The Phakama Women’s Academy (PWA) has officially welcomed its Class of 2026 - 22 young women drawn from Emeris, Afda and the University of Johannesburg - marking the 12th annual intake of the VWV Group's flagship ESG initiative.
Supplied image: Welcoming Phakama Women’s Academy Class of 2026
The students met their mentors at a launch event held at Emeris Campus in Sandton on Friday, 7 August. They join a network of more than 200 young women who have graduated from the programme since it was founded in 2014 by Koo Govender, the first female CEO of VWV Group.
PWA teaches the part a degree doesn’t cover. Students arrive qualified; the Academy adds the soft and transferable skills employers look for including workplace readiness, communication, confidence, and the professional networks that so often decide who gets the first opportunity.
“A degree gets you the interview. What happens after that is a different set of skills entirely, and it is not something most graduates are taught,” said Shale Gama, group managing director of VWV Group. “Phakama exists to close that divide. These young women are already qualified and already ambitious. What we add is the practical, transferable skills and the network that turns a qualification into a career.”
Over the next few months, the Class of 2026 will work through six interactive modules:
- Self aware, work ready – turning self-awareness into workplace confidence;
- Money matters (sponsored by Absa) – crafting your financial journey;
- Ready, steady, work – tools for thriving in the job market;
- The power of sisterhood – building bonds that empower;
- Unleash your brand – crafting your unique identity;
- Welcome to the world of work – navigating your career path.
However, the modules are only half of it. The other half of the programme is the network and one-on-one mentorship with some of South Africa’s most respected businesswomen, who give their time voluntarily and stay with their mentees well beyond the final module, through to graduation, and in many cases long after.
As a community that sends its own alumnae back to inspire new intakes, that continuity has become the programme’s clearest measure of impact.
“Mentoring at Phakama is not about handing someone a career plan. It is about being the person I did not have when I started out, someone who could tell me what the room expects before I walked into it,” said Yithi Zulu, Chief Executive Officer at Yithi Media and a mentor to the Class of 2026.
For more information on the Phakama Women’s Academy, visit www.phakama.org.
