed by black women.” WEF states that the funding starts from R250 000 to R75-million across a range of sectors, for start-ups, expansions and equity acquisition purposes.They use a number of funding instruments that range from secured (senior debt) to unsecured options (equity), and/or a hybrid of the two in efforts to provide for different transactional needs.

Isivande Women’s Fund (IWF) Originally aimed at women, this is an exclusive fund that aims to accelerate black economic empowerment by providing more affordable, usable and responsive finance than is currently available for all black people in business in South Africa. Businesses that require funding between the values of R30 000 to R2-million can apply for the funding. The fund targets “formally registered, that are 50% + 1 share women-owned and/or managed enterprises that have been in existence and operating for at least six months.”

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Cherie Blair Foundation for Women The Foundation together with the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) Entrepreneurship Development Academy (EDA), DHL Express and the Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust are empowering women entrepreneurs by bringing life-changing programmes to women entrepreneurs in the country.

They run investment readiness training programmes such as HerVenture and Road to Growth which are specifically “designed and developed using a gender lens approach in order to support women to claim their rightful space as equal and skilled entrepreneurs.”

Motsepe Foundation – Women’s Unit The Women’s Unit of Motsepe Foundation aims to bring together globally influential leaders and grassroots organisations that work with vulnerable women to inspire greater efforts for the advancement of women in leadership and gender equality across all industries.

With programmes such as the Gender Responsive Budget (GRB) which aims to improve the results of budgets in general, and gender equality and women’s empowerment, the Foundation focuses on key economic and social matters that are often overlooked or obscured in conventional budget and policy analysis and decision-making. n Source: SA Gov | WEF | IWF | CBFW | MF

REGIONAL FOCUS

BY JESSIE TAYLOR

Powering change

Energy resilience prioritised in Western Cape

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major new solar project is being launched in the Western Cape, which will aid the provincial government in its bid to improve energy resilience in the region.

Atlantis Foundries – part of major vehicle manufacturer Daimler Truck AG – signed a longterm power purchase agreement (PPA) with Energy Partners (EP) for the solar project. EP will engineer, finance, construct and operate the ground-mounted solar energy system at Atlantis Foundries’ production plant in Cape Town.

Emissions saving Atlantis Foundries is one of Africa’s largest foundry operations and produces automotive castings for the commercial vehicle industry.

The project comprises more than 20 000 solar panels, with a total rated capacity of 13.5MWp. The PPA is planned for May 2024 and will provide Atlantis Foundries with a reliable electricity source at a substantially reduced cost over the next two decades.

The project is expected to be the Western Cape’s largest embedded-generation solar project and will likely be the highest CO2 emissions-saving project in the South African auto industry.

EP CEO Manie de Waal said that, in financial terms, the project is likely to generate electricity worth more than R35-million per year at the current average Eskom tariffs.

He added that the system had been engineered to suit Atlantis Foundries’s electrical consumption profile and could replace as much as a fifth of the company’s annual electricity consumption.

The solar plant will be integrated into Atlantis Foundries’ electrical network, which is connected to the City of Cape Town’s grid, and any excess energy generated by the plant will be fed into the City’s network.

Atlantis Foundries CEO Pieter du Plessis said: “Our commitment is to both our shareholders, stakeholders and the environment. With this renewable energy generation project, we are setting new standards in the South African automotive industry and alleviating pressure on our constrained national grid.”

He added the project is the result of extensive cooperation with the Western Cape government and the City of Cape Town.

This latest solar project feeds into a provincial focus on energy resilience. The Western Cape government has prioritised efforts to find solutions to power cuts and mitigate the impact of load shedding.

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde estimated that the province lost up to R12.3-billion in a year due to loadshedding through more than 3 600 hours of power outages.

Among the steps taken by the provincial government is the appointment of former Eskom executive Alwie Lester to assess measures small-to medium-sized businesses were implementing to mitigate the impact of Eskom’s ongoing power cuts.

“We need to make sure that the focus is on getting ourselves as energy resilient as possible in the province,” said Premier Winde.

Building capacity at municipal level Premier Winde said the province has seen a growing appetite for renewable energy and an upswing in renewable energy consumption.

The province’s energy plan builds on governmentgazetted electricity regulations that allow municipalities to buy their own renewable energy from independent producers. The regulations allow them to procure cheaper or cleaner electricity from renewable energy sources. This has already been implemented in some Western Cape municipalities like the City of Cape Town.

To see this rolled out in more municipalities, the provincial government has launched the R13-million Western Cape Municipal Energy Resilience Fund to help local governments prepare for the adoption of renewable energy projects. The fund will help qualifying municipalities conduct research and plan for renewable energy projects.

The Western Cape Energy Resilience Programme aims to reduce the impacts of loadshedding on businesses and citizens in the province by facilitating a lower level of reliance on Eskom.

renewable energy projects in municipalities across the province to allow municipalities, businesses, and households to generate, procure and sell power. It also encourages municipalities to transact directly with independent power producers to increase energy and economic resilience.

The initiative seeks to provide project development support and capacity-building to municipalities and the private sector while working closely with the national government and others to explore how new energy regulations could lead to renewable energy generation projects in the Western Cape.

The Atlantis Foundries project is the second big solar investment announcement in the province this year after the City of Cape Town announced in April that it plans to commission a R1.2-billion solar power plant with battery energy capacity. The project seeks to make Cape Town the first city without loadshedding in South Africa and is expected to generate up to 60MW of renewable energy.

The feasibility study of the Cape Town solar project is expected to be completed by the end of this year and commissioned in mid-2026. n

The programme seeks to provide development, support and capacity building to implement Source: Business Report | Business Tech | IT Web | Western Cape Government

August 2023 | Public Sector Leaders | 53

LEGAL MATTERS – GENDER DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE

BY JESSIE TAYLOR

Promoting gender diversity in the workplace through legislation

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omen, non-binary individuals, and members of the LGBTQ+ community often face significant challenges in their professional lives, despite making up a significant portion of the workforce. South African legislation ensures equality in the workplace for all in a bid to create gender empowerment.

participation rates in the labour force remained lower at 50,7% in 2022 compared to 63,2% for males.

Gender disparities still visible among the workforce Despite making up a large portion of the workingage population and having a significant contribution to make to the economy, women and people from marginalised genders remain underrepresented in positions of authority and power.

“Empowerment of women is core to South Africa’s processes of sustainable development. Leaving no one behind means addressing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and inequalities,” Stats SA said.

The Gender Series Volume IX: Women Empowerment, 2017 to 2022 report released by Stats SA showed that “women in South Africa are more likely to be unemployed than men and are less likely to participate in the labour market than their male counterparts”.

The report found that despite the number of females in the working-age population exceeding males, their

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The report highlighted that there are still gender disparities despite the progressive laws and interventions aimed at women’s empowerment.

Among the challenges faced by women and non-binary individuals in the workplace include discrimination based on their gender identity, which can take the form of prejudice, harassment, or unequal treatment. Pay disparity has also recently been highlighted as a major concern.

The South African government introduced the Employment Equity Act No. 55 of 1998 to address the legacy of apartheid and ensure equitable

representation of black people and women in the South African labour market. The Act governs workplace interactions aimed at eliminating genderbased discrimination. It imposes affirmative action obligations on employers, which are aimed at promoting gender equality and compels employers to set employment equity targets, which include proportionate representation of women at all levels.

The Employment Equity Act is the law that promotes equity in the workplace, ensures that all employees

receive equal opportunities and that employees are treated fairly by their The law aims to redress injustices of the past, by promoting equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination and implementing measures to redress the disadvantages in employment experienced by designated groups. The Act applies to all employees and employers.

Obligations on employers South African legislation ensures that employment policies or practices do not discriminate against marginalised gender groups.

The legislation requires employers to address two key gender equality issues in the workplace:

1

Ensuring a safe working environment

2

Financial equality

Employers are responsible for addressing gender-based violence and sexual harassment in the Workplace in terms of the Code of Good Practice on the Prevention and Elimination of Harassment in the workplace. This requires employers to have clear policies and procedures for reporting harassment, as well as educating employees on gender-based harassment and sexual harassment.

Employers are obliged to advance gender empowerment in the workplace, which includes promoting equal pay for equal work. Differentiation in pay on the basis of gender is prohibited under section Employment Equity Act and employers are obliged to remunerate employees equally for the same work. The Code of Good Practice on Equal Pay/ Remuneration for Work of Equal Value, 2015 sets out specific steps that employers should take to address any disparities in pay, including providing training and education to employees, negotiating with unions, and adjusting pay levels as necessary.

Studies have shown that as companies become compliant with the Act, they experience increased diversity and proportion of female workers, increasing the company’s average female wage.

JSE-listed companies are monitored for their compliance with the law and the implementation of their affirmative action plans. Employers who do not adhere to the provisions of the Employment Equity Act and related legislation could be subject to fines and/

or imprisonment, depending on the infringement – this penalty could amount to as much as R1.5 million or 2% of the employer’s turnover.

By taking steps to comply with the affirmative action imperatives such as the EEA and the codes of good practice, employers can create inclusive workplaces that help to break down the barriers that prevent women and non-binary individuals from achieving socio-economic empowerment and advancement. n

Source: Bizcommunity | Stats SA | United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research | Western Cape Government

August 2023 | Public Sector Leaders | 55

FINANCIAL FITNESS

BY JESSIE TAYLOR

Tips on debt management Debt counselling: Helping South Africans find financial stability

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aced with rising interest rates and high inflation, many South Africans are seeking help to manage their growing debt burden. One of the options, which is provided by law to protect consumers, is debt counselling. This has become increasingly popular among overly indebted South Africans to help achieve financial stability.

He added that debt counselling has proven an effective process, with the number of people successfully completing debt counselling having increased ninefold since 2016.

Consumers spend on debt repayments.

South African consumers are spending a significant amount of their take-home pay to service debt each month, according to DebtBusters’ Q1 2023 Debt Index.

Debt counselling is one of the debt relief measures provided for in the National Credit Act, which intends to assist over-indebted consumers struggling with debt. It offers budget advice, negotiation with credit providers for reduced payments and restructuring of debts

“Before applying for debt counselling, on average, consumers were spending 65% of their take-home pay to service debt,” said Benay Sager, Head of DebtBusters.

Consumers struggling to meet their monthly debt obligations qualify to apply for debt counselling if they have a distributable that can be used to offer reduced payments to their credit providers.

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The debt counselling must be offered by a service provider registered with the National Credit Regulator, and it is a regulated, legally protected process that helps consumers gain financial stability.

Debt counselling assists consumers in repaying their debt by negotiating an affordable repayment plan agreed on by all creditors. The repayments are consolidated into one affordable repayment each month based on what you can afford.

This is paid to an independent Payment Distribution Agency (PDA) overseen by the National Credit Regulator, which distributes the funds to all creditors.

The PDA is usually nominated by your debt counsellor.

Clearing debt through repayment There are debt counselling fees and legal fees applicable to debt counselling, and these are built into your monthly payment. However, 90% of the payment goes directly to the creditors during the debt counselling process.

Once all your accounts are settled, a reputable debt counsellor will create a clearance certificate. This, along with paid-up letters from your creditors, will be sent to all the major credit bureaus, and your debt review status will be updated. Once this has been completed, you will be eligible to access new credit.

In the first quarter of 2023 alone, consumers paid back over R406 million worth of debt to creditors as part of the debt counselling process.

The Debt Index found that demand for debt counselling grew by 40% compared to the same period in 2022, while there was a massive 92% increase in subscribers for its online debt-management tools.

Sager states: “As interest rates have risen, credit has become burdensome for many consumers. Average bond interest rates increased from 8.3% to 11.4% per annum in a short space of time. Average vehicle finance rates rose from 12% to 14.8% during the same period.

How to manage your debt Preventing yourself from becoming overly indebted or reducing the amount you own can be achieved through some careful financial planning. Consider the following tips: Determine how much you owe: Organising your finances will allow you to determine what amount is owed and the deadline for these repayments to prevent you from incurring unnecessary interest due to late payments.

Budgeting: Effective budgeting will allow you to see what income and expenses you have and identify areas in which you can save. This will give you the best indication of how much debt you can repay monthly. It’s ideal to pay off more than the minimum repayments to prevent your debt from growing.

Repay strategically: Some debts are more expensive than others due to having a higher interest rate, such as a credit card. If you pay these off first, you will likely save in the long term. Alternatively, you can pay off the smallest debts first to free up more cash.

Consider debt management options: These could include debt consolidation, where you take out one loan to pay off multiple smaller debts with more favourable terms. If you are struggling to pay off your debts, you may consider debt counselling. n

“This steep increase is pushing consumers to tap into more personal loans. Nearly everyone (96% of people) who applied for debt counselling had a personal loan.

This indicates consumers are supplementing their income using unsecured credit, and personal loans have become a lifeline for many South Africans.”

Source: Debt Busters | NCR | NDCA | Sowetan | Standard Bank

August 2023 | Public Sector Leaders | 57

UPCOMING EVENTS

August is

BY SINAZO MKOKO

9

9

12

Women’s Day (South Africa)

International Day of the World’s Indigenous People

International Youth Day

This day serves as a tribute to the thousands of women who marched on August 9, 1956, in protest against the extension of Pass Laws to women—a system meant to control and disempower. This year’s theme is: Women’s Socio-Economic Rights and Empowerment: Building Back Better for Women’s Improved Resilience”. This forms part of the Generation Equality global campaign and links South Africa to global efforts to achieve gender equality by 2030.

Indigenous Youth as Agents of Change for Self-determination.

This is the theme for this year’s International Day of the World’s Indigenous People. The day marks the first meeting of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in 1992. The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues states that Climate Action and the Green Transition, Mobilising for Justice and Intergenerational connections are three crucial issues that the youth must participate in to exercise their right to self-determination and ensure a better future for all.

The UN states that a “successful transition towards a greener world will depend on the development of green skills in the population.” This is the reason behind the 2023 theme of International Youth Day, which is Green Skills for Youth: Towards a Sustainable World. To mark this day, DESA, in collaboration with the UN Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth and Generation Unlimited, is organising a global webinar that will offer critical information and data and promote discussions and an exchange of ideas on green skills for youth.

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Women’s Month 19

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World Humanitarian Day

BRICS Summit

African Traditional Medicine Day

It was in 2009 that the United Nations General Assembly passed the resolution, and the same year, the world observed the first World Humanitarian Day. The aim of this day is to honour aid workers who put their lives at risk to better the lives of others. The day is a tribute to the 22 people who lost their lives in 2003 following a bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq.

Among the people who were killed was the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mellothe.

South Africa will host the historic 15th Summit of the BRICS nations— Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—on August 22. It will be the first BRICS Summit to be hosted in person since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent global restrictions.

Leaders from Brazil, India, China, and South Africa will be attending the summit. According to the Presidency, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the summit, but the Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The commemoration of African Traditional Medicine Day coincides with the date, August 31, 2000, on which the ministers of health adopted the relevant resolution at the 50th session of the World Health Organisation Regional Committee for Africa in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Traditional African medicine is a holistic discipline involving the use of indigenous herbalism combined with aspects of African spirituality. The National Department of Health recognises that there is an entrenched historical bias towards Western or allopathic healthcare that has a long history.

Source: Edu Dwar| UNESCO|UN|SA GOV|The Presidency

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RICHEST WOMEN IN AFRICA

BY FIONA WAKELIN

AND WHO HAS TUMBLED FROM THE TOP?

Top to bottom: Folorunsho Alakija; Ngina Kenyatta; Hajia Bola Shagaya; Wendy Ackerman; Wendy Appelbaum

Looking at the list of the richest women in Africa, what is striking is that acquiring billionaire status does not happen overnight. Everyone featured here has spent a lifetime investing in, and growing, their entrepreneurial empires. Silver hair and gold in the bank!

TOPPING THE LIST OF WEALTHY POWERHOUSES IN AFRICA IS: Folorunsho Alakija - a Nigerian billionaire Fifty years ago Folorunsho started out in the fashion industry and today her business interests include real estate, oil and gas and printing.

She is the owner of several groups of companies including Dayspring Property Development Company Limited, a real estate company which owns properties around the globe, as well as Rose of Sharon Prints and Promotions.

Folorunsho is also Executive Director of FAMFA Oil, her familyowned oil production company.

NEXT IS: Ngina Kenyatta - the mother of current Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta Nearing her ninth decade Ngina Kenyatta is a billionaire with a portfolio which includes investments, banking, media and the dairy industry. “Mama Kenyatta” has a 24.91% share in the Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) – she also owns shares in Media Max, a media company that owns K24 TV, Kameme Radio, and The People newspaper.

THIRD PLACE GOES TO: Hajia Bola Shagaya who also hails from Nigeria With a current net worth of almost a billion US, Hajia Bola started out as an auditor for the Central Bank of Nigeria and then her entrepreneurial verve kicked in! She started an empire by importing Konica photographic equipment for resale. Nearly 40 years later she is CEO of Bolmus Group International with interests in oil, real estate, banking, and photography. Hajia founded Practoil Limited, and in 2005 became its managing director.

Today Practoil is one of the largest importer and distributors of base oil in Nigeria today.

4TH AND 5TH PLACES ARE HELD BY SOUTH AFRICAN POWERHOUSES: Wendy Appelbaum is the richest woman in South Africa and the 4th wealthiest on the continent Wendy Appelbaum is the daughter of Liberty Group founder Donald Gordon and the owner and Chair of De Morgenzon Wine Estate.

Previously, Wendy also served as the Deputy-Chairman of the Women’s Investment Portfolio Limited (Wiphold Limited), which is a renowned women’s investment holding company that is listed on JSE. Overall, Wendy is also a director of Sphere Holdings (Pty) Ltd, which is a black empowerment company

addressing financial services in mining sectors. In 2015, she was awarded both the Forbes Woman Businesswoman of the Year, and the Forbes Africa Woman of the Year.

Wendy Ackerman – FMCG powerhouse Wendy Ackerman is one of the founders and an Executive Director of Pick ‘n Pay Stores.

Along with her husband Raymond Ackerman, Wendy has been a tremendous force in building up one of South Africa’s leading FMCG retailers, which, to date, consists of over 450 stores, with the inclusion of 121 supermarkets and 14 hypermarkets.

The company extends its food and retail services across South Africa, southern Africa and even Australia, and has employed an estimated 49,000 people over the years. Wendy received an Inyathelo Award for her family’s philanthropic efforts in 2007.

A CAUTIONARY TALE For many years Isabel Dos Santos, daughter of Angolan President, José Eduardo dos Santos, topped the list as the richest woman in Africa.

Currently in self-imposed exile in Dubai she is embroiled in legal battles while watching her empire implode. n

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The 2023 BRICS Summit Looking at Africa’s future

T

he BRICS summit is a significant international event that brings together the leaders of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Although the summit mainly focuses on the cooperation and collaboration among these member countries, it also holds importance for Africa due to several reasons:

The BRICS nations represent a substantial portion of the global economy and have considerable economic influence. By engaging with these countries, African nations can explore opportunities for trade, investment, and economic cooperation that can contribute to their own economic growth and development.

Many African countries face infrastructure deficits that hinder their economic progress. The BRICS nations, particularly China, have invested significantly in infrastructure projects in Africa.

The summit provides a platform for discussions on infrastructure development and investment, which can contribute to improved connectivity and economic integration within Africa.

The BRICS summit facilitates discussions on expanding trade relations between African countries and BRICS nations, leading to economic diversification, job creation, and improved living standards for African populations.

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Some BRICS countries have shown interest in providing development assistance and technical support to African countries, addressing issues such as healthcare, education, agriculture, and poverty alleviation.

The BRICS summit allows African countries to engage with major global powers beyond traditional Western partners, helping African nations maintain a balanced approach to international relations and reduce dependency on a single set of allies.

The summit provides African leaders with a platform to engage in diplomatic discussions on global issues, such as climate change, security, and multilateral cooperation, enhancing Africa’s voice on the international stage.

It exemplifies South-South cooperation, which refers to collaboration among developing countries. African countries can leverage this platform to share experiences, knowledge, and best practices with other developing nations facing similar challenges.

Engaging with BRICS countries enables Africa to access new technologies, innovation, and expertise that can be applied to various sectors for development.

In summary, the BRICS summit is important for Africa as it offers opportunities for economic growth, infrastructure development, trade and investment, diplomatic engagement, and access to technology and expertise. African countries can leverage their engagement with BRICS nations to enhance their development and contribute to a more balanced and interconnected global economy. n

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