By Lesego Nong
In an industry that has long run on horsepower and male dominance, a powerful engine of change is finally revving.
At the first-ever Women in the Automotive Sector Roundtable held on 7 June 2025, women across the automotive value chain came together, not just to talk, but to push hard against systemic exclusion, calling for deliberate and actionable transformation.
Held at the Automotive Industry Development Centre (AIDC) in Rosslyn, in the City of Tshwane, and coordinated under the theme “Accelerating Women Success in the Automotive Industry”, the event did not mince words. It was a statement: women are here, they are done waiting, and they are taking up space.
Organised by Women in Automotive South Africa (WASA) and supported by the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone (TASEZ), the AIDC, the Tshwane Economic Development Agency (TEDA) and the Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI), the discussion drew women from all corners of the sector, from technicians and HR leads to entrepreneurs and executives – united by one goal: to dismantle barriers that keep women on the fringes of the industry.
“Belonging goes beyond diversity numbers or inclusion statements,” said Pamela Xaba, a transformation strategist and keynote speaker.
“It is the lived experience of being seen, heard, and valued – not despite our differences, but because of them.”
Xaba did not sugarcoat the realities: despite decades of industry growth, women still make up a meagre 10–20% of the sector’s workforce. That is not representation – that is tokenism. And it is unacceptable in a sector contributing 5.3% to South Africa’s GDP.
She challenged the audience to move beyond lip service and token initiatives.
“No matter how tough it gets, do not waste your privilege,” she urged. “We must not only talk mentorship but normalise sponsorship.”
Founder of WASA, Yandiswa Madlose, shared that the creation of this platform was deeply personal: a response to her own search for healing and belonging in a sector where women often feel invisible.
“We created this space not just to empower women, but to liberate them,” Madlose said. “We are not asking for inclusion. We are taking it.”
Breaking through the noise
The urgency was clear throughout the day. In a panel titled Driving Belonging from the Top, industry insiders laid out blunt truths.
AIDC executive for business development Andile Mzinyati dismissed the idea that gatekeeping was the problem. “The door is there,” he said. “Opportunities are there. People aren’t grabbing them. It’s not about who you know anymore, it’s about what you do.”
But the women in the room wanted to know why are women still stuck at entry level, if the doors are open? If opportunities abound, why is the representation gap still gaping?
Panelist Esther Buthelezi, government affairs and transformation director at the Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa, took a more strategic tone: “You cannot copy predecessors. That saturates the market.
“Innovate. Do the research. Know your commodity. Know your ROI. In other words: stop begging for scraps. Own the factory.”
Building from the bottom up
It is not just high-level change that matters.
As TASEZ Business Development Executive Msokoli Ntombana noted, transformation must occur on every level, from entry-level workers to industry leaders.
He highlighted the TASEZ Training Academy as a practical intervention to uplift women at the grassroots, through technical training and access to real opportunities.
“We must build ecosystems of belonging. From entry-level to executive. From shop floor to boardroom,” he said.
This roundtable was more than just a conversation. It was a declaration: a demand for structural change in an industry that has for too long clung to patriarchal traditions under the hood of innovation.
And as the inaugural roundtable closed, one thing was clear: the women in South Africa’s automotive sector are not asking politely anymore. They are designing their own future – welding, wiring, and willing it into motion.