September 12, 2007
By Millicent Kgowedi
IT is official. Duduzile Maseko, managing director of the Johannesburg Roads Agency, is the best female municipal official in Gauteng.
Maseko won the award for the most outstanding woman municipal official at the annual Women in Local Government awards ceremony held at Gallagher Estate recently. The award comes with a R30 000 bursary for her to further her studies through the Local Government Skills Education Training Authority.
Grace Molopa, a community development worker, and Ntombi Mekgwe, Ekhurheni Speaker also won accolades and bursaries for the work they do.
Other achievers were Metsweding mayor, Agnes Mlondobozi, and councillor Faith Kgaditse, who were cited for their outstanding work. They both also received R30 000 bursaries to further their studies.
Responding to her award, a jubilant Maseko said: "I never saw this coming. I was very tired on the day of the awards and confirmed late that I was going to attend. My date was my seven-year-old."
Honouring women
The awards were initiated in 2005 to "pay, celebrate and honour women working in the local sphere of government", said the MEC for local government, Qedani Mahlangu, at the ceremony. "It has always been my dream to offer women in local government an opportunity to showcase their achievements and share best practices in their respective fields."
Women in local government play a pivotal role in addressing developmental and service delivery obstacles, despite challenges of inequality and other social ills confronting them, Mahlangu said.
The MEC hoped that the awards would motivate more women to go that extra mile in their respective fields.
"It is important that we prioritise women in ensuring that they are developed, academically and otherwise."
Mahlangu said that women should be empowered in every respect. "Gender mainstreaming cannot be postponed any further as most municipalities are still lacking in that area. Awarding cleaning tenders to women only is just not on. We must ensure that we empower women in all respect as we do with their male counterparts. Women can and are able to deliver goods and services."
She said it was also important for women to "make positive changes in the various communities we work and live in".
Caring spirit
"We have a caring spirit, something men can't take away from us," said Maseko.
Women could use their femininity in a constructive way in local government, according to Maseko. "We are not saying that men are not important – we need them in the workplace. What I'm saying is that women need to be well trained in fields where men dominate to fill in the gap."
Maseko prides herself of being a leader who doesn't mind getting her hands dirty. "I go out on the road."
Building good relationships with the JRA staff is crucial. Maseko believes that for her service to be good she needs to be visible to all employees. "It is that person that makes the JRA to be what it is, their contribution is important to me. I have a very strong relationship with them and I create the platform for them to express their problems to me."
Maseko started her career in 1989 as a student council representative for the Equal Opportunities Council, moving from career officer to placement officer in a short time.
In 1994 Maseko was appointed deputy director for human resource department at the Independent Media Commission and later served as chief state officer and deputy director of human resources for the Gauteng Provincial Services Commission (GPSC) as well as the department of housing and local government.
In 2006 she was appointed deputy president of the Institute for Local Government Management of South Africa.
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