WOMEN IN MINING PROGRAMME RECOGNISES TOP WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
The yearlong entrepreneurial Women in Mining business support and development programme, presented by Collective Value Creation (CVC) and sponsored by Seriti, came to a celebratory end on 25 July this year.
In attendance at the prestigious award ceremony in Middelburg were the female beneficiaries of the programme, representatives from Seriti, including Mokhine Makgalemele, Community and Regulatory Affairs Manager and Nyaniso Rapiya, Preferential Procurement and ESD Lead. Joining them from CVC were Wybrand Ganzevoort, Managing Director, Asheka Lee, MC for the day and Orla Ollewagen who was the responsible Project Manager for the programme.
During the ceremony, a number of awards were handed out to those entrepreneurs who showed exceptional dedication, growth and promise. Competition for these awards was fierce and the panel of judges had a hard time choosing the worthy winners.
The Top Sales Pitch award went to Eva Masemola. The entrepreneurs had to submit a sales video showing their insight at the culmination of their sales training and mentorship. This required the entrepreneurs to have a firm grasp on the needs of the target audience and the value proposition that they needed to convey in their pitch.
Olivia Knoesen won the Commitment to Success award for her dedication to the responsiveness that she demonstrated to the timelines and compliance that is required in the competitive nature of a targeted procurement readiness programme.
The Sustainability programme that some of the ladies joined, entailed modules such as Anti-modern Slavery; Corporate Governance and Anti-corruption and Environmental Management. These issues are very important in the workplace and not always the most enjoyable part of an entrepreneur’s job, but Shamilla Rampersad, who won the Compliance Award, proved that SMEs can be leaders in the field of sustainability and they do not have to shy away from their environmental and social responsibility.
The Entrepreneurial Mindset Mastery award went to the individual who had shown the most significant change and/or adaptation in the entrepreneurial mindset dimensions that they have sought to impact. This could include changes in self-confidence, optimism, interpersonal sensitivity or other areas. A few individuals stood out and the decision was made to have two awardees namely, Merlin Kalikhan and Zodwa Mlangeni.
The Top Woman Entrepreneur award for the Women in Mining programme as nominated and voted for by her peers, went to Zoe Sibawu.
Asheka Lee who was also the personal development mentor during the programme, urged the entrepreneurs to “continue to grow, support, and network with one another for mutual business growth and benefits.”
Commenting on the programme Wybrand said: “Gender inclusion and consideration of the environment is critical in the context of enterprise and supplier development and will become even more important in the transition process in Mpumalanga in the future. The research shows us that women are more affected by economic disruption, yet most development programmes focus on men and when they do include women, the programme does not recognise intersectionality and the broad role played by women entrepreneurs in both the mainstream economy and the caring economy.”
And what are the thoughts of the entrepreneurs themselves? Shamilla Rampersad echoed their sentiment: “To all the presenters and coaches, salutations to every one of you. Thank you for giving us the tools to become world-class organisations.”
