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BUSINESSCorporate SA still to recognisewomen’simpacton performanceDespite the country’s gender equalityprogrammes and SADC members’commitment to achieve 50/50 representationfor women in all senior positions in the publicand private sector by 2015, the numbers ofwomen in top jobs in South Africa still fail toimpress. Mzwandile Jacks investigates why.Like doctors seeing the firstmovement of a limb in a patientthat has been in a coma,South Africa’s JSE-listed companieshave cheered at a few black womenappointed to company directorships,CEO positions and chairmanships.Yet, according to South Africa’spre-eminent black female businesswoman, Dr Anna Mokgokong, who isalso a director of at least four JSElistedcompanies, these celebrationsmay be premature. She says therepresentation of black femaledirectors, CEOs and chairpersons inJSE-listed companies is “appalling”.“There is a great reluctance in SouthAfrica’s corporate world to havewomen hold senior positions in JSElistedcompanies,” says Mokgokong.“Statistics speak for themselves. Thesituation is appalling. This calls forfemale activists like me to influencethe appointment of black womenCEOs, chairpersons and directors.”According to the annual JSEstats on black representation on thebourse released late last year, thepercentage of black female directorson the JSE was at 10,2%, blackfemale CEOs stood at 1,2% and blackfemale chairpersons at 3,9%. Lookingat a breakdown of JSE-listed andstate-owned enterprises, only halfof the industries reflect increasedpercentages of women executivemanagers.According to the BusinessWomen Association (BWA), althoughhealthcare shows a significantincrease, all percentages are still low.Kunyalala Maphisa, the president ofBWA reckons, given the complexityof the world today and the economic,demographic, environmental andpolitical transformation the worldfaces, South Africa must commit to anew mind-set; one that discards oldprejudices and inertia, and insteadcommits to new ideas and newsolutions. “Empowering and educatinggirls and women, and leveraging theirtalent and leadership fully in theglobal economy, politics and society,are fundamental elements of thenew models required to succeed intoday’s challenging landscape,” saysMaphisa, quoting a World EconomicForum report. There is growinginternational consensus that women’srepresentation at senior levels mustbe increased, she adds.It is understood that SouthernAfrican Development Community(SADC) members have committedthemselves to 50/50 representation inall senior decision-making positions inthe public and private sectors by 2015.Achieving this will require innovativepolicies, political commitment andurgent action from all stakeholders.A researcher from the WitsBusiness School, Mkhethwa Mkhize,says South Africa’s gender equalityprogrammes have no substantialeffect on female representationin leadership positions. “Theseprogrammes are symbolic rather thaneffective. But a more appealing reasonis that employment equity policies,in addition to the empowerment ofwomen, clearly state that Africansshould be given first priority,” Mkhizesays. “As a result, the low numbersof women in top managementpositions may be due to the factthat organisations are focusing ontargeting and developing Africans forleadership positions.”Another researcher, from Unisa’sGraduate School of BusinessLeadership, Pumela Msweli, sayslisted South African companieswith a high percentage of women inleadership positions do not outperformsimilar companies with a lowpercentage of women in leadershippositions. “Companies have not, asyet, recognised the impact that womenhave on the company’s performanceas a result of the feminine attributesthey import into the organisation,”Msweli says. “These feminineattributes, namely caring, team spiritand intuition, are believed to improvethe performance of the company.Put differently, it is believed thata new strategy partly to maximiseowners’ wealth is to recruit, train andretain capable women in leadershippositions.”This action will not only improvecompanies’ performance, but willmake a significant contribution tosocial development by redressingimbalances of the past, says Msweli. ✥54 I S S U E 1