Who are South Africa’s top business women and entrepreneurs?

The influence of women on business is increasing — they’re making a mark on the tech world and women account for a larger percentage of the influential people on TIME Magazine’s global list than ever before. From Yahoo!’s new CEO Marissa Mayer to the first female chairperson of the African Union, women are showing why they’re a force to be reckoned with.

So who are some of South Africa’s top female entrepreneurs and business women? If the list of finalists for this year’s Top Women in Business and Government Awards is anything to go by, they’re working in industries ranging from healthcare to recruitment, to event management and mining.

Some of the finalists include:

Top Woman Entrepreneur

• Boniswa Corporate Solutions — Lynette Magasa
• C&N Petroleum Equipment — Yvonne van Schalkwyk
• Icon Civils and Building — Mushra Hartley
• Imperial Armour — Louisa Garland-Els
• Industrial Waste and Enviromental Services (IWESCO) — Shellie Roodt
• Keedo International — Nelia Annandale
• Mars Healthcare — Makoshe Makhafola
• Megaphase Road Marking and Traffic Signs — Nokuthula Dladla
• Mitras Amenities — Debbi Demetriou
• National NDT Services — Sharin Pillay
• O’Brien Recruitment — Lorna O’Brien
• Pro Appointments — Cindy Norcott
• Tertiary School in Business Administration (TSIBA) — Gia Whitehead
• The Effectiveness Company — Suzanne Ravenall
• The Recruit Group — Laura Reynolds
• Thebe Exhibitions and Projects Group — Carol Weaving
• Three City Events — Natalie Louise Naude
• WOA Fuels and Oils — Pria Hassan

Top Woman Executive

• Adams and Adams — Nishi Chetty
• Cape Town International Convention Cente (CTI) — Fairoza Parker
• DAV Professional Placement Group — Ingrid Kast
• Eversheds (Routledge Modise Trading) — May-Elaine Thomson
• Eversheds (Routledge Modise Trading) – Michelle David
• Havas — Lynn Madeley
• Isilumko Staffing – Nritika Singh
• Kumba Iron Ore — Cornelia Holtzhausen
• Kumba Iron Ore — Vanessa Lickfold
• KZN Oils — Esay Reddy
• Life Healthcare — Dr Sharon Vasutheran
• Monash SA — Nicolene Murdoch
• Protea Coin Group — Nobambo Cuba
• Protea Coin Group — Mabel Selepe
• Protea Coin Group — Marcia Arthur
• Siemens — Shaleenah Marie
• SizweNtsaluba Gobodo — Nonkululeko Gobodo
• Standard Bank Group — Funeka Ntombela
• Tertiary School in Business Administration (TSIBA) — Sandy Ueckermann

Top Woman in the Public Sector

• Automotive Industry Development Centre — Rashmee Ragaven
• City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality — Lindiwe Kwele
• Johannesburg Roads Agency — Duduzile Maseko
• SAMSA — Ayanda Mngadi
• Small Enterprise Development Agency — Hlonela Lupuwana

The list of companies who are nominated for promoting gender empowerment includes Life Healthcare, Netcare, the Cape Town International Convention Center, KPMG, Mutual and Federal, PwC, Microsoft and IT suppliers like IBM South Afica, Neo Technologies and Rectron.

The judging panel for the 2012 Awards includes business leaders like Basetsana Kumalo (former Top Billing presenter and Director of Travel with Flair), Stewart van Graan (General Manager of Dell Southern and Central Africa), Dolly Mokgatle (Co-founder & Executive Director of Peotona Group Holdings), and Ansie Ramalho (CEO of the Institute of Directors of South Africa), to name a few.

The ninth Annual Top Women Awards will be held on on 8 August 2012 at Emperors Palace in Johannesburg. The VIP list includes recently elected chair of the African Union Dr Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma, a number of government ministers and the current Miss South Africa.

Image: Top Women Awards.