Despite ongoing efforts to advance gender diversity in boardrooms, South African women still find themselves generally under-represented on corporate boards. Transformation remains a target that is hard to reach even with legislative efforts that tries to mitigate this goal. The latest edition of the podcast series by Wits Business School (WBS) in partnership with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) gave a perspective on how people might break through the barrier of 20% representation of women in South African boardrooms.

The Backstage Pass podcast series presents conversation with South African business leaders seeking their views on ideas, challenges, and opportunities that keep them up, busy and excited. Nolitha Fakude, Chair of Anglo American’s South African management board together with Jackie Foster-Mutungu, Partner at the BCG Johannesburg office, joined Nozipho Tshabalala to embark on a conversation about advancing women leadership especially in South African boardrooms. This was the first podcast of the series to be recorded with a live audience.

Speaking at the event, Fakude zoomed in on the issues of culture in the boardroom and progress made to advance women leadership, and she believes that the country has regressed in those aspects. “The culture that you find in a boardroom and in a company is influenced by the tone at the top. “So, in a country where you see how women are visibly represented, either in government positions or in businesses as a whole, then you're sending a different message to how you deal with transformation and change”, she said.

Weighing in on the issue of culture, Foster-Mutungu shared her experience from working in a few countries on the African continent. She said that culture is something that people need to get over as it can be a hurdle for women. “However, when it comes to being, impactful in the boardroom, they [women] need to act differently”.

Fakude and Foster-Mutungu also shared their experiences including leading in tough times like during the COVID-19 pandemic. They also took questions from the audience and gave advice on leadership styles, culture, and provided a “toolkit” that women can tap into when they need to respond to certain situations.

Please click here to access the podcast and enjoy!

By Medupi Lamola, Marketing & Communication Manager, Wits Business School