As we head towards Women’s Month in South Africa and the country’s focus turns to furthering equality for women in the workplace, we want to take the opportunity to celebrate three unique women who are taking the lead in the specialist industries we serve.
These three women are blazing trails in Architecture, Food & Science, and Information Communications respectively.
Architecture & Interior Design
Ilze Wolff, Wolff Architects
Ilze Wolff of Wolff Architects was recently shortlisted for the prestigious Women in Architecture awards – the only African on the list, which includes some of the world’s leading experts. With only 21% of registered architects countrywide comprising women, it is a staggering achievement for one of our countries brightest young stars.
Together with her husband Heinrich Wolff she Wolff Architects and the young Cape Town-based architect is championing intersectional planning in the industry. She is a writer and scholar, who completed a Masters in African Studies at the University of Cape Town, with a focus on heritage, architectural history and public culture.
You can read more about her achievement here: SA Architect Nominated For Female Architect Of The Year
Food Industry & Scientific
Ntsiki Biyela, Winemaker and Owner of Aslina Wines
As specialist recruiter with a true understanding the requirements of the entire food manufacturing cycle and scientific industry processes, we believe Ntsiki Biyela, Winemaker and Owner of Aslina Wines deserves a special mention.
Growing up in a rural village in KwaZulu Natal, Ntsiki was awarded a scholarship at Stellenbosch University to study winemaking in 1999. After graduating, she joined the boutique winery Stellekaya Wines and grew her ambition to create her own wines after collaborating with Californian winemaker, Helen Kiplinger, as part of Mika Bulmash’s Wine for the World initiative. She has also consulted in France, making wine under Winemakers Collection in Bordeaux.
As a woman in the lead, she is inspiring others by sitting on the board of directors for the Pinotage Youth Development Academy. The programme offers youths the unique opportunity to emulate her success in the wine industry.
You can read more about her here: ENTREPRENEUR: Aslina winery’s Ntsiki Biyela
Information Communications
Baratang Miya, GirlHype CEO
One of the sectors making true headway in equitable transformation is Information and Communications, contributing innovative and disruptive ideas to make a meaningful change in people’s live.
While I.T. still a largely male-dominated sector, our special mention in this sector is Baratang Miya who is making big strides in helping women enter the industry. Baratang is the founder and CEO of GirlHype – Women Who Code, a not-for-profit that provides solution-based programming and app development training for girls and young women. The programmes also offer fun, hands-on opportunities to get engaged with science, engineering, technology, arts and maths.
As a self-taught coder, Baratang believes coding is a powerful tool that can be used to empower women and girls who are often shut out of the technology industry.
You can read more about Baratang here: Baratang Miya: Empowering girls and women in tech
PCS is proud to be a part of helping women further their professional careers. Contact us so we can help place you in your dream job, or find the perfect fit for your available position.