Traditionally male-dominated, the transport sector is still bearing the consequences of underinvestment during the apartheid era. Transformation is therefore a critical part of the strategy of Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa), across all areas of operations and within each of its entities.
Chief procurement officer Tara Ngubane is responsible for supply chain management (SCM) within Prasa. This entails ensuring that the organisation buys goods and services at the right time, price, quantity and quality, while promoting broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE).
She says Prasa's commitment to transformation is evident in its human resource figures as well as its supplier policies within the procurement department. "We have 154 people working with the SCM department across the agency," she says. "The head of SCM is a woman and 50% of the staff are women. Furthermore, 80% of the staff within SCM are black people."
She says awarding business to previously disadvantaged enterprises is part of the procurement policy at Prasa. "We have embarked on enterprise development initiatives where women participation is encouraged and we are awarding business to communities living within close proximity to our stations and railway lines," she says.
Ngubane says the BBBEE targets attained in the past two years are: financial year 2007/2008 - 77,1%; financial year 2008/2009 - 60,6%; and first quarter of 2009/2010 - 76%. The women entrepreneurs target for 2009/2010 is 5% of the total procurement spend and Prasa encourages subcontracting for its larger contracts to ensure enterprise development and skills transfer.
Though transformation is a key value at Prasa, the proof of the organisation's success in this area lies in the views of those who have been part of the implementation.
Jacqueline Beukes, Western Cape financial manager, has been at Metrorail since 2006. Responsible for all aspects of the financial portfolio for the region, from fare revenue collection/accounting to financial accounting, expense and capital management, payments, cash-flow management, management accounting and corporate governance.
"Transport has changed drastically. There is much more focus on female development not only within Prasa but within the transport sector. You can literally see the changing face of transformation within Prasa when it comes to female development. It is no longer a surprise to see a female train driver."
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Gauteng Metrorail regional manager Nozipho Sangweni agrees. "I started my career in the transport industry more than a decade ago. I've also experienced different environments through engineering. The transport industry, especially rail, has seen an increase in the number of women contractors and suppliers. Through a programme called Women In Rail, Metrorail, under the wing of Prasa, is assisting in developing more women-owned businesses to enter this sector, especially at the technical level (which was dominated by male contractors and suppliers for a very long time)."
Reporting directly to the CEO, Sangweni is responsible for the full management of Gauteng Metrorail operations. A pioneer paving the way for other women in the transport sector, she says that knowing that Metrorail is at the hub of the SA economy is what motivates her.
She says in the transport industry, as with any technical field, the skills shortage remains a problem in addressing transformation, yet she believes that Prasa is doing relatively well in general. "Every change requires proper management to avoid relapse and Prasa is right there in the management stage of the changes it is embarking on, including transformation of the entire organisation."
Prasa recently added another woman to its executive team. Born in Umlazi near Durban, Sindi Mabaso-Koyano studied a BCom at the University of Natal in Pietermaritzburg. Cofounder of African Women Chartered Accountants, she was nominated as a Businesswoman of the Year finalist in 2004. She has previously held the position of chief financial officer at Transnet and has joined Prasa in the same capacity.
