Women are making major inroads into some industries that were once predominately male.

This is evident in the case of 35-year-old Ms Janet Maokane, who drives a fuel tanker under Unitrans Company. She is very passionate about her job and is living her dream.

Ms Maokane, who is a wife and a mother of three said prior to this, she could not imagine a time in her life when she could hold a job let alone run a business.

“It is my duty as a woman to thank those who came before me, those who were brave enough to speak up about what they believed in and paved the way for gender equality,” she said.

Ms Maokane said when she first thought of joining the trucking job, a lot came to her mind and asked herself so many questions on whether she would make it.

She thought about women who tried to make it into one of these industries but were immediately looked down upon and it was moments like these that made her heart skip a bit, wondering where she would turn to should she fail.

Ms Maokane said the five years that she spent in the truck driving industry taught her that women were capable of doing all type of jobs.

“No matter what stage you are in your career or business, make sure to implement the idea of helping women progress, become a mentor and don’t be shy about connecting talented people together, stand up and say something when something is not right,” said Ms Maokane.

Quizzed on how she handles family issues as her job is so demanding, she said at first, her husband was a bit worried as she was travelling between three countries, which sometimes took three to seven days being away from home.

She said the longest trip for her was from Johannesburg, South Africa to Windhoek in Namibia and Maputo in Mozambique.

Ms Maokane said at the end of the day, the biggest impact a person could make was to keep on following their dreams, no matter what gender they might be and push right to the end.