TPT trainees straddle the gender gap

In their class of 30, they far outnumber their male counterparts. The role has recently attracted an increasing number of female operators in line with TPT’s women in operations strategy. Earlier this year, 29 female operators completed their intensive training and took up employment in the port’s container terminal.

The women started their training at the beginning of June and will complete the full course by the end of October. It includes five weeks of practical training as well as a theory component which gives candidates insight into best practice, port operations and container logistics.

Functional training manager at the School of Port Operations, Mathemba Sauti, said, “TPT has embarked on an aggressive recruitment drive, which emphasises the need for improvements in performance to achieve customer satisfaction,” adding that the minimum competency is to complete 20 container moves per hour, after which the candidates have to meet a target of 28 moves.