BWA announces finalists

The Business Women's Association (BWA) has announced the finalists of this year's Businesswoman of the Year Awards (BWOYA) in the Corporate and Entrepreneurial Businesswoman of the Year categories.

Corporate category

Philisiwe Buthelezi - CEO of the National Empowerment Fund
Colleen Louw - station manager at Primedia Broadcasting
Matifadza Nyazema - executive director of the Sandton Convention Centre
Zyda Rylands - managing director of Woolworths

Entrepreneur category:

Xoliswa Kakana - chairperson of ICT-Works
Nondumiso Mzizana - CEO of Sikelela Medical, Dental and Pharmaceuticals
Sotse Segoneco - CEO and founding member of Sonke Pharmaceuticals

According to BWA president, Kunyalala Maphisa, "Nominations received for this year's awards were encouraging, bearing in mind that last year no award was granted in the Entrepreneurial Category, as nominations did not satisfy all of the award criteria. The strength of this year's entries shows that women are playing an increasingly meaningful leadership role in all sectors of the economy, a trend that will undoubtedly benefit the country as a whole.

"This year's awards have attracted Telkom, as one of the main sponsors for this event. This shows that they buy in to our vision of honouring the advancement of women," she concluded.

Judges

This year's corporate judges were Dr Namane Magau, Santie Botha, 2010 Businesswoman of the Year and Shirley Machaba, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. The entrepreneur judges were Tim Tebeila, founder and executive chairman: Sekoko Resources and Tebeila Insurance Brokers, Ipeleng Mkhari, co-founder and CEO: Motseng Investment Holdings, Dr Danisa Baloyi, businesswoman and Basetsana Kumalo, CEO: Women Investment Holdings.