Africa-Press – South-Africa. The University of Johannesburg (UJ) has appointed ICT expert Xoliswa Kakana as its new chairperson of the council.
The university’s spokesperson, Herman Esterhuizen, says Kakana will assume her new role on 1 January 2023, after Mike Teke’s terms ends on 31 December.
Her qualifications include a BSc in Maths and Applied Maths from the University of Transkei, a Master’s Degree in Electronics Engineering from FH Giessen-Friedberg University, Germany, and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Henley Management College, London.
An electrical engineer by profession, Ms Kakana has more than 30 years of experience in the Electronics Engineering and ICT sectors, holding positions in many blue-chip technology companies. Since the start of her career, she has positioned herself as a leader in the country’s information, communication and technology sector.
Esterhuizen said Kakana, the founder and CEO of ICT-Works, which he hailed as “one of the leading 100% black female-owned IT companies in South Africa”, had championed efforts geared towards the transformation of the ICT industry.
In a 2019 opinion piece, published in News24’s sister publication City Press, Kakana said black women were marginalised in the ICT industry, despite promises of inclusion at the dawn of South Africa’s democracy.
“If you look at who is graduating and with what degrees, it’s clear the ICT sector is missing out on hiring or doing business with the unstoppable wave of young black women who are graduating every year.
“These millennials are digital natives who have the skills, hunger and world view that would make them invaluable assets in any organisation, either as employees or technology service providers,” she wrote.
She added that white men remained the dominant players, while black professionals left the industry that refused to transform beyond the norms favouring white men.
“It is disheartening to complete requests for proposals and go through numerous presentations, only to be disqualified because your company does not conform to the white-owned and managed stereotypes,” she wrote.
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