Wheels of change: Women make their mark in Cape Town’s transport industry
The overalls Maria Dumekude wore 16 years ago are very different from the pair she wears today.
After starting as a cleaner at Golden Arrow’s head office in 2002, the single mother of two worked her way up to fixing the company’s most valued assets – its bus fleet.
A qualified auto electrician, Dumekude proudly lugs around her bag of tools, easily holding her own surrounded by her mostly male colleagues as she works on starters, alternators and wiring on the vehicles.
“I always thought that in a business like this, women belonged in the office. But I was wrong. Look at me – I am getting my hands dirty and loving it.”
After two years as an office cleaner, the 45-year-old single mother was promoted to a general hand in 2004, helping the mechanics by passing on tools or holding onto tyres while they worked.
Source: news24.com
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