by Kulani Shiluvane, Founder and Chief Consultant, Shiluvah
One of the services that we offer at Shiluvah is recruiting the best talent for our clients, a majority of which are SMMEs. SMMEs that do not have the budget for offices in high rise buildings in well known locations; SMMEs that are still trying to make a name from themselves and grow into the well known organisations people have come to know and trust, and whose authenticity is unquestionable. And while such facts shouldn’t be a problem when it comes to sourcing talent – in Femicide South Africa, it is and here’s why.
We were recently asked by one of our clients to source an Office Manager for their organisation. The job advert went out and CVs were received, vetted and candidates invited to interviews at our client’s premises, a house in a suburb in the Westrand of Johannesburg in South Africa. The interviews were scheduled for a Tuesday. The Friday before the interview we received a message on our Facebook platform asking us where we were based. Not giving it a second thought, we replied “Sandton, Johannesburg.” The individual then goes on to ask, then why did we request her to come to an interview in the Westrand, to which we enquired as to whether she is coming to an interview for the position in the Westrand. She says yes and then goes on to say that her brother has gone to check out the address and isn’t ‘comfortable’ with the premises. My heart sank!
While the job adverts clearly said that we are looking for an individual for this position on behalf of our client, the current climate in South Africa made this lady question all those facts.
Here is a young lady looking a for job, and while she might be excited at the opportunity, doing the best to ensure that she makes the best of it, at the forefront of all of this is her concern for her safety. After all, in South Africa how many young women have left home in recent days and returned home in a body bag? So, as the exchange went on, we did our best to reassure her that everything is above board and that we understand her concerns concerning the current climate in our country.
At the end of this conversation I needed a hug!
South Africa currently has an unemployment rate sitting at ± 29% and more than half of that number is made up of women. Also, in South Africa research has shown that a woman is killed every four hours. So, finding a job in South Africa is not simply applying, going to a job interview, and waiting to hear the outcome. It has also become about making sure that you come home from that interview. I do not know if this candidate will show up for her allocated interview - I hope she does, but if she doesn’t, I wouldn’t blame her.
We often think about Femicide as a social issue, but this incident changed my thought process. So, just in case we thought that Femicide is only a social issue, I have since learnt that it is also an economic issue, one that is denying many women their constitutional right to be economically active and safe while doing so.
This situation is sad, and I am sad!
Kulani Shiluvane is the founder and chief consultant at Shiluvah. She is an accomplished business development professional with a post-graduate qualification in Management from the University of the Witwatersrand. She is a skilled operation, logistics and strategic professional with experience in strategic planning and implementation, stakeholder engagement, human resources and public relations. Kulani served as Chief Operations Officer in a medium-size organisation in Johannesburg for 9 years and in 2017 she started Shiluvah. Kulani has a keen interest in conflict resolution, problem solving and organisational relations and development. Accredited as a mediator by Conflict Dynamics in 2018, her mediation interest areas are: commercial dispute, workplace, management and labour.
More articles by Kulani
