Entrepreneurs amongst 2006 Businesswoman of the Year Award finalists

"The skills required to be effective in the corporate world and those required to be an entrepreneur are vastly different and we will be acknowledging those attributes in the 2006 Awards." So says CEO of the Businesswoman's Association, Tina Thomson, with respect to the six finalists for the coveted 2006 Businesswoman of the Year Award, sponsored by Nedbank, which have just been announced.

8 Jun 2006

Of the six, three finalists will be judged under the category of Corporate Businesswoman of the Year and the other three will be judged under the newly introduced Entrepreneurial Businesswoman of the Year. The introduction of the entrepreneurial category raises the stakes of the Businesswoman of the Year and is evidence that the Awards and the BWA are growing from strength to strength, according to sponsor Nedbank.

In the Corporate category, finalists are:

Diane Radley, chief financial officer at ALTRON - Allied Electronics Corporation Limited
Gloria Serobe, CEO of Wiphold and
Marna van Der Walt, Gensec Property Services CEO.

Finalists in the Entrepreneurial category are:

Angela Dick, CEO of Transman (Pty) Ltd
Thelma Mathamelo, executive chairman of Marothodi Resources (Pty) Limited and
Ipeleng Mkhari, chief investment officer of Motseng Investment Holdings.

"The Businesswoman's Association, together with independent adjudicators, selected the best three women per category. This year's nominees were a refreshing mix of well-recognised names in business and some trailblazing newcomers," says Dr Namane Magau, president of the Businesswoman's Association.

The Award recognises and honours the achievements of South African women business leaders and creates a cadre of women role models. The Award also acknowledges the success of women in business and celebrates the contribution women make to the economy and future generations of businesswomen.

Nominations were called for in March and since then a number of women were nominated.

The 2006 Businesswoman of the Year finalists will be judged by separate panels of judges on 5 July 2006 and the winners in each category will be announced on 2 August 2005 at a gala banquet at the Sandton Convention Centre. Proceeds from the event will go towards the BWA Bursary Fund.