Women in the public sector

Port manager Sharon Sijako is adept at swimming against the tide

The Port of East London is among the busiest in the country, employing over 350 people and able to accommodate 11 commercial ships at any given point. At the helm is port manager Sharon Sijako (50).

“My task is to set the port's strategic direction and provide support to the various portfolios of my executive team. My daily activities include stakeholder engagements, ensuring targets are met, chairing various committees, leadership advice to colleagues and mentorship,” Sijako says.

The go-getter is the second woman to occupy the hot seat in the port's 120-year history. Breaking the gender barrier was Jacqueline Brown, who held the position

between 2007 and 2017.

Sijako's career with Transnet began nearly 25 years ago, with short tenures at the ports of Richards Bay and Port Elizabeth. In 1998, she joined the Port of East London.

Prior to her appointment as port manager in December 2017, Sijako held various posts at the East London port. After progressing through the ranks, she was appointed senior operations manager, a position she held for three-and-ahalf years before being appointed to act as the port manager in April 2017.

Having grown up in

East London's Mdantsane township, Sijako says she was always fascinated by ships and the ocean and this naturally led her to consider a maritime career.

“Living in a coastal city, I was fascinated with all things nautical.The maritime industry is a dynamic environment, ever changing and with many uncertainties.This creates new challenges and problem solving on an ongoing basis, a challenge I love as it keeps me alert to developments in the industry.”

After passing matric, Sijako moved to Cape Town where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences and an Honours Degree in Business Administration from the University of the Western Cape.

Sijako says that women in leadership positions will help bring diversity and equality to maledominated sectors.

“It is important to have women in leadership positions across all industries and sectors, to ensure we bring diversity to our management structures and to accurately reflect the communities in which we operate, and whom we serve.”

She adds that gender representation in powerful positions shows young women that they can succeed in maledominated career fields like the maritime industry.

Knowing they will have the support of other women in the same field is a great motivator for young women thinking of entering the industry.

Women in positions of power have the responsibility of empowering other women, Sijako believes.At the port, she has seen to it that women are elevated to senior positions, when warranted.

“I am also passionate about life-long learning and development and actively encourage leadership development and upskilling of all women in the port through the training and educational resources that are available to them through Transnet National Ports Authority.”

Sijako says she is faced with many challenges in her job, such as balancing a healthy family life with proving her competence as a woman.

“As women, wearing many hats and becoming world-class jugglers of work and family responsibilities is just par for the course. In addition to being the architects of our careers, we are also the creators and the managers of our own, personal brands. Because whether you realise it or not, as a woman in business, you are already being judged and evaluated by everyone in your immediate environment, from your colleagues and customers to your bosses and even future bosses, on what you stand for, or don't stand for.”

As South Africa marks Women's Month, Sijako says women should reach out to each other to form bonds of camaraderie and cooperation and work together to remove the gender obstacles blocking the path of women.

“To succeed in today's exceptionally competitive, exceptionally demanding world, we need to be smart and creative and, most importantly, uniquely innovative about marketing ourselves and our abilities.”

Sijako advises young women looking to make a career in the maritime sector to develop a broad skills set in areas such as finance, human resources and business administration, to best prepare them for what is a dynamic and highly demanding operating environment.

Sijako is responsible for the smooth running of the Port of East London's many operations, including the container terminal, car terminal, grain elevator, dry-dock and movement of cruise liners.

The grain elevator is the largest in South Africa and can store up to 76 000 tons of maize.

A stone's throw from the Mercedes Benz manufacturing plant, in the 2019/20 financial year, the port moved more than 120 000 cars via its 11 commercial berths.

The port can accommodate 245-metre long vessels and its dry dock can accommodate a ship of up to 180 metres in length.The port processes 100 000 containers each a year.