With two consecutive clean audits with no findings under her administration, Ekurhuleni’s Group Chief Finance Officer Ramasela Ganda certainly means business.
Her efforts are drawing attention and she was recently nominated as one of 17 finalists for the coveted Businesswoman of the Year Awards.
The annual Businesswomen’s Association of South Africa (BWASA) celebrates and recognises astute leadership and contribution of South African women in various sectors of the economy.
She is responsible for allocating funds that have changed the economic landscape of Ekurhuleni – a significant contributor to the country’s GDP.
Ganda has been nominated in the government category, where nominees must be considered “role models” within government and be able to show a commitment to mentorship and empowerment of women.
These awards are the only recognition of its kind that focuses solely on women in business.
Ganda has great admiration for the leadership of City of Ekurhuleni.
Their support contributed to the city’s advancement, such as Moody’s top credit rating amidst economic challenges, achieving two successive clean audits, promoting transparency through the open public tender adjudication process and attracting investors.
“Having a supportive leadership with a vision and the desire to create jobs has really made my job easy,” she said.
“When they presented the city’s vision I was already sold, I looked at it and said I really want to be a part of this metro.”
Although she is a trained accountant by profession, Ganda is not one to sit behind her desk perusing documents.
She enjoys visiting community projects and interacting with communities to evaluate their implementation and identify shortcomings.
The Clean Neighbourhood Fridays launched towards the end of 2015 to clean up the city and CBDs across Ekurhuleni are some of the programmes that make working for Ekurhuleni fun.
“For the first time working in government, my cellphone number becoming public is a non-issue,” she said.
“Being accessible and readily available to assist Ekurhuleni residents whenever they need me is more important to me.
“It’s really all about the work you put in, even if it means working overnight.
“The love for the city and the potential I have seen is what keeps me motivated and driven to make Ekurhuleni work.
“I wake up every day to get paid to do what I love.”
Ganda is grateful for this nomination and would like to see more changes in Ekurhuleni.
As one of the bright stars in Ekurhuleni and an inspiration to many professionals, she plans to establish a chartered accountant training programme for the city’s youth.
With a great team behind her and a leadership with a vision, Ganda is set to make strides towards the advancement of Ekurhuleni’s economic competitiveness.
