Equipping women to be SA’s secret weapon by honing their natural abilities

Are women the secret weapon to lead South Africa to greener pastures?

There is a lot of talk for women to lead in top positions. The problem is not a lack of competent women leaders, but opportunities for them to lead. A misconception is that for women to be successful they need to act like men in “perceived” successful roles. But considering the current leadership performance, mimicking men is hardly the answer.

A women in leadership conference later this month aims to help change this. The conference is to help inspire and equip women to lead with their natural abilities and add to their strengths and skills.

The Due (develop, unite and empower) Women and Leadership Conference organised by Pinpoint Stewards will be held in George on September 28 and 29.

Fourteen women in leadership positions have committed to the programme as speakers and to share their leadership skills. They are entrepreneurs in engineering and mining as well as the government and municipalities.

Boniswa Dladla, managing director at Ananda Coaching, will cover the topic: “Creating thriving environments personally and professionally”, while Rakhee H Ramgolam, chief executive at Domun Consulting, will present: “Women are natural leaders – stop acting small.”

Education MEC Debbie Schäfer will speak about women overcoming in male-populated industries.

As part of supporting young women to lead, the conference will be available to universities and high schools through video conferencing.

The conference will also deal with gender-based violence and human trafficking in South Africa. Ten percent of the event’s profits will be donated to the Survivor Exit Foundation, and the Salvation Army.

An estimated 2 million people are trafficked each year and Africa accounts for 450 000 of them according to the Salvation Army.