Deputy Minister Tokozile Xasa’s speech during the occasion to launch the Executive Development Programme for Black Women Managers in the tourism sector
Director General for the National Department of Tourism: Mr Victor Tharage,
Deputy Director General (Acting) for Policy & Knowledge Services: Ms Nonkqubela Silulwane,
Chief Executive Officer of TBCSA: Ms Mmatšatši Ramawela,
Captains of industry,
Fellow members of the Tourism B-BBEE Charter Council,
Colleagues and friends in Tourism.
Let me start by saying: "Wa thintha`bafazi, Wa nthith`imbokodo", which means that when you strike women you strike a rock. The majority of workers in the tourism sector are women and women remain the backbone of the sector. Yet many of these women are still relegated to the kitchens, cleaning departments and front desks of many of our tourism establishments. There are few women on the management and executive positions of tourism sector businesses.
In the run up to this week, I visited a trade show in Germany where I led an all-female South African delegation – on International Women’s Day. That was powerful. Today, I am proud to stand before you to launch the programme that will help change the race and gender landscape of the tourism industry. This is the Executive Development Programme (EDP) to capacitate black women managers in the tourism sector.
Since 1994, government embarked upon a comprehensive programme to provide a legislative framework for the transformation of our economy and laying the foundation for Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE).
The Tourism sector became the first to have its Sector B-BBEE Codes published ahead of other industries in May 2009 – as a Section 9 (1) Code, in terms of the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Act No. 53 of 2003, by the Minister of the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), giving it the same legal status as the dti’s Generic B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice.
In 2011 the National Department of Tourism (NDT) conducted an independent study to assess the state of transformation in the tourism sector. The study found, inter alia, that there was a low percentage of women at board and executive management levels of large enterprises in the tourism sector.
For example, whereas all enterprises across all bands (small or large) were required to achieve 50% of black board members, executive directors and senior top management, only 12% of large enterprises had achieved the 50% target, while 4% had achieved the 25% target for black female directorship.
The low percentage was attributed mainly to the unavailability of black women managers in the sector with the required qualifications, skills profile and experience for promotion to the executive management and board positions.
The Minister of Tourism established the Tourism B-BBEE Charter Council to monitor and advise on the implementation of the gazetted code for B-BBEE. From 2014 to 2015, the Council embarked on a process to develop the draft Amended Tourism B-BBEE Sector Code in consultation with the Line Ministry and both private and public stakeholders in the tourism sector.
On 20 November 2015, the Minister of Trade and Industry gazetted the Amended Tourism B-BBEE Sector Code in terms of Section 9 (1) of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Amendment Act No. 46 of 2013.
Thus making tourism again the first sector in the whole economy of South Africa to develop and align a B-BBEE sector code. The amended Code took into account comments and inputs received from tourism stakeholders during the public commentary period.
In essence, the amended Code is meant to tackle the two main challenges in the tourism sector: the need to become more globally competitive and the need to include Black people in the Tourism Sector.
In an obvious attempt to address the past socially or legally engineered socio-economic imbalances, the Tourism B-BBEE Code expresses the commitment of all stakeholders in the Tourism Sector to the transformation of the sector and its commitment to working collectively to ensure that the opportunities and benefits of the tourism sector are extended to Black South Africans as well.
To address slow progression of black women in the tourism sector, the Council recommended that the department should partner with a distinguished South African business school to provide an Executive Development Programme (EDP) for black women managers in the tourism sector.
The programme is aimed at building strong business skills and leadership capabilities amongst women in the tourism sector to lead key parts of tourism businesses and form a pool of future top leadership, entrepreneurs and industrialists in the sector. The programme will provide in-depth training at the core of running a successful tourism business.
On 16 February 2016, the department appointed the University of South Africa (UNISA) Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL) to develop and run a course on the Executive Development Programme (EDP) for black women managers in the tourism sector. The programme will cover amongst others modules such as strategic financial management, global business environment, managing organisational performance, contemporary leadership, advanced destination and strategic marketing, advanced strategic tourism management, the executive tourism project and others.
The pilot for the programme will run for a period of 12 months starting with an intake of 20 black women in July 2016. The department is envisaged to train close to 100 black women managers over a five year period. Tuition fee and other study materials for the EDP will be covered 100% by the department.
The programme is targeted at black women employees who are at junior or middle management levels. Upon successful completion of this programme, graduates will be conferred with a National Qualification Framework (NQF) level 8 qualification.
Participants will be allowed to proceed to further post graduate studies such as the Post Graduate Diploma in Tourism Management, or a Bachelor (Honours) degree in the field of tourism or entry into a cognate Bachelor’s degree to allow for further specialisation in this field.
As the tourism family, we believe that we have strong industry players that will also do their part in providing similar training to give women more power and freedom, confidence and know-how to support and grow the tourism sector.
Tourism is a new gold which transcends the provincial and communal boundaries. Every community offers a unique tourism experience. Figures in the previous year indicated that the sector represents more than 9% of our country’s gross domestic product and an estimated 1.4 million job opportunities. Both tourism and transformation are the key priorities of government. With tourism and transformation we can bring more economic benefits to our country.
It is through investments in skills development and training by the private sector businesses and government alike that we’ll begin to see a solid base of young, well qualified black people, and women in particular who will be equipped with the necessary skills to both advance into management positions, and to be better prepared to be the business partners, business owners and entrepreneurs of the future.
I am confident that all the qualifying candidates for the EDP will work hard to complete the programme on time. As they burn the mid-night oil to empower themselves, the programme will ultimately help advance the course of transformation in the tourism sector.
I thank you!
