Tech Women | Women Leaders Across The Board

Building An Inclusive Digital Future

By Jessie Taylor

The tech sector continues to be a key driver of innovation and economic growth, yet gender disparities remain stark. In South Africa, women occupy just 23% of technology roles - out of 236 000 ICT positions, only 56 000 are held by women.

The gap is apparent in emerging fields like Artificial Intelligence, where women comprise only 30% of roles.

A significant underrepresentation persists at every level - education, employment, and senior leadership. Limited digital access at the school level further hinders long-term gender equity. Just 13% of STEM graduates in South Africa are female, against a global average of 35%, and estimates show women make up less than a third of AI and machine-learning professionals in South Africa. Critical drop-offs occur early in the education pipeline and worsen at promotion junctures. At the leadership level, only 5% of CEOs in ICT companies are women (compared to 22.5% in the US). For every 100 men promoted to management roles, only 52 women in tech make the jump and women leave tech roles at a higher rate.

Despite this, a wave of South African women are leading a quiet revolution in technology—creating accessible pathways, transforming mindsets, and dismantling systemic barriers. Through coding boot camps, mentorship programmes, and advocacy, they are cultivating a more inclusive and futureready tech landscape.

Baratang Miya

Baratang Miya is a pioneer in South Africa’s tech education space, best known as the founder and CEO of GirlHype. For more than two decades, she has been a relentless advocate for gender inclusion in technology, long before it became a mainstream cause.

Founded in 2003, GirlHype is one of the earliest South African initiatives dedicated to introducing girls to coding, software development, and digital literacy. The organisation has trained over 10 000 young women, many from underserved communities, in a range of digital skills - from HTML and JavaScript to entrepreneurship and cybersecurity. Ms Miya’s mission is simple yet profound: equip women with the skills they need to participate meaningfully in the digital economy.

Her influence extends beyond GirlHype. Ms Miya has represented South Africa at the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women and was selected as an Ashoka Fellow for her work as a social entrepreneur. She is also a Mozilla Open Leader and serves as an advisor to international bodies focusing on open education and digital empowerment. What sets Ms Miya apart is her holistic approach. She understands that teaching women to code is just the beginning. Real impact happens when women are supported to become creators, innovators, and leaders in tech. Her work breaks cycles of poverty, reduces inequality, and uplifts communities.

Tumi Sineke

Tumi Sineke is the visionary behind Tech Women South Africa, an initiative committed to building a future where women are active creators and decisionmakers in the digital economy. With a social impact and youth development background, Ms Sineke brings a unique, intersectional lens to the tech inclusion conversation.

Founded in 2018, Tech Women South Africa exists to connect, inspire and equip women in tech through leadership programmes, networking events, and industry partnerships. At its core, the organisation is about access - creating safe, supportive spaces where women, particularly women of colour, can explore careers in technology, gain hands-on experience, and find mentorship. Ms Sineke’s work is grounded in systemic change. She believes that real transformation in the tech industry can’t occur without addressing the social and structural challenges that exclude women in the first place. Her programmes go beyond technical training to include leadership coaching, public speaking workshops, and career development, helping women build skills, confidence, and community.

In 2021, Ms Sineke was recognised by Mail & Guardian as one of South Africa’s Top 200 Young People for her work in innovation. She is also a regular speaker and panellist on topics related to gender equity, inclusive innovation, and youth empowerment.

Zandile Mkwanazi

Zandile Mkwanazi is the CEO of GirlCode, one of South Africa’s leading organisations focused on empowering women through technology. Under her leadership, GirlCode has grown into a national movement offering coding boot camps, hackathons, and digital skills programmes to help women succeed in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Ms Mkwanazi’s tech journey began with a realisation: women were significantly underrepresented in tech spaces. Determined to change this, she joined GirlCode in its early days and helped transform it into a fullyfledged non-profit that has now trained thousands of women and girls in coding, data science, and cloud computing.

GirlCode’s programmes are designed to reach women from marginalised communities, including those in rural areas, equipping them with the technical and soft skills needed to thrive in the job market. The organisation also partners with tech giants and educational institutions to provide mentorship, internship placements, and job readiness support.

In 2022, she was selected for the Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 list in the technology category, a testament to her impact on the continent’s digital inclusion agenda. Mkwanazi is also an advocate for STEM education reform and regularly engages with policymakers to advance gender equality in tech.

These women are not just closing the gender gap in tech—they’re changing the narrative. By equipping and inspiring the next generation of female coders and tech leaders, they are proving that South Africa’s digital future must be inclusive to be successful.

Sources: Girl Code, Tech Women SA, UNESCO, Mail and Guardian, PWC, LinkedIn, IITPSA ICT Skills Survey, BusinessTech