Pamela Khumalo was awarded the OPSA/Emmanuels National Office Professional of the Year 2009 award on (2 September 2009 at the glamorous Secretaries Day luncheon at The Wanderers Club in Illovo, Johannesburg. The event, which was attended by 250 of the country’s top Office Professionals, marked the culmination of a three-month process to determine the leading Office Professional in South Africa. She is the twenty-sixth woman to receive this award! The first Office Professional of the Year was named in 1983.
Pamela is the Executive Assistant to Akira Yamada, Divisional General Manager – Automotive at Toyota Tsusho Africa.
During the 13 years in which Pamela has served as an Executive Assistant, she has been a trailblazer for the profession, Pamela introduced the Toyota Tsusho PA Cross Regional Unit, which is where all PAs in the African region (10 African countries) meet twice a year, to share ideas and exchange knowledge.
The runner-up is Susan Engelbrecht, Professional Assistant to Dr Jonathan Broomberg, Deputy CEO of Discovery Health. Susan is currently the Chairperson of the Discovery PA Forum and has been involved in many initiatives which have contributed to the success of the Discovery PA Forum.
The other 3 finalists are:
- Ursula Hasenkopf, Executive Assistant to Dr Vincent Maphai, Executive Director Corporate Affairs & Transformation, SA Breweries.
- Anel Martin, Executive Assistant to the Chief of Human Resources, Telkom SA.
- Shane Everts, Personal Assistant to Dr A Adebajo, Chief Executive Officer for the Centre of Conflict Resolution.
In recognition of her achievements, Pamela was presented with a magnificent trophy and (prizes) thanks to sponsors such as emmanuels, Rexel Office Products, Netflorist, Karkloof Spa, Woolworths, Revlon, the Designer Group, Siyanqoba Seminars, Tip Top Nails and Mangwanani Spa.
The Association for Office Professionals (OPSA) is the only national professional association that represents office staff across all fields throughout South Africa and Africa. Founded in 1982, OPSA works to increase the professional and personal growth of the entire Office Professional workforce by providing comprehensive support and advocacy so that they may, in turn, provide organisations with superior administrative support.