DID hosts women's month engagement at the Tshwane regional office
By: Abongile Tukani
National Women's Day forms part of South Africa's Women's Month which provides an opportunity to pay tribute to the generations of women whose struggles laid the foundations for the progress made in empowering women and achieving gender equality. As part of the women's month celebrations the Department of Infrastructure development (DID) is hosting weekly regional women's engagement sessions, with the objective of engaging and supporting women in the workplace. Women, especially black women, LGBTQ+ women, and women of colour, continue to face barriers to move into leadership positions and are likely to face microaggressions; offensive statements or insensitive questions; related to race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual identity. Thus, these initiatives are being implemented as part of DID's internal programmes; aimed at addressing workplace gender inequalities, the social and economic barriers faced by women in the construction sector and advancing socioeconomic opportunities for women's empowerment.
The Tshwane regional office session driven by Transformation and Mainstreaming in conjunction with Employee Health and Wellness, is part of the Head of Department's (HOD) 8-Principle Action Plan on Transformation within the department, to guide the public service towards bridging gender inequalities gaps.
Nikiwe Sello, Acting Deputy Director Transformation and Mainstreaming highlighted the importance of women coming forth with their challenges for the reporting and policy development in the department. DID aims to champion diversity and inclusion through its non-discriminatory recruitment process and employee health and wellness support structures. Additionally, the department strives to bridge the gap of gender dissimilarity and inequality by employing 50% women at all levels of the SMS and ensuring full participation of women in decision making. 
Employees enthusiastically participated in the discussions and celebrated their femineity, fostering communities of support, openness, and inclusion in the department.