Women’s Month is here. This is a time where South Africa focuses its attention on women and their role in society and business, and their contribution to South Africa’s progress. Any story that positively shapes mindsets, and uplifts minds and hearts and fosters a healthier culture amongst our people, is a good story.
Good stories are what we all need right now, as the fallout from COVID-19 and economic lockdowns and lockouts continues to reverberate. Several truly uplifting and heartening examples come from the MTO Group and its approach to equal opportunities and making the world a better place – for everyone – one tree at a time.
The MTO Group is one of South Africa’s leading agro-forestry circular economy organisations.
The privately held Group, has commercial interests in forestry, agriculture, manufacturing, energy, ecotourism, and integrated training, with plantations in Mpumalanga, the Eastern and Western Cape.
These are historically male-dominated industries, but in recent years, MTO has catalysed transformation of the landscape with its gender-smart employment solutions, recognising the benefits and strengths of a cohesive workforce that engenders mutual respect, as well as for the environment in which they all work.
MTO has fully actioned its people-first philosophy with quite extraordinary results – with a solid succession plan, internally promoting 69 personnel in 2021 alone for example. In empowering its people, the Group is successfully building capacity for the future, one that also takes account of the planet on which we all depend and from which, in this case, profits are derived.
Further, MTO has been acknowledged by the global Forestry Stewardship Council for its gender-diversity programmes, in which women are given equal opportunities to excel alongside their male counterparts. Examples include forestry fire fighting and management positions.
In this Women’s Month though, the company has highlighted four key women at MTO, as well as some of the significant women-led projects the organisation has facilitated and empowered.
Itumeleng Langeni – MTO Chief Stakeholder Relations officer:
MTO has numerous different stakeholders, from government, financial institutions to the communities it interacts with daily. The role requires someone with exceptional foresight, leadership and problem-solving skills combined with empathy, and diplomacy. This Itumeleng has in abundance.
As part of MTO’s executive, Itumeleng is hands on in developing the business’s holistic transformation. A major component of this, is the inclusion of women in the conversation and their development – whether internally at MTO or externally in the communities, with whom she is integrally engaged.
She says: “Our strategic intent is to grow the rate of women entrepreneurs within MTO and in communities around our business locations. We will support them to develop the entrepreneurial skills they need to run and grow sustainable and profitable divisions within MTO and enterprises outside of the organisation. These skills should equip our women with the ability to create employment in their business divisions and communities.
“This principle is in line with MTO’s holistic transformation ethos of “Growing our people.” We realized very early that by “our people” we also mean the communities around our business locations. The kind of people, women mostly, that we engage with and continue to grow, live in the semi-rural and rural areas, where most of our plantations are situated. These areas are often underserved and with minimal opportunity for work or income generation.
However, women are ingenuous and resourceful – necessity brings out the best in us – yet most of these women, have no regard for the true potential they have. It is this potential that makes us excited and inspires us to work with them to help unlock opportunities for their growth and development, transforming their lives, and creating maintainable self-sufficient communities.
Being part of actioning these ‘possibilities’ and seeing them come to fruition, is what inspires me to wake up every morning determined to make a sustainable impact for the better, in the lives of others.”
Rushda Sulaiman – MTO Chief People Officer:
“Hard work and dedication always pays off” – that’s what Rushda’s journey with MTO has been all about. From joining as a Regional HR Manager in 2011 to becoming the Chief People Officer in 2020, she has seen her professional and personal growth develop exponentially within the company, which has resulted in a skilled personnel specialist in touch with the human capital she is tasked to shepherd.
“When I joined MTO, I never thought that I would have the honour to lead Human Capital let alone become the Chief People Officer. I have so much gratitude for our previous CPO, Gretchen Blake, who spotted me and took my hand over nine years ago and took me on a journey that prepared me for this moment.
Over the last 18 months we have shifted gears, all our strategies are built around our Holistic Transformation Strategy linked to the following four pillars:
- Grow our People
- Supplier Development
- Enterprise Development
- Socio Economic Development
“Managing the fears and concerns of employees is one of the biggest challenges faced by HR because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst we are living in unprecedented times, our people will remain our priority. The success of our organization is based on the talent, passion & integrity of our people. MTO training provides the CPIH group of companies with an integrated service that includes training and education of MTO Group Companies employees at all levels including all contractors. We aim to strengthen organizational capacity throughout the business to be able to respond to change in an agile and flexible way and to facilitate a collaborative workplace culture where employees are actively engaged and individually developed.”
Cindy Cloete – Chief Financial Officer
A qualified Chartered Accountant, Cindy moved out of the healthcare business and into the arms of the forestry industry some four years ago and hasn’t looked back. Belying the dry stereotyping of accountants of yesteryear, Cindy’s outgoing personality and straightforward no-nonsense approach, embraces a love of numbers with a keen interest in people – “understanding what makes them tick is fascinating, a puzzle that needs to be unlocked and then reformed in such a way as to encourage them to reach their full potential. Essentially, people and numbers are all stories waiting to be told, and understanding people helps the numbers stack up”, she says.
This dual interest has helped her forge a gameplan for MTO that has seen the Group go from strength to strength after the devastating fires of t 2017 and 2018. Part of that progression is working with Group CEO, Greg Woodbridge and the executive on a strategy that has seen the Group diversify operations, including the planting of high-value crops.
There isn’t an average workday, something Cindy appreciates about working for MTO.
Cindy’s ability to cut through the clutter and take what is essentially a traditional industry [forestry and logging] and see new and better ways to enhance business processes, although not necessarily discarding the old for the new.
Corporate South Africa is still male dominated, but she says whereas in the past women may have needed to overly assert themselves to achieve their positions and be respected in their roles, today she is not afraid to speak her mind – she’s there “for my skills and my brainpower and that’s more than enough, I don’t need to qualify it.”
Her philosophy: “Be myself whilst being kind and respectful of others and the planet to effect good.”
Christel Malek – MTO General Manager Forestry, Technical (Research and Development)
Promoted from within the organisation, Christel is responsible for all MTO’s forestry development. From seeds to sawmill, Christel and her team are constantly researching and analysing the best genus of trees to suit the ever-changing environments, that will deliver the requisite strength and versatility that industry demands.
Christel is also the authority on deciding when the trees are ready for harvesting. Her role in essence, determines the future of MTO’s plantations and commercial success – no small responsibility.
She is an energetic, force to be reckoned with, whose cheerful disposition and hands on leadership approach is much respected and admired throughout the organisation, including her trees.
PROJECTS:
MTO Groundnuts Enterprise
Of the many initiatives MTO is involved in, this is perhaps one of the most exemplary of an organisation’s approach to a 360-degree circle of life that also achieves several of the United Nations’ Development Goals.
Currently, 92 women-led households from the Game community near White River, Mpumalanga, have planted groundnuts between the rows of young Eucalyptus trees on MTO’s Lowveld plantation.
Aside from availing the land and welcoming the women to plant their crop free of charge, MTO has also assisted the women in finding a market for their produce which has resulted in a profitable partnership with a peanut butter manufacturer.
Recognising that to be sustainable the women required some business knowledge, MTO formed a partnership with SEDA and have now put 42 of the women through a business skills course that is already bearing fruit. More women and further courses are already in the pipeline and as the harvests grow, there are plans to create a branded product of their own.
The symbiotic nature of this incredible relationship ensures that the women involved (who range in age from teenagers to grandmothers) have an income that can support the people they look after whilst having the prospect for further growth and development. It also ensures that MTO’s forests, which are a further lifeline for the surrounding communities, are protected and enriched.
Please see a powerful video story here, a celebration of women’s endurance and entrepreneurial spirit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FNW0vqF9Fc&ab_channel=MTOForestry
MTO Women on The Move
COVID-19 provoked a seismic shift in the world, but as many as there were dark days of loss and tragedy, there were triumphs and opportunities.
One such victory is the story of five courageous women (aged 48-55 years) from the Tsitsikamma region in the Eastern Cape, and their partnership with the MTO Group.
As part of MTO’s enterprise development initiative, the Group identified the potential in Women on the Move, who at the time were manufacturing basic items such as aprons and gloves etc to put bread on their respective tables, which had come to a halt due to cash flow shortage.
With the assistance of Bhacela Consulting, MTO facilitated training for the ladies via the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), in which the group of women increased their sewing skills.
With COVID-19 in full swing, MTO helped gear the Women on the Move business to help manufacture and supply PPE goods such as masks. MTO also facilitated the formalisation of the business by helping the women register with CIPC, identifying markets for them and is integrally involved in the quality assurance of the output.
The product range has since expanded to include a range of quality uniforms and other items, with MTO also being one of the business’ main customers.
Ibamanye Co-op (Coral Ferns)
Nomahomba Ndevu and Florenece Gamede, both currently residing in Clarkson in the Tsitsikamma area, met in a queue one day in 2020 and decided to form a co-op. The rest, as they say in the legends, is history.
It was from this meeting – whether by chance or design – that Ndevu and Gamede, along with three others, formed the Ibamanye Co-op, which means you can unite. All five are beneficiaries of the successful amaFengu land claim but live in different areas in and around the Tsitsikamma, but recognised that together they are one minded, the name Ibamanye thus aptly symbolised their future endeavours.
The Ibamanye Co-op successfully tendered for a “coral” fern (Dicranopteris linearis) clearing project from the MTO Group’s forest plantations in 2020. But then COVID-19 struck and the start-up ground to a halt before it could even get going. This did not deter the women though as Florence, a prolific reader with an enquiring mind, and her colleagues spent the time researching as much as they could on the local flora as they could during lockdown so that come the relaxation of restrictions, they could plunge straight in.
Naturally, this also delayed their income generation, but instead of being deterred, the set-back made them all the more determined to continue. Having only really started in 2021, today the co-op employs 15 – 20 people, a combination of pickers and packers, and has a number of clients across the country, many of whom export Ibamanye’s products to countries around the world.
With an eye on sustainability and realising that not all eggs in one basket is good for their business, the co-op have started researching other locally indigenous flora that has a market. Supporting their business case to expand their offering has come from their clients who often request other fern species and more for their local and international clients.
As part of MTO’s enterprise development initiative, the agro-forestry group has been instrumental in developing the co-op through business skills training with SEDA, providing the necessary packing and wrapping machinery for securely shipping the products, as well as giving the business a mobile refrigeration unit to prevent the sensitive ferns from spoiling. Ongoing support from MTO is provided by way of continued assistance and skills development where needed.
Acknowledgment for Gender-Diversity
The Forestry Stewardship Council
Forestry is a paradox to some extent. Whilst it’s natural for trees to grow, it sometimes takes people to make it happen. In the case of the forestry industry, those people need to be responsible with a high level of integrity, to look after the trees not just for today, but safeguard them for all our futures. A fact noted by the global industry body, the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC), an authority on these matters, who incepted a set of principles, indicators, and standards for the sustainability of the planet’s forestry around 25 years ago.
One of the first South African companies to be awarded the internationally regarded Forest Stewardship Council certification from the beginning, MTO Cape (FSC-C014996) of the MTO Group has maintained high standards, which over the past 23 years, have resulted in MTO being recognised as a leader in forest stewardship and people power in South Africa.
In the latest audit of its operations by the accredited FSC certification body in South Africa, the auditors noted that: “The innovative approach that MTO is taking towards implementing a culture of gender diversity throughout the Group is commendable.” MTO is implementing a Gender Assessment and Gender Responsive Action Plan that is encouraging more women to enter the business, and which to date, has delivered innumerable success stories.
One such example, is how MTO has adjusted its operations to accommodate women, traditionally shorter in stature than their male counterparts, and purchased a vehicle that can be used effectively to fight fires alongside their colleagues. Something that at first was met with some resistance but has proven to be of value and earned them much respect, as the women have shown they too have what it takes to protect the forests.
Some of the women who are transforming forestry on the ground are: Andani Ndou (Senior Forester); Ntsako Shikwambana (Forester); and Ncobile Zitha (Plantation manager), who are available for comment.
