The City of Cape Town is a proud employer of more than 11300 women and employs over 19 400 women through its EPWP programme. The City takes great pride in the strong, resilient and remarkable women it employs. This year, the municipality has created a special video featuring its female heroes working across the various City directorates in celebration of National Women’s month.
‘I am a very proud City of Cape Town woman, proud to be associated with this calibre of professional women. The diverse range of roles they play in keeping this city going is truly inspiring. I salute each and every one of our female colleagues for their contribution and sacrifice. For giving their best and pushing through this difficult time, we see you, we see your brave smiles and commitment and all the time you spend away from your own. Thank you for your service, thank you for showing up each time and for being you,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Corporate Services, Councillor Sharon Cottle.
This National Women’s month, the City would also like to recognise all the resilient and strong women in Cape Town for all the various roles they play – both at work and at home and for the contribution they make to our city and its people.
‘Our aim with this video is firstly, to showcase the incredible women we have running the City behind the scenes and then to thank all our frontline mothers, sisters and daughters for the remarkable work they do every day. The City wants to encourage all the women in Cape Town to stay strong and rise up to these challenging times, knowing that they are not alone. We are standing with you and believe that we all have a purpose to serve in this beautiful city,’ said Councillor Cottle.
Recognising, developing and appointing female leaders within the City continues to be a key objective in creating an inclusive culture within the municipality.
‘We have found that mentoring and coaching among our women has been one of the best ways in which to build leadership strength within the organisation. In terms of building a strong female talent base and pipeline, our focus is on tailoring capacity building and skills development for female employees across all levels,’ said Councillor Cottle.
The City ensures a supportive environment by providing workshops specific to gender awareness; gender discrimination and sexual harassment. Various departments have also combined efforts to create “safe spaces” for female staff members to share experiences and to support one another, especially around gender-based violence.
The City’s Employee Assistance Programme(EAP) and Wellness department provides all female staff with confidential, professional and holistic interventions, which empowers them to address and manage their personal and work-related challenges. These include one-on-one counselling and support services which address issues such as the emotional and psychological impact of abuse as well as pro-active interventions, which aim to empower staff with interpersonal, stress management and resilience skills.
The Young Women empowerment initiatives are also further examples of the City’s commitment to encouraging growth and development for females within the workplace.