University of Johannesburg in partnership with The Citizen and the Nelson Mandela Foundation, facilitated a Women in Leadership talk at the Kingsway campus on 20 August.
Keynote speakers included Deputy Minister of Telecommunications Hlengiwe Mkhize and MEC or Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development Nandi Mayathula-Khoza.
Mayathula-Khoza warned women in high positions not to become obsessed with titles – they should rather focus on being the best leader that they could be. “Social influence is about understanding, renewal and reinvention as a leader and not about the title being held,” she said.
She acknowledged some of the women who played a pivotal role in the liberation struggle of South Africa. She noted Ruth Mompati, Lillian Ngoyi, Francis Baard, Albertina Sisulu, and Rahima Moosa as women who persevered – despite facing difficulties and challenges. This, she said, is what made them leaders.
Mayathula-Khoza added that South Africa’s Parliament was rated seventh out of 190 countries in the world for having 40 per cent women representation. She applauded the significant rise of women within the judiciary, adding that in 1994 there were only two women judges and now currently women accounted for 33 per cent of the judiciary.
“Women are the glue that hold societies and families together, and they must continue to serve others with integrity and as they build communities,” she said.
Hlengiwe Mkhize said that often women leaders emerged when dealing with inequality and pointed out that out of all the countries included in the World Bank’s development indicators, South Africa ranked low with regard to the Gini coefficient index.
“We are born into a society that has socially constructed notions that fit men and women into categories. As such is the debate about South Africa’s readiness to have a woman president, which is a ridiculous question as men were never asked if they were ready to lead,” she added.
She urged the young women in attendance to persevere in their education so they too can be leaders within the society.
