MBOMBELA- The appointment of the same companies, males fronting using women for business and being overlooked are some of the challenges women in construction face.
This is according to President of South African Women In Construction (SAWIC), Thembeka Mnisi who gave a presentation during an engagement session with Premier, Mandla Ndlovu.
The aim was to discuss measures to increase women’s participation in the construction sector and to afford them an opportunity to share their experiences.
Mnisi raised several concerns saying hosting such programmes seems to be just another tick of a box.
“We are an organised structure that aims to empower and give skills to women who aspire or who are still in construction. However, without government’s assistance, we are as good as any other organisation.”
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“We appreciate that they are trying to give us skills and capacity building programmes, but that is not enough. We want projects, we want to see our women working, because there is no point of gaining skills if you are not going to use them anywhere,” said Mnisi.
Statistics reveal that women remain underrepresented in male-dominated industries like construction which Mnisi attested to starting that the numbers are not a true reflection of what women in this industry go through.
“Each time the statistics are read out and it is announced that Mpumalanga is one of the provinces that has met the threshold, I cringe. This is because I am a representative of an organised structure, when you check the tender bulletin you find that it’s the same people awarded tenders and men continue taking advantage using women’s companies
to operate in business. There is something government is missing and it needs to be fixed,” concluded Mnisi.
