Barloworld Automotive & Logistics deploys first black female Franchise Executive, Ford & Mazda

The Motor Industry Staff Association (MISA) recently appealed to the South African retail motor industry to accelerate gender equality in the sector, citing that the industry has been male-dominated for over 100 years. 

Mayaba’s journey is one of determination and perseverance, having been reared from humble beginnings, she continuously defies limits, rising beyond expectation. Her journey in the motor industry did not begin by design but rather by coincidence - what started as a path to the legal industry as she was studying law at WITS University, quickly changed course when her mother passed away and she was left with the responsibility of looking after her two younger siblings. This required her to neglect her studies and find a job that could assist her in providing for her family. 

Mayaba credits two women from Barmot Truck Hire in Cleveland, Johannesburg, (now Avis Barloworld Truck Rental) for providing her first break in 1997 as a trainee, an opportunity which she grabbed with both hands and never looked back. She quickly worked her way up to management level at Avis, all while working towards her qualification in Road Transport at the then RAU (Rand Afrikaanse University), now known as University of Johannesburg. Mayaba now has 22 years in the motor industry under her belt, and as Kamogelo Mmutlana, Divisional CEO, Barloworld Automotive and Logistics so eloquently put it Mayaba is a “torchbearer of many firsts''.

The scourge of youth unemployment lies close to her heart and is a driving passion for her to create development opportunities, affording them the same opportunities she has been given. Mayaba’s believes she can be the change she wants to see in the world and is determined to leave both, Barloworld and the motor industry in a better position than she found them, armed with an attitude of servant leadership she holds the capability to shake up the industry and take it to new heights.

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