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Public sector heavyweight joins Amazon Web Services

Simnikiwe Mzekandaba
By Simnikiwe Mzekandaba, IT in government editor
Johannesburg, 02 Oct 2020
Rashika Ramlal has been named executive director and country manager for public sector in SA at AWS.
Rashika Ramlal has been named executive director and country manager for public sector in SA at AWS.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has appointed Rashika Ramlal as its new executive director and country manager for public sector in SA.

A former chief technology and information officer (CTIO) at signal distributor Sentech, Ramlal officially joined AWS yesterday, 1 October.

Her appointment comes as the US-based cloud provider makes strides in the local cloud services market, having announced the opening of the AWS Africa (Cape Town) Region in April this year.

Ramlal explains that in her new role, she will spearhead the overall AWS public sector strategy by digitally transforming customers to cloud and next-generation services for effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of government, education and healthcare services.

“With my new role at AWS, I hope to change South Africans’ lives by assisting government, healthcare and education sectors to deliver citizen services speedily and easily. Every child has a right to equal and quality education. Every person has a right to equal and quality healthcare. Citizen services should be easily accessible.

“Government services should be digitised for ease of use, cost-efficient and secure, both cyber security and people-related security issues, curbing corruption and mismanagement. I believe my new role at AWS will enable the achievement of these objectives.”

With 15 years’ experience in the ICT industry, Ramlal counts BCX, Sentech and Telkom, where she held multiple leadership roles, among her former employers.

At Telkom, she was charged withstarting-up, establishing and leading the convergence business, as well as positioning the telco as a leader in the SMME arena.

During her two-and-a-half-year tenure at Sentech, she helped diversify the company from a purely media and broadcasting player to an ICT services provider, delivering broadband and other ICT services to the public sector.

Ramlal holds multiple international degrees and diplomas, as well as an MBA, graduating at the top of her class. She’s also been recognised and awarded as one of the top five leaders in SA (ICT category) − a national, industry-wide award presented to only five people in leadership positions in a particular industry who are endorsed as polished, brilliant individuals with tremendous promise and great talent.

“I am elated to be part of the world's largest group and to be provided the opportunity to make a real difference to South Africans’ lives by assisting government through AWS. This opportunity really gives me a profound sense of purpose and drive.”

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