By: Onalenna Jantjie
Editor: Thapelo Molebatsi
Business women in South Africa are in a better position to
network with other female entrepreneurs and to attend business workshops which
will help broaden their business knowledge thus assisting them to develop their
companies. This can happen through joining
Phenomenal woman, a remarkable NPO formed with the objective of empowering
female entrepreneurs in South Africa. The organization has branches in the Free
State, North West, Western Cape, Eastern Cape Kwa-zulu Natal as well as
Lesotho. They recently launched a branch in the Northern Cape Province
(kuruman) where various notable males and female speakers were invited to share
their business knowledge with female entrepreneurs.
Phenomenal woman was founded by Thato Mokgothu, owner of RTT
construction, Shalom Bonds, shareholder and Director at Tyremart Estoire Free
State and Kathu Northern Cape. During her speech, she encouraged women to stick
together. “We as women need to go back
to our roots and work together like we have done in the past. I firmly believe
that women can work together even in business. If you are skilled, you need to
make sure that you up skill other women.
Any woman can come and ask me about my business and how I started. My hands are always open. When I get a contract I make sure I
subcontract other women because I believe the more you give the more you will
receive,” she said.
She further emphasized the importance of good
leadership. “We should lead in such a
way that young girls will be inspired to walk on our footsteps,” she said. Additionally, Mokgothu cautioned women
against business negligence. “As a woman
in construction I always make sure that I visit my sites on a regular basis
because when you own a business you need to be well versed about everything in
it,” she stated.
Sharing Thato Mokgothu’s sentiments was Obakeng Morakile
from South 32. She is the logistic superintendent and first ever chairperson of
women in mining committee at Mamatwan mine. Speaking on how she managed to wear
many hats at a young age Morakile said: “I give credit to my father and other
women for my success. My father encouraged me to work hard because there aren’t
a lot of women in mining. He said I should set the pace for other women who
will come after me by delivering in such a way that those women will be trusted
to fill in my shoes.” She also touched
on the kind of business support offered to entrepreneurs by South 32. “South 32
recently opened a business support centre in Kuruman which is meant to provide
skills, training and information to entrepreneurs. We also have a website
called Intsika. This website helps
entrepreneurs to increase their online presence. They can register on the website and even create
a mini website,” she said. The event
ended with women visiting stalls to support other women who had come to promote
and sell their products.
