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A SENSE OF AFRICA
At work with ‘Females in Energy Efficiency’
At a mentorship breakfast held at the
University of Johannesburg (UJ) on 10
March 2016, hosted by the Southern Afri-
can Females in Energy Efficiency (SAFEE),
a number of young, female students and
future entrepreneurs had an opportunity
to share their concerns, ideas and aspi-
rations with regard to fitting into South
Africa’s engineering and energy industry.
The SAFEE (a division of the SAEE) has
ventured into mentorship programmes at
tertiary institutions promoting education-
al interest in the energy sector as a career
option. This… in an effort to empower
women and make all things equal in an
historically gender-disparate industry.The
support andmotivation at the mentorship
event was offered by highly respected
and well established women across the
country’s energy sector.
A better life for women
Women bear the brunt and burden of
energy poverty with risks to their health,
safety and wellbeing as a result of house-
hold air pollution, lack of lighting, the
heavy fuel loads that they carry daily…
not to mention their time spent on tasks
that would not be necessary in a society
that embraced sustainable energy solu-
tions. At this point in the 21st Century, the
lowering of renewable energy technology
costs has changed the energy outlook
with an end to the brunt and burden in
sight. The gender discrepancy exists on
a different scale in the corporate sense…
where often, men are selected for top
positions in preference to their equally or
better qualified female colleagues. These
are challenges which women have faced
for many years… but the time has come
and women are taking a stand.
SAFEE objective
With the objective of increasing women’s
access to sustainable energy and, there-
fore, making the associated opportuni-
ties accessible, the SAFEE has the vision
to ‘Establish a large representation of
females playing an influential role in the
energy management sector’. . In the belief
that opportunities in the energy sector
should be available to everyone with ap-
propriate qualifications, the SAFEE gives
women a platform to support, motivate,
encourage and network with one another.
The organisation has embarked on a
journey of assisting women to become
powerful agents for change in the transi-
tional phase to sustainability. To this end,
the SAFEE has plannedmany networking,
coaching, mentorship and information
sharing events for 2016.
In an interview with Leanne Manas on
SABC’s Morning Live, third year chemical
engineering student, Edinah Joy January,
described the mentorship programme as
very beneficial to students. "The breakfast
mentorship programme was quite amaz-
ing, very empowering. I got in touch with
phenomenal women and what I learned
from it is the fact that there are a lot of
opportunities in the energy sector. It has
encouraged me to consider a career op-
portunity in the energy sector…more spe-
cifically in environmental engineering."
Join the SAFEE
You need to be a member of the SAEE in
order to join the SAFEE. Being a member
will enable you to contribute towards
discussions throughout the year, to ask
for assistance play a part in achieving a
gender-equal engineering industry and
energy society.
Enquiries:Tel. +27 (0) 11 038 4300
or email
Mentors: Helen Couvaras (Left) and Ntombenhle
Ndwandwe (Right); Student (centre): Siphiwe
Mosiane (University of Johannesburg).
Mentors: Daphney Ramaphosa (left) and Joy
Msoki (right); Student (centre): Edinah Joy January
(University of Johannesburg).
SAFEE Committee Members: Santa Scheepers, Faith Mkhacwa,
Lesego Gaegane, Coretta Magongoa-Mohale and Noxolo Kahlana
(Committee Chairperson).
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