PriceWaterhouseCoopers named SA's Business of the Year at 12th Annual Standard Bank Top Women Awards

Nana Madikane

Announced on 6 August 2015 at Emperors Palace at the annual Standard Bank Top Women Awards, some of PWCs' achievements include:

• Candidates' pass rate of 87% compared to the national pass rate of 78% and it is also the highest pass rate of the four large audit firms
  
• Qualified 1,426 ACI Chartered Accountants over the past 11 years and continue to be the single largest developer of Chartered Accountants in South Africa
  
• Black partnership growth:18% in 2008 to 27.5% in 2013
  
• 75% of our 2013 bursary spend of R15m was allocated to black students
  
• In 2012 our graduate intake (for both CA and non-CA recruits) was 526, of which 51% was black and 29% was black female

Nana Madikane, PwC Diversity & Inclusion Leader for South Africa says: "We have a strategy around inclusion and diversity, which drives our business as people are important to us. It feels great to win this award as a firm as it means that we are recognised for our efforts."

Hosted by Topco Media, in partnership with Standard Bank, the awards are dedicated to recognising outstanding leadership, inspiration, vision and innovation in organisations that have stepped up and shaped women's roles within the private and public sectors.

"Standard Bank would like to congratulate all the winners of the 12th Annual Standard Bank Top Women Awards and the organisations nominated for the respective awards tonight, which are actively bridging the gender gap in their companies. It is not only good for the cultural progress of companies to be gender diverse but research shows that the more gender diverse companies tend to do better than their counterparts who do not promote gender equality," says Ethel Nyembe, Head of Small Enterprise at Standard Bank.

The top empowered public and private organisations in South Africa are:

• Fast Growth Women-Owned SMME Award - Sponsored by Sibongile Security
  Spark school & eAdvance
  
• Diversity in the Workplace Award
  PriceWaterhouseCoopers
  
• Multinational Award
  Havas Worldwide
  
• Civil Society Organisation Award
  Breast Health Foundation
  
• Investing in People Award - Sponsored by TUMI
  Multichoice
  
• ICT Award - Sponsored by ALCM Solution Centre
  ICT-Works
  
• Corporate Citizenship Award - Sponsored by Lion of Africa Insurance
  Vodacom
  
• Skills Development Award - Sponsored by Monash South Africa
  Rheinmetall Denel Munition
  
• Health & Pharma Award - Sponsored by Sizwe Medical Fund
  Aspen Pharma
  
• Transport & Logistics Award - Sponsored by Topco Media
  ACSA
  
• Resources Award - Sponsored by Anglo American Platinum
  De Beers Consolidated Mines
  
• Engineering Award - Sponsored by Total South Africa
  Uvuko Civils
  
• Energy & Utilities Award - Sponsored by Schneider Electric
  City Power Johannesburg
  
• Retail Award - Sponsored by Clicks Group
  V&A Waterfront
  
• Top Female Entrepreneur of 2015 Award - Sponsored by WBD Investment Holdings
  Ekhuruleni Artisans & Skills - Marthie Jansen van Rensburg
  
• Top Young Achiever (<40 YEARS) Award - Sponsored by Mango Airlines
  PPC Cement - Azola Lowan
  
• Top Woman in Aviation Award - Sponsored Denel
  Refilwe Ledwaba - SA Women in Aviation & Aerospace Industry
  
• Top Public Sector Leader Award - Sponsored by Destiny Magazine
  Mmanare Mamabolo - SA Civil Aviation Authority
  
• Top Gender Empowered Government Department Award - Sponsored by PSM
  Gauteng Department of Education
  
• Top Gender Empowered Parastatal / Agency Award - Sponsored by Mncedisi Ndlovu & Sedumedi Attorneys
  ACSA
  
• Lifetime Achievement Award -Sponsored by Standard Bank
  Wendy Luhabe
  
• Top Businesswoman of the Year Award -Sponsored by Standard Bank
  Angela Dick, Transman
  
• Top Gender Empowered Business of the Year Award - Sponsored by Standard Bank
  PriceWaterhouseCoopers

Some of the finalists included: Palabora Mining, Penta Floor, V&A Waterfront, Aecom, PPC, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Aspen, ACSA, DHL Express, Khayelitsha Cookies and Vuma Reputation. For the full list of finalists in their categories visit http://topwomenawards.co.za/.

Visit http://topwomenawards.co.za/ for more details about the Standard Bank Top Women Awards and join our social media platforms - LinkedIn: http://goo.gl/myGZj6; Twitter: @TopWomenAwards and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Standard-Bank-Top-Women-Awards/