As part of the vibrant women’s month celebrations, the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) recently hosted the prestigious City Manager’s Legacy Gala Dinner at the Alberton Civic Hall.
The city manager, Dr Imogen Mashazi, as the host, paid tribute to exemplary performers and celebrated academic excellence. She also recognised the remarkable contributions of the city’s female employees during this distinguished awards ceremony.
“When I introduced the concept of the City Manager’s Women in Uniform in Community Safety programme seven years ago, I was not disillusioned. This was a decision following years of observing women’s struggle in the workplace, especially here in the CoE,” she explained.
Mashazi said the focal point was community safety: “Because for years women had been treated as second-class citizens in this male-dominated space.
“Someone had to change this, and that person was me. This era heralded a time when female officers and DEMS officials received equal opportunities as their male counterparts, both in terms of promotion and education.
“I did this because I understood that to unleash the full potential of women in these professions would be to give the deserving women a little motivation,” she said.
When the project started, Mashazi said there were no women as senior officers in the EMPD nor senior managers at DEMS.
She said this project also unleashed the potential of women in academia, as many grabbed the bull by the horns and pursued their studies.
“Today, some beneficiaries of this programme have honours degrees, other degrees, senior certificates and national certificates.
“Today we have directors, deputy directors, chief superintendents, superintendents and inspectors in the EMPD,” Mashazi said.
Since the launch of the legacy project to focus on EMPD and DEMS, she has since extended the scope to women’s emancipation throughout the employ of the institution.
“Since the relaunch of the project two years ago, I have also extended the scope to look at the advancement of the girl child. Career expos now form part of the annual programme where we go to schools to motivate the girls and expose them to the career opportunities available in the institution,” she explained.
