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By Desire Tshuma
March is the month of women. The National Railways of Zimbabwe on Saturday joined Women in Transport and logistics in celebration of women’s month in one of their facilities at Raylton Club in Harare.
National Railways of Zimbabwe has in recent years been promoting female workers in achieving their goals regardless of the fact that the industry is mainly dominated by men. It supports Women in Logistics and Transport (WiLAT)’s mission to promote the skills of women by providing support and network and empowerment. Its work towards that goal is concentrated on four key areas which are leadership, mentorship, entrepreneurship, and empowerment.
Many women are now into male-dominated jobs like train driving, draughts artisanship, and right now the current National Railways of Zimbabwe General Manager is female – the first in 124 years since the existence of the railway transport network.
“Considering that the NRZ training Centre in Bulawayo is one of the accredited centres in logistics and transport, it is geared to churn out the best female students and workers in logistics and transport disciplines after being granted the college status,” said Martin Banda acting NRZ Public Relations Manager.
Speaking at the event, Human Resources Manager for MMZ Mrs. Matara who is also the co-chair lady for WiLAT said women are good leaders.
“We can now lead and participate in national development agenda. Women are less corrupt according to the statistics. We are resilient, we have empathy and we have good leadership qualities as you see we are the ones in control of the informal industry, ” said Mrs. Matara.
Women in logistics and transport also mentioned the challenges they face in the male-dominated industry and pointed out that they are being looked down on by men in such industries.
“I also blame ourselves as women. We should use the new technology which was brought by social media in learning but most women use social media for useless things,” said Hazvinei Motokari who is in auto electronics.
The Women in Logistics and Transport was established in June 2013. Its mandate is to promote female members in the rail or transport industry globally by encouraging and supporting their career development. WiTAL has now over 3000 members in different countries and it is still growing.