Lettie Mashau
Women in Construction and Engineering
Nominee's Province:
Gauteng
Project Name/Description:
CEO of Motheo Construction Group
Lettie Mashau, CEO of Motheo Construction Group, is a towering construction figure with grand plans to brighten the prospects of women within the built industry. Mashau ascended to her current position in 2019 after the passing away of Dr Thandi Ndlovu, a construction mogul who founded Motheo Construction Group, where Mashau has worked for the past 16 years. As her mentor, Ndlovu earmarked Mashau to follow in her shoes someday. She must have sensed Mashau’s leadership potential. Today, Mashau, who is busy pursuing an MBA at Regenesys Business School, is living up to expectations of growing Motheo while flying the flag of women empowerment within the group. Some of her key achievements so far are the “structured women empowerment programmes; appointment of women of colour into key positions; recognition of other young professionals within the business in terms of offering them shareholding; expanding our footprint within the nine provinces; and diversification and tapping into new markets”. When she first yearned pursuing a career in construction, Mashau, who was born and raised in Malamulele in Limpopo, was not in the least fazed by the industry’s lopsided gender representation. “The construction industry was mainly male-dominated, so I was encouraged to pursue something different and challenging,” she says. “I also wanted to do something that had a deeper impact within our communities. It’s fulfilling to build houses and community facilities that enhance the dignity of our people.” How can the built industry transform to allow more women to be practitioners who can someday occupy leadership positions? “We need to seriously look at bringing in more women at leadership positions and board level. We also need more mentorship programmes.”
