Congratulations to our BWOYA Corporate Finalists announced at Nedbank on 28 July 2010.
Akashni Naidoo, Explix Technologies T/A Workgroup
One of the most high profile female players in the Information Technology arena today, Akashni Naidoo has been active in shaping the way business is conducted at local specialist distribution house, Workgroup, for over 20 years. Working specifically in the retail sector has meant that she has had to hold her own in a very male dominated industry – and hold her own she has.
As a woman operating in a very male oriented industry – namely sales – Naidoo has had to become what she refers to as a “Super sales woman” and this has meant truly understanding the fine art of negotiating and finding the delicate balance needed to achieve Win/Win/Win strategic partnerships, which is what she believes success in business is built on.
An indomitable woman, Naidoo runs her division efficiently, manages her customers with a touch of TLC and has even managed to sneak raising a family into the bargain – not to mention her formidable talents in the kitchen!
A true eccentric, Naidoo is a business woman who relies on strict principles and morals to guide her both during work and personal hours. Backed by her team at Workgroup, an organisation that has gone from strength to strength in a competitive industry, she is confident to say she has proudly grown alongside it. Akashni Naidoo is passionate about the business and strives continuously to achieve her goals, which are to save her customers money and increase the profitability and market share of the business.
As the single mother of Ronnita (16) and Yovesh (12), both of whom live for home cooked meals, it is important that she make up for office hours by making the time to cook for them and this has become her one passion outside of business as a result of this. Once a month, Naidoo together with her kids, prepares a cooked meal and feeds at least 250 people in her community. The recipients of her generous scheme range from children to pensioners who are either homeless or jobless, but are always on the street corners.
And her tireless dedication to family extends to her Workgroup family as well; as each of the 19 staff who report to her will no doubt attest - Naidoo is a supportive team leader who builds confidence, teaches and guides each of them as they make their own way through life.
Snowy Khoza, Development Bank of SA (DBSA)
When we started the Knowledge Management Africa (KMA) journey within the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), we knew that we had a modest and yet compelling agenda. We were convinced even in the 2009/10, that the development discourse and practice for African knowledge and knowledge solutions continues and can never be underestimated. Africa already had substantial knowledge, skills, expertise and institutional capacities which were either being less optimally utilized or not being used at all. We believed that during the global financial crisis which impacted the world at the time when most countries were consolidating their economic growth and development gains, the knowledge economy imperatives will have to be supported.
The undisputable global belief is that knowledge is the driving force in economies. It has become the total intellectual capital asset of organizations and is critical for adding value to products and services, innovating new products and services, solving complex development problems, improving business practices, understanding clients needs, analyzing situations, making decisions and executing actions to ensure organizational or country competitive advantage.
As a development financing institution for infrastructure funding, the DBSA’s strategy was not to ‘react’ to the development challenges facing the region but to be responsive, proactive and innovative using its development knowledge to contribute to a region that is free of poverty and dependency thus improve the quality of life of people. KMA has become an engine for driving development knowledge solutions, supported by African governments; academic institutions and universities e.g. University of Witwatersrand; institutions such as African Union, NEPAD, African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, International Development Research Centre, Canadian International Development Agency, African Regional Centre of Technology, Medical Research Council of South Africa and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa etc. Without these strategic partners and individuals who walked with us in this journey, KMA would have not survived the six years of its existence. Thus the KMA Award belongs to the people of Africa! I Snowy Khoza and the DBSA represent the many people who made this what it is today – an engine driving African knowledge for African solutions by African experts!!
Zine Nkukwana, Magalies Water
Zine Nkukwana is a Human Capital Management specialist with over 10 years experience in the following areas of management, Strategic Human Capital, Organizational Architecture, People Procurement, People Utilization, Labour Relations, Employment Equity, People Conservation , General Administration, Occupational and Safety, Training and Development (Skills Development Initiatives) etc. These skills have been displayed in government, parastatals and private sectors. Her involvement in a massive project such as the National Census conducted by the Statistics South Africa Department in 2001, as a National Census Human Resources Manager with a diverse and nationally dispersed workforce afforded her with an ability to face challenges and deal with them professionally. She is a strategic and analytical thinker who will put innovative ideas, stringent plans and measures in place to try and curb the difficulties and milestones of implementing any big project
Current Employment:
2008 to date: General Manager: Corporate Services Division: Magalies Water Board Responsible for giving strategic direction to the whole organization.
Corporate Services Division is made up of the following departments:
• Human Capital Management
• Human Capital Development
• Human Capital Administration
• Employee Relations
• Fleet Management
• Information Technology
• Safety, Health, Environment and Quality
• Legal Services
Zine is also appointed as The Principal Officer of Magalies Water Pension fund, a position that carries huge responsibilities in terms of investing employees money for their retirement benefits. As the Principal Officer, Zine is tasked to oversee the investments, annual financial statements, audit reports as well as the employees benefits statements. Under her leadership, this year a Membership Booklet was developed and distributed through the road-shows to all our plants that were conducted to educate members about their benefits.
Zine was nominated for The Most Influential Women of the Year in Government and Business Awards for 2009 through the CEO Magazine on the Corporate Category and she made it through as a semi-finalist.
2006 to 2008: Executive Director: Organizational Relations and Resourcing: Ikamva Human Resources Consulting
2003 to 2006: Divisional HR Director: Agricultural Research Council (ARC)
Zine further started from scratch her own Security Provisioning company, of which she had to study in order to understand the business of security and she obtained grades E to B. She holds a Management Development Programme Diploma from Da. Vinci Institute and various short courses and certificates in HR and IR. Zine also holds a Corporate Governance Diploma from University of Johannesburg and has various management and leadership courses that she has attended. She also has a Certificate in Board Governance from the same university. She is finalising a Post Graduate Diploma in Company Direction (Director’s Course) in December 2010 with the Graduate Institute of Management and Technology (GIMT) and she is a registered member of the Institute of Directors as well as the Institute of Personnel Management. She also is currently doing 3rd year of Bachelor of Laws Degree (LLB) at the University of South Africa.
Susan (Santie) Louise Botha, MTN Group Marketing
Susan is the Executive Director Marketing of the MTN Group where she joined in July 2003. She sits on various boards, including Tiger Brands. Susan was previously the Executive Director of ABSA Bank (April 1996 – June 2003). Prior to joining Absa in 1996 Susan worked for Unilever from 1987 as a marketing graduate and worked for Unilever in various marketing and sales roles both in Durban, SA (4 years) and London, UK (6 years) culminating in the position of Commercial Sales Director of VdB Foodservice, UK, before returning to S.A. in 1996. She completed B.Economics (1985) and Honours B.Economics (1986) at Stellenbosch University.