Celebrating strong, remarkable and extraordinary women this Women’s Day, the divisional managing director of SPAR Lowveld, Wilma Mahne, is no exception.
From teaching to serving both the Limpopo Provincial Government and the Mpumalanga Provincial Government as an acting IT director, Mahne has worn many hats, completing each task at hand with dedication, professionalism and great attention to detail.
Mahne was born in Polokwane and grew up in Tzaneen and Marble Hall before completing her studies in Gauteng and moving back to Tzaneen.
Back in her hometown, she took on teaching for four years before becoming a lecturer at Pretoria Technikon.
From there, she took the leap and joined the Limpopo Provincial Government and later moved to the Mpumalanga Provincial Government, where she worked as the acting IT director until the early 2000s.
Mahne relocated to Gauteng and worked as a project and programme manager for Dimension Data and Business Connexion before taking a break and going to New Zealand.
She returned from overseas in late 2006, and in 2007, she began her journey with SPAR.
Mahne has an impressive list of qualifications under her belt. After she matriculated, Mahne completed a BSc in information systems at RAU (now the University of Johannesburg) and then a BEd (education) at Unisa and a MEd at the University of Pretoria while she was working.
She also completed a certificate in business administration with the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.

When Mahne joined SPAR in 2007, she was its IT manager. From 2013 to 2016, she was appointed as its export manager, and then she returned to her IT role in 2016.
From early 2019 until the end of 2020, she filled a dual role as IT manager for both SPAR Lowveld and SPAR KwaZulu-Natal. She started her new role as MD for SPAR Lowveld on August 1.
Mahne said she loves the variety and diversity in her work the most.
“No two days are the same, but most consist of meetings with different stakeholders, ranging from my own teams in the distribution centre, to retailers and central office colleagues.”
When asked how Mahne balances family time with being a high-powered businesswoman, she said her loved ones support her.
“Having been in IT for most of my career, work and family time are mostly blurred and one’s family and friends accept and support the fact that there may be interruptions as we support business owners whose businesses operate seven days a week,” she said.
Mahne is also compassionate and finds it very important to try and put herself in other people’s shoes.
“I don’t always succeed, but I try to ensure I view the world from the other person’s point of view.”
When asked what advice she has for women in the business field, she said that you should be aware of yourself and the world around you so that you are able to take opportunities when they arise.
She added that when it came to working in a field that is dominated by men, she is unable to recall a time where she was treated differently to her male counterparts.
“Focus on the job at hand. Be passionate, but don’t confuse it with being emotional. The game is about the ball, not the player.”
Mahne’s message to women in the workplace is to grow your self-confidence and to not take anything too personally.
“Do it afraid,” she said.

To test the gender equality “temperature” in South Africa, we decided to talk to those people who say what they think without holding back: our children.

The insight that women are better drivers than men, is one of the conclusions from customer-incident data released by stolen vehicle recovery and fleet intelligence company Netstar, a subsidiary of Altron.
The new data calculates registered incidences of vehicle impacts, harsh braking, harsh acceleration, and harsh cornering as a percentage of total male and female Netstar customers. On every metric, women performed better than men.
“The findings indicate that our female customers drove better than our male ones during the four months we measured,” said Netstar’s chief technology officer, Cliff de Wit. “The data was gathered using Netstar telematics – a combination of vehicle sensors, GPS and telecommunications technology, and supports emerging offerings like usage-based vehicle insurance and underwriting.”
The data provides direct, real-time information to help insurers understand client driving behaviour, which allows them to set relevant premiums and to encourage safe and more sustainable driving.
The Netstar data support the findings of a recent survey of road fatality data in the UK. The study by Injury Prevention, a publication of the Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research, found a large gender imbalance in terms of driving performance and the risk posed by male drivers.
The data found there were more fatalities per billion kilometres travelled among men than there were among women. This was true for all vehicle types – cars, vans, lorries, motorcycles, buses and bicycles.
“Despite the outcome of such studies, we encourage drivers of all gender identities to drive safely and to use their telematics data to improve their performance and protect lives,” De Wit said.
Source: Ogilvy South Africa on behalf of Netstar

On a quest to continue making a difference in the community, the South African Council for Business Women (SACBW) Nelspruit has once again embarked on the Friendship in a Handbag initiative.
The aim is to restore hope and dignity to survivors of gender-based violence (GBV). This is part of its Women’s Month initiative.
Tracy-Erin Duggan of SACBW Nelspruit said they are collecting handbags for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.
“We would like to ask the community to join us by donating preloved bags or new ones, filled with goodies. You can fill it with things such as a scarf, beads, earrings, tissues, perfume and anything else you wish. You can also add a personal motivational letter to the person who will receive it. The note must be anonymous; do not write your name. If you do not have a bag but you have essential items and goodies that you would like to contribute, you are welcome to do so,” she explained.
Duggan said every woman deserves to feel like a lady, and every lady deserves to know how it feels to be able to reach into a handbag and pull out something as simple as a hand cream, a tissue or a breath mint.
All the contributions raised will be donated to GRIP. This organisation is an NPO that provides care and support services to survivors of GBV and people living with HIV/Aids.
Drop off your handbags at the Stegmanns Inc offices, 6 Streak Street, Office Park, Block 2, Office C before August 31, or email Duggan at nelspruit@sacbw.org to arrange for collection.

An article published by UGN’s Barry Moltz explored this topic. Although he does not answer the question outright, he states a number of factors that would suggest it is the truth.
These are those elements:
• Women communicate better – the better you listen, the better you communicate.
• They are better at building consensus.
• Women have stronger business ethics.
• They are more patient.
• They have more empathy.
Further to this, a Harvard Business Review found that real-life female managers excelled on almost every trait associated with excellent corporate leadership.
So, the question remains. If all research shows that women do in fact excel in management positions, why are they still in the minority in these positions?
Hiring women to fill management positions is not just courteous. Often, she will be the best candidate for the job.

It is August, and we need to become mindful of the day-to-day challenges women have to manage.
Financial advice is readily available to all – men and women. But with a growing number of independent women and/or single mothers out there, and considering that prices on goods and services are heading for the rainbow, it is imperative that financial discipline becomes a lifestyle application.