Inspiration

Being Responsible For Your Life

Morongwe Mathabathe is a Junior Project Manager for Taupride Projects. She has been with the company for almost a year and already she is amazed by how much she has learnt. Initially Morongwe believed that she would be suitable for a job in construction management however she finds that her role in project management encompasses a much broader scope of work and is greatly satisfying. She jokes that whilst she finds managing time and resources challenging, her job is more about managing personalities. It is clear that the last year for Morongwe has been a time of tremendous personal growth.

Some of the biggest challenges Morongwe has had to overcome in getting to this point include criticism regarding her choice of profession and finding her place in the industry. Morongwe has always known how to prioritise work and play; as a result she matriculated with good results. Her initial interest in construction stemmed from visiting construction sites with her father who has been in the business for many years. After high school Morongwe studied Building at the Durban University of Technology, she then went on to do her in-service training with Taupride before registering for her B-tech in Construction Management.

In the early days when Morongwe was asked what she was studying she received some strange reactions to the news that she was in fact studying building. Some of the strangest remarks include being asked why she didn’t capitalise on her good looks and become a model whilst others suggested she become an accountant. But it was not to be. Morongwe was determined that this was the field she would enter. Looking back, she smiles at the memory of her first day of Tech when her lecturer informed the class that “no-one graduates from this course in the recommended three years”. Today she is very proud of the fact that she did in fact graduate within three years and with good results.

Morongwe stresses that she wants people out there to understand that construction is an incredibly broad field and that it includes many sub-fields or trades. It takes people with diverse skills and abilities to see a project implemented successfully. “It takes designers, managers and all kinds of doers“, she says. As an example of the preconceptions which exist she tells me that she was once asked how she would push a wheel barrow. It turns out that pushing wheel barrows has not been required of Morongwe although she divides her time between the office and the various construction sites.

It was only in Morongwe’s fourth year of study that she began to really feel a level of comfort with her decision to study Building and Construction. It was through her involvement with Khuthaza that this was achieved. Morongwe was part of a pilot student programme which for her served as an introduction to the industry. It was during these Saturday workshops that she began to get an understanding of the various construction related fields. In addition she also benefitted tremendously from the expert advice on related topics such as finance and personal branding.

Morongwe is clearly very passionate about her own life. She is self motivated and always finds inspiration through the successes of others. Morongwe is the first female in her family to achieve a tertiary qualification and whilst she is quite cognisant of the fact that she is a role model for others she does not feel burdened by this. She believes in setting goals and visualising a future state until it becomes a reality. Her advice to others is simple, she says “show up, pay attention and ask questions”.