Women are not just finding their way around Gauteng. They are building it.
Every day, women across the province are opening businesses, creating jobs, leading teams, running tourism experiences and finding new ways to make everyday life better. From a women-only ride service in Johannesburg to a pioneering Soweto tour company, a women-led manufacturing business in Tshwane and a major security company headed by a woman, these stories show another side of Gauteng’s Women’s Month conversation.
It is a story about women creating opportunities, opening doors and shaping the places and services that people use every day. This Women’s Month, What’s On G’s Her City. Her Rules. campaign celebrates some of the women helping to build that future.
Women Building Their Own Spaces in Gauteng
Gauteng’s women entrepreneurs are working across industries that touch almost every part of life - from transport and tourism to manufacturing and security. Some are creating businesses in response to problems they have personally experienced, while others are building careers and companies in industries where women have traditionally been underrepresented.
Together, their stories show what happens when women are not only participating in Gauteng’s economy, but leading it.
DriveHer: Putting Women Behind the Wheel
Founder: Lumka Oliphant
Location: Johannesburg
For women looking for another way to move around Johannesburg, DriveHer offers a distinctly different approach to ride services. Founded by Lumka Oliphant in 2026, the women-only shuttle service was created around the idea of giving women another option when travelling around the city, particularly for airport transfers.
The service uses female drivers, with riders and drivers verified using South African ID numbers. Bookings are made through WhatsApp and followed up with a phone call. Oliphant, a former Department of Social Development spokesperson, launched DriveHer after identifying concerns women had about existing e-hailing services.
The focus on airport transfers also gives the business a clear place within Gauteng’s growing tourism and transport landscape. For women interested in navigating Gauteng independently, it is another example of a service designed with the realities of female travellers in mind.
For more practical advice, read Rideshare Safety in Gauteng: What Every Woman Should Know Before Getting In
Imbizo Tours: Showing Visitors Another Side of Soweto
Founder: Mandy Mankazana
Location: Soweto, Johannesburg
Some of Gauteng’s most powerful tourism experiences are rooted in the people who know its communities best. Mandy Mankazana, born in Rockville, Soweto, founded Imbizo Tours in 1994 and went on to build one of the township’s pioneering tour companies.
Today, Imbizo offers Soweto and Alexandra township tours alongside Johannesburg city tours, cultural experiences and heritage trips. Visitors can also experience tours supported by multilingual guides speaking languages including German, Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
But the company’s story extends beyond sightseeing. Imbizo has trained and employed local guides while supporting local restaurants and B&Bs. The company has also supported students and played a role in establishing a school in Kliptown.
For visitors, that means a tour can become more than simply ticking a landmark off a travel list. It can become an opportunity to understand the people, stories and communities behind the destination. For women travelling through Gauteng, particularly those exploring areas they may not know well, having access to established local tourism experiences can also make discovering the province feel more accessible.
Looking for more ideas? Read Solo Travel in Gauteng: A Woman’s Guide to Exploring the Province
Lindiwe Sanitary Pads: Building Opportunity in Tshwane
Founder and CEO: Lindiwe Nkuna-Kgopa
Location: Centurion, Tshwane
Sometimes creating a better Gauteng starts with something as fundamental as creating jobs.
Lindiwe Nkuna-Kgopa founded Lindiwe Sanitary Pads in 2018 after identifying an opportunity for a South African women-owned manufacturer in the sanitary products industry. The business now operates from a 4,000m² plant in Centurion, producing SABS-compliant sanitary pads and supplying the government’s National Sanitary Dignity Programme.
The company is also providing employment opportunities, with a workforce of approximately 90 women. In July 2026, Nkuna-Kgopa was recognised with the Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Award, adding another milestone to her entrepreneurial journey.
Her story represents a different part of what it means to make Gauteng a better place. It is not always about creating a new destination or a new way to go out. Sometimes it is about creating the economic opportunities that allow more women to participate fully in everyday life.
A factory in Centurion becomes more than a workplace. It becomes a space where women earn, build skills and contribute to the province’s economy.
Brenda Reddy: Leading From the Top in Security
Chief Executive: Brenda Reddy
Location: Gauteng
Security is part of the infrastructure behind many of the places Gauteng residents visit every day - from shopping centres and commercial spaces to major businesses and public-facing environments.
At Imvula Quality Protection, Brenda Reddy has been leading the company since 2017. The company operates nationally, employing more than 8,500 people across all nine provinces. It also operates 24-hour control rooms, regional offices and accredited training academies from its Gauteng base.
Reddy’s position is significant in an industry where women remain underrepresented in senior leadership. Her story is therefore about more than the security industry itself. It is about what happens when women occupy leadership positions in sectors that influence the way South Africans move through and experience public spaces.
From the security personnel at a shopping centre entrance to the teams working behind the scenes, these services form part of the everyday infrastructure of going out. And having women leading within those industries matters.
Supporting the Women Building Gauteng
Women’s economic participation is an important part of the province’s growth. When you choose a local women-owned business, book a tour run by a woman entrepreneur or support a company creating opportunities for other women, you are contributing to a wider ecosystem of businesses and communities.
That support can help local businesses grow, create employment and keep more economic activity within Gauteng. It also gives women the opportunity to see themselves differently - not only as customers and visitors, but as founders, employers, leaders and creators.
And that is worth celebrating.
Her City. Her Rules.
Gauteng belongs to the women who live here, work here, build here and dream here. It is the woman putting another female driver behind the wheel, the entrepreneur showing visitors the history and culture of her community, the founder creating jobs for women on a factory floor, and the executive leading a major company in an industry where women have historically had less visibility.
Their businesses may look completely different, but their stories have something in common: they are creating their own space.
This Women’s Month, don’t just look for places to visit. Look at the women behind them.
Book the tour. Support the business. Take the ride. Share the story.
Because a better Gauteng is also built by the women who choose to create it.
Her City. Her Rules.
