City manager honours women in uniform
The Women in Uniform in Community Safety Legacy Project was launched to empower women officers, firefighters and disaster management officers through career progression and education.
Ekurhuleni City manager Dr Imogen Mashazi honoured female metro police officers and emergency personnel at an award ceremony on August 31.
The Women in Uniform in Community Safety Legacy Project was launched to empower women officers, firefighters and disaster management officers through career progression and education.
To date, more than 700 women have benefitted from the project through promotion, recruitment and furthering their studies.
Some of the key successes are:
EMPD
• A total of 47 women officers were promoted across various positions and levels.
• A total of 42 women officers completed their studies, obtaining among others MBAs, bachelor degrees and higher certificates.
• 18 women officers now form part of the 66 senior management of the EMPD.
• Women now comprise 41% of the EMPD staff complement.
• 400 females were employed as traffic wardens.
DEMS
• 20 women were promoted – one divisional head, 12 shift managers, one regional manager, three firefighters recruited from the reserve force, one disaster management specialist and two project administrators.
• A total of 35 women were appointed since 2016 including two divisional heads, 12 call centre operators and 12 shift managers.
• 50% representation of women in the divisional head category.
• 72 women completed their studies obtaining among others MBAs, honours degrees and higher certificates – while 29 are still completing their studies.
• 1 411 staff complement in the department constituting 34% of the total staff complement.
In the disaster division, there are 107 females compared to 61 males.
“Over the years we have managed to recruit more females in these departments, which were historically male dominated,” said Mashazi.
“Now we have a fair representation of women in these departments and some hold senior positions, which was once a taboo.
“Not only did we recruit more women, we encouraged them to study further and I am very excited to see most of them now graduating with masters degree.”
Turning to the topic of gender-based violence, Mashazi urged women to speak out against abuse. She encouraged them to be strong enough to say no against any form of abuse.
“We must not persevere and endure abuse at the hands of the ones we love with the hope that it will one day get better. This never ends well and we have seen many women lose their lives at the hands of those they love,” she said.
