When my partners and I started building Everlectric, we weren’t simply launching a business, we were helping to shape an industry that is still finding its footing in South Africa.I entered an industry where leadership and technical credibility were still closely associated with men. As an African woman, I often had to prove myself before the conversation moved to what the business could actually offer.
The challenge went beyond credibility. Electric mobility-as-a-service is young and capital-intensive in South Africa, and many traditional funders did not understand the model we were building. The automotive sector also relies on longstanding relationships between manufacturers, dealerships, and fleet operators. Breaking into those networks took strong commercial experience, credible partners, mentors and sponsors, and a willingness to keep learning the technical side of the business.
Where the gap is most visible
Women remain underrepresented across much of the EV value chain. The gap is especially clear in technical and operational roles, including automotive engineering, technical work on high-voltage systems, electrical work, and charging infrastructure.
It is also visible wherever capital is allocated and strategic decisions are made. Women may be present in financial institutions, but they remain underrepresented in senior positions. That can shape which businesses receive support, whose credibility is trusted, and which opportunities are seen as investable.
The industry loses valuable perspective when the same kinds of people dominate those decisions. Electric mobility reaches beyond the vehicle itself. It will influence how businesses operate, how cities are designed, how energy is distributed, and how transport systems develop. Without women in those discussions, the sector risks building new technology around old assumptions and misunderstanding a significant part of its customer base.
Start before the career decision is made
By the time companies begin recruiting at university, many young women have already made Grade 10 subject choices that narrow their access to technical careers, often without ever having seen an EV workshop, charging site, renewable energy facility, or mobility software operation.
Exposure shaped some of my own career choices. I shadowed someone whose career I admired, and seeing the work at close range helped me imagine a place for myself in that world. That same principle can work in electric mobility.
Schools, universities, companies, and government should create more opportunities for learners to visit automotive facilities, shadow people in technical roles, and see how vehicles, charging systems, software, and energy networks work together. A career described in a textbook can feel remote. Meeting someone who does the work, and seeing where it happens, gives a young woman a reference point.
We also need to treat TVET colleges as a serious route into the sector. Vocational training can prepare people for practical roles and help them enter the workplace with relevant experience. South Africa will need more people who can work safely with emerging vehicle and charging technologies.
Turn intention into opportunity
Recruitment practices also need to change. Companies cannot keep searching in the same places and expect a different result. Structured graduate programmes, apprenticeships, internships, mentorship circles, and active sponsorship can help women enter the sector and progress once they are there.
Responsibility is shared, although each participant has a different role. Industry leaders can create opportunities, sponsor women, and challenge exclusionary practices. Schools need to encourage learners to pursue STEM subjects and ensure those options remain available, while government must align qualifications with the skills the EV sector will require. Policy certainty is part of that picture because it encourages investment, business formation, and employment.
Targets should be measurable, but they should lead to real participation rather than certificates and compliance exercises. Skills-development and CSI budgets can support programmes with lasting value, particularly when they provide practical experience and a route into work.
The EV sector is new enough for us to shape its culture and skills base, including who eventually reaches leadership. We should use that opportunity deliberately. Women should help build the industry from the beginning and influence every level of its growth.
By Ndia Magadagela, Co-Founder of Everlectric