High heels and hair dos are non-negotiable for many of the fairer gender – and so too are hard hats as women assert their competence in sectors once considered a male domain. Look no further than Transnet Port Terminals’ huge R5 billion-plus upgrade project at Cape Town Container Terminal, where women are increasingly making their all-important contribution. Project manager Babalwa Mandla is overseeing important aspects of the terminal’s five-year expansion target which will double capacity to 1.4 million TEUs by the end of 2012. She began her career as a training technician with Transnet Freight Rail in 2002 and thanks to her tenacity moved swiftly up the ranks in what was then South African Port Operations, thereafter landing roles as project engineer and technical manager with TPT. Zuziwe Dumile, engineering graduate and mother of two, is the only woman technical supervisor in the port, in charge of maintenance and repairs to a fleet of more than 140 vehicles carrying containers and other cargo from quayside cranes to the stacking area. Colleague Pamela Yoyo has recently been appointed operations manager overseeing a shift at the container terminal and is completing a Master’s Programme in Maritime Studies with the University of Stellenbosch. No fewer than 12 women are driving the massive cranes which keep cargo moving in the port of Cape Town while others started out as trainees and are now being paired with seasoned operations managers to become empowered to perform roles previous reserved for men. The prospect of taking up management, operational and technical positions within the maritime industry has attracted an increasing number of women since Transnet Port Terminals embarked on a concerted empowerment training programme in 2000 to enable women to play leading roles in the future of its business.
