The Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 (EEA) deals with the achievement of equity in the
workplace. This involves the promotion of equal opportunities and fair treatment as well as
the implementation of affirmative action measures. Telkom, like many other organizations in
South Africa was, and is expected to comply with the Act. Compliance includes the
development and promotion of female employees into leadership positions. Very few
Telkom female employees are in top leadership positions. Even those that are in top
positions have been recruited externally. South African history may play a role in the
problem by regarding males as leaders at work and at home. The intention of the study was
to explore leadership challenges facing female employees within Telkom and to be able to
understand the perceptions and realities accompanying these challenges. Theories based on
gender, traits, leadership, the hierarchy of needs and development were used as the
theoretical framework in this study. The systems thinking approach was used to assist in
looking towards a broader perspective. The population of the study was female employees at
Telkom Head Office in Pretoria. From these, twelve served as a sample for the study. In
gathering data, semi-structured interviews were conducted. Qualitative analysis was used to
analyse data. Analysis and interpretation involved identifying themes, coding and
interpretation. The findings in the study are: the strong belief that leadership is solely for
males or females is incorrect; there are leadership challenges facing Telkom female
employees. The study focused on leadership challenges facing Telkom female employees at
middle management, junior management and operational level. These are OP to M4. It is for
this reason that the researcher thinks that a future study that will focus on leadership
challenges facing top and senior female leaders can be conducted for comparison, as well as
another study to ascertain the influence of the working environment on these leaders. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/9513 |
| Date | 27 August 2013 |
| Creators | Shangase, Nonhlanhla Primrose. |
| Contributors | Pillay, Kriben., Gerwel, Cecile. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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