The racial and gender disparities in corporate South Africa still embody Apartheid stereotypes for some black female professionals.
- Wits University students and Chartered Accountants gathered to discuss existing in Corporate SA as a black woman.
- The event highlighted the racial and gender disparity black women still face in the private sector.
- The event encouraged mentorship, and preparation as black young women continue to break barriers.
The stark reality of gender inequality 69 years after the Women’s Day march paints a daunting image of black women’s progression in society, according to the experiences of the black female executives speaking at the She Means Business event held at Chris Seabrooke Musical Hall on Saturday, August 1.
The Women’s Day event, held by the Wits chapter of the African Women Chartered Accountants, in partnership with the Wits Accounting School Council, aimed to address how to exist as a woman of colour in corporate spaces.
Personal testimonies of black female heads of departments, including PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and Chapu Charted Accountants brought the event to life, addressing the resilience black women working in corporate require, particularly aspiring chartered accountants, to produce quality work in pressure-driven environments.
The evening featured a series of compelling addresses from Learning Development Manager at PWC, Lesego Rankou, Chapu CA CEO, Ncumisa Mkunqwana, former NYDA CFO Khuthadzo Manana, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Cluster Head, Portia Mkhabela, and Investec CA Trainee Sanelisiwe Sibiya.
Lesego Rankou opened the evening with a powerful phrase that gave hope of light at the end of the tunnel for black women existing in corporate SA. “There is no corporate ladder, it is a jungle gym. This is because there are so many layers to corporate that are yet to be explored,” said Rankou.
The She Means Business event also featured insightful contributions from the panellists about the importance of preparation and the production of quality work, as means to continue to dispel the myths about black women in society being carried through in the workspace.
Rankou shared that being an assertive black woman in corporate South Africa is often misunderstood as aggression. “The reality is corporate did not have people who look like me and you in mind in its infant stages, so often we have to constantly break barriers,” shared Rankou.
This means that often black women existing in these spaces are torn between showing up as the truest version of themselves, or shrinking their personalities to be more likeable to non-African men and women in these spaces.
“Women like me who are more extroverted are referred to as “abantu abaphaphayo” (people who are forward), when existing in these spaces,” shared former NYDA CFO Khuthadzo Manana.
Manana also shared that it is important to show up as your authentic self in the context of the space you exist in. She referred to how one cannot show up as rude and disrespectful at work and claim authenticity in that context. Manana added that this is because such claims often further stereotype black women as aggressors.
The evening ended with the panellists sharing the importance of emotional resilience in spaces like Corporate SA, where there are systemic barriers that make it harder for women of colour to authentically exist. The panellists then rounded up the attendees across the room for prayer, emphasising spiritual resilience as a crucial factor to navigating and breaking through these barriers.
*CORRECTION: Article updated on August 7 to correct a typing error of Chapu SA to Chapu CA; blurb shortened and generalised.
FEATURED IMAGE: She Means Business panellists banner including: Lesego Rankou, Khuthadzo Manana, Portia Mkhabela, Sanelisiwe Sibiya, and Ncumisa Mkunqwana. Photo: Supplied/Ndivho Shilling
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