WOMAN ON BOARD
CLOSING THE GENDER GAP
Kopano Bus Service is engaged in opening more spaces for women in its operational and technical departments. “The only space we are proud of enough women is the administration, finance and HR. But this is no really much, because they are not even making 25% of the entire staff establishment of 179 employees,” she says.
“To close the gender gap, I am now finalising the recruitment process of 200 women which will be given skills in driving. As a company we train these women in order to create a pool of not only female bus drivers but truck drivers as well. “Their training programmes will cover defensive driving and management of hazardous products. Of course, the company cannot employ them all at the same time on completion of the training. Some who are not employed may get opportunity as the company would alert other bus and truck operators about the pool of skilled women that Kopano Bus Service produced.”
INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
For the past 4 years, Kopapano Bus Service in partnership with Transport Education Training Authority has been offering internship programmes to mostly young female graduates. “We expose these women to the work environment in the transport sector to working with managers, supervisors in all various divisions within the company. “We need to lay a story foundation for these women to change the narrative that there aren’t women to empower in the transport industry.
“If we afford women the opportunity to become role players, they will occupy strategic and senior positions in this industry at large. Kopano Bus Service is the pace setter and others will follow,” Maponya emphasises.
COMPETENT MANAGEMENT
The management team at Kopano Bus Service prides itself for having competencies in operations, finance, HR including technical divisions. Some of the employees including managers have gained valuable experience, they have been with the company for over 20 years.
WOMAN'S DAY CELEBRATIONS WITH TRANSPORT MAC
In honour of the multi award winning Kopano Bus Service and the closure of Women’s Month (August) activities, Limpopo Transport and Community Safety Department hosted a celebratory event at Jack Botes Hall in Polokwane recently (1 September 2022).