Trailblazing a pink path to city’s port

Women engineers set the standard in a government initiative. By Clinton Moodley

WHOEVER said engineering was a man’s job has clearly not met the nine female project managers, part of Operation Phakisa is Pink initiative.

These women are trailblazers, overcoming stereotypes and challenges to become 80 percent of the female workforce on the project.

Operation Phakisa is the government’s initiative to drive economic growth and create jobs. It focuses on the ocean’s economy, marine transport and manufacturing, creation and upgrade of maritime facilities to support the oil and gas sector, and the ship repair and building industries.

The team includes senior engineer Nandipha Mtsokoba, the only woman in Transnet to possess a Government Certificate of Competency, together with Zihle Hadebe, Ravishka Pillay, Sindi Mabele, Nontobeko LondiweZungu, Siphokazi Mnukwa, Nokulinda Mbatha, Hlobisile Mdladla and Ziphelele Goba.

The women, who are in gear with their signature pink helmets and their orange or green netted vests, are hard at work on the dry dock facility.

They are full of smiles when they are interviewed about the project and they gleam with happiness when the topic of engineering is brought up.

The leader is 35-year-old Mtsokoba, who says that if her team can deliver on their mandate they will not only earn the trust and credibility of stakeholders, but also pave the way for other women.

She said she enjoyed being in the leading role as it affords her the opportunity to mentor and grow more women engineers.

“Being part of the initiative is a great opportunity for the project managers to learn managerial skills. Operation Phakisa means that we are constantly in the spotlight and there is no option to quit or fail. We are part of history and I will lead this project into completion,” she said.

Many of them got into the profession to help improve the communities they grew up in.

Mbatha, 31, said as a child growing up in Nkandla, she was exposed to poor infrastructure that did not have proper roads, electricity or water.

“These factors prompted me to pursue engineering to help equip myself to one day help my community. It was never a bed of roses to get into the engineering profession, and there were many setbacks along the way but I persevered and made this dream a reality,” she said.

Mnukwa, 26, was at home for two years before she received a bursary to study. She says it was hard being at home and not having funds to pursue her passion, but she never gave up and continued to apply for a bursary until she obtained one.

“A little determination goes a long way. I had to make sacrifices before I was able to enjoy the success of engineering.”

Twenty-nine-year-old Hadebe’s desire to build a bridge was the motivation she needed to become an engineer and her aspirations have not changed.

She is hell bent on making that vision a reality.

It took Mdladla, 38, seven years to secure an in-service post. In the meanwhile she worked at the post office to feed her family.

Londiwe-Zungu, 27, and Mabele, 31, were both at school when they wanted to get into the field. They said their challenge was finance.

Their advice to aspiring engineers is to “persevere amid the setbacks because hard work and dedication pays in the long haul.”

Business unit manager of ship repair at Durban’s Transnet National Port Authority (TNPA), Erwin Skeepers, said the core function of the programme was the maintenance of port infrastructure and the capital spend programme to expand and grow the industry.

“Transnet will spend a total of around R2 billion over the next five years to refurbish existing repair facilities nationally, and an estimated R13bn to 15bn to create new repair facilities at the South African ports.

“The outer caisson repair project is the first of 11 Operation Phakisa projects at the dry dock and forms part of TNPA’s large-scale repair programme for the facility.

“The authority has accelerated planned refurbishments of existing ship repair facilities at its ports in line with the initiative which aims to unlock the economic potential of South Africa’s oceans,” he said.