Meet Dr Hajira Mashego PhD, The Founder Of Fitness Junction In South Africa

Dr Hajira Mashego PhD is the founder of Fitness Junction in South Africa.

She is a qualified sport physiotherapist who studied further to complete a Master’s Degree in Public Health (with a focus on fitness) and a PHD in Human Movement Science (also focusing on fitness).

She has vast experience in sport physiotherapy, exercise science and sport management and has served a combined 26 years in the health, wellness and sports sectors.

Hajira resigned from a senior management government position, took her pension contributions and established Fitness Junction, a gym company in February 2018.

The company has been bootstrapped and has grown organically, now employing 14 people. Fitness Junction is a provider of commercial, corporate and home gyms.

“My PHD study opened my eyes to the adverse health effects of sedentary lifestyles.

Sedentary lifestyles contribute to overweight or obesity, which increases the risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, arthritis, mental decline, poor health status, dying of heart disease prematurely, and developing breast or colon cancer.

Globally, approximately 3.2 million deaths each year are attributable to insufficient physical activity.

In South Africa, there is a disturbing trend of a drastic increase in overweight and obesity rates among black and colored South Africans, thus increasing the burden on the public health system. The majority of peri-urban and rural populations do not have access to gyms.

They have to travel to distant towns or cities to access fitness products and services.

Access to quality fitness products and services is thus the main challenge contributing to the health profiles of adults residing in peri-urban and rural areas. Based on these findings I therefore established Fitness Junction with the aim to provide access to gym facilities to the peri-urban and rural town markets in order to prevent diseases of lifestyle among those population groups”

Source: Female Founders Initiative

Email: elora.akpotosevbe@yahoo.com