Johannesburg, 08 Aug 2003
Telkom has called on women to use information and communications technology (ICT) to advance their own empowerment.
Speaking at a Women`s Day event at a girls` school north of Durban, Telkom chief sales and marketing officer Nombulelo Moholi called on South African women to venture into key areas of the economy, using technology to become entrepreneurs in their own right.
Moholi also donated 20 PCs with Internet access and a server to the school, Inanda Seminary.
She has adopted the school as part of the Telkom Foundation`s drive to improve the quality of science and technology in previously disadvantaged schools countrywide, 38 of which are in KwaZulu-Natal.
Moholi told the girls that "a woman`s place is where she wants to be", urging women to radically embrace technology and use it as a means of self-advancement, unrestricted by gender stereotypes.
A qualified engineer herself, Moholi said: "With the maturity and support I have received from many mentors and role models I have come across, I am able to hold my own in the ICT industry.
"I must add, though, that I have been fortunate that the industry that I am in has always had a major shortage of technically skilled people, and could ill-afford to discriminate based on gender.
"Women have made strides in the ICT sector, and are excelling in engineering and network fields. But the numbers of women entering this sector are unfortunately still very low, hence the dire need for a critical mass of women entrepreneurs to put this industry on a growth trajectory."
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