For my Unborn daughter

Everybody who is Zambian is engrossed in politics at the moment. Well I am not and frankly this hate, propaganda and tribalism going on is something regrettable hence I will not waste space on that now as writing about it would be tantamount to giving it credence.

Hence I will focus on more positive pieces. This piece was one of contributions to The African Scholar, a South-African magazine i send contributions to every now and then. I believe this piece should be of great encouragement to the girl child as frankly in my part of the world, opportunity for the girl child are still not so much distinct.

Makotsene Makgalemele, was named the 2014 Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) Young Engineer of the Year. 

Makotsene Theresa Magalemele

In her circles she is best known as Mak. Her full names are Makotsene Theresa Magalemele, an engineer of high standing in a male dominated profession. The story of Makotsene is one that in many ways showcases a classic example of humble beginnings interlaced by determination, courage, faith and a never say die attitude. She describes the environment in which she grew up in as; “very interesting, township orientated, family oriented, community orientated, and socially oriented.”

Makotsene was born in Lesotho but later grew up in Hammanskraal in a place called Temba, a small town in northern Gauteng. She went to Pretoria Girls High School and later on attended University of Cape Town.

She is the second born in a family of four siblings made up of three females and one male. She states that her parents always ‘controlled’ the environment which they grew up in such as making family outings that were more learning escapades. Instead of going to the beach, her family would go to the national park or visited any other nature reserves. When they were home, the family watched more of national geographic channel. In addition Makotsene confesses that she grew up in church and always played with kids in the community.

Her appreciation for the love and encouragement from her parents is evident for all to see as she regularly mentions their input and encouragement for her to do well at school. “My parents compromised most of their earnings for me and my siblings’ education and that was the focus,” Makotsene reveals.

“We didn’t really afford everything. The main thing was for us to get educated and be encouraged to do very well at school. Some of my childhood school memories were when I used to wake up 4 o’clock in the morning to bath and catch a 5 o’clock bus to Pretoria.” She says.

She continues to affirm, “In the bus I would be playing and when I get to school it is studying and learning time.”

At school she played netball and went to provincial play, and also played basketball and went to national reserve with it. She insists this is how she learnt to ‘work hard and play hard’.

With the encouragement of her mother, she went to pursue her tertiary studies at the University of Cape Town. “I didn’t actually qualify for engineering at the time, I qualified for microbiology.” She says.

She actually confesses that she had wanted to study forensic psychology because of the encouragement she got from a career guidance mentor while still at high school. “I have always wanted to be that guy who caught the criminals. That was my main focus.” She says.

However, as she openly confesses, when she got to the University of Cape Town she realised that forensic investigation was not for her. She had applied for engineering and didn’t make it. However, this was where she wanted to be. She could have gone elsewhere and studied something else but she somehow knew that engineering was part of her.

“Dr Akama, one of the professors advised me not to give up and try and convince the department to accept my request to study .I went to the engineering dean and gave him my request to study.”, recalls Makotsene.  “He was convinced to send me to speak to the head of department at civil engineering. I waited 45 minutes before I could speak to him. Luckily I was able to convince them to take me on the engineering programme.” She says. 

At university she became ‘the work hard, play hard’ student. At first it was more of play hard, but she later learned to work very hard too. She also became active in her community. She believed her journey of education was something that was contributed by where she came from hence she wanted to make something happen by being part of that process.

Makotsene proclaims that she had the most wonderful time at university. She participated in everything she could and joined everything that was possible. However, not everything was rosy in her studies as there were some ups and downs. The lowest point when her university studies were threatened as a result of inadequate finances.

When she was in her second year, her family could no longer afford to pay for her tuition fees and was faced with financial exclusion. “At the time it was very tough. I took a decision not to keep on attending class and shortly after that I met a guy by the name of Jaque Gordhan.” Says Makotsene.

“He was running his own one man band . He did not promise to give me a job or bursary but he promised to refer me to other people who might be able to assist me. He took me under his wing and when I wasn’t at varsity, I was with him. I was working as his secretary.” Makotsene explains.

Makotsene would later be introduced to a gentleman by the name on Jan Veste who took her through a company by the name of HHO. She worked for HHO, on service recognition and service reconciliation for the company’s clients and after that they offered her a bursary to continue her studies at the University of Cape Town. She asserts that it was through her personality and hard work during the projects she worked on that convinced HHO management to sponsor her studies.

From that point on, she had no reason to look back. However, she does concede that her biggest challenge was passing varsity on time with all the challenges she had encountered. Makotsene has since the university days worked for HHO. In addition, during her UCT days she worked at various restaurants and working with the enquiring council and being part of the SRC team. “That was very interesting, dealing with student issues and being socially aware of my surrounding.”, she says.

“I was raised knowing that we are where we are not because we wanted to, but also because we have been given the opportunity to be there. I have always been socially responsible and responsive. My mother used to say it’s useless if you are clever by yourself.” Makotsene explains.  

Makotsene also gives recognition to her parents for the influence they have had on her social responsibility values. “My mother and father were politically active and I knew that there was nothing I will do only for myself.” She says.

“As I was growing up, we had water shortage challenges and I had the passion to change the situation and that made me realise that I am more of a practical person and my father advised me to study engineering. Even today I can see the impact of the work I do. I constantly review my work to see where I have done well and I have not, for me to be able to improve.” Says Makotsene.

She lists the memorable awards in her life as sports awards and a merit English Olympian grade one award. She also mentions the consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) young engineer award as well as a recognition award from her place of work. She outlines that becoming a principal engineer in 2014 was a great step in her career. That withstanding, becoming a director in 2015 became the best thing to happen in her career. She concedes it’s a lot of work, responsibility and trust. 

In her role she also works for and sits on other panels such as Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA), and Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) and with whoever requires assistance. Makotsene confesses that she has learned from these societies that her development as a person is really up to her. “If you want to make a difference you have to think out of your own space.” She says.

In saying so, she credits the people in the organisation she works at, for encouraging and greatly rewarding her work. “It’s rewarding and I learn a lot from people than in my own space.” She says.

Makotse admits that the engineering space hasn’t completely transformed but that there is progress being made in terms of having more females in the profession. She recalls that her engineering class was almost 30% female, which was a huge number compared to the year before. She applauds the big effort and push to get more women in the industry. 

Makotsene though has a clear message to University students; “If you are doing well, well-done. Don’t just focus on the books only but be socially active. To the students that are not doing well. Three things, accept it. Second thing is that you get help. There is no point being miserable in your room alone.”

She advises that students not doing too well also need to consult career guidance counsellors and speak to their lecturers and tutors. “Don’t be too cool for school. Do what you have to do to get help.” She warns.

Her counsel to Young graduates is also a resounding one. “Work is different from studying. You always got to go up unless you made un-clever decisions. It’s not cyclical.” She says.

“When you get to work, learn that you know nothing. Be the person who is humble and be the person who is willing to learn. Learn from the draftsman, learn from the tea lady, learn from older engineers, and learn from the people who are there.” continues Makotsene.

“It’s competitive out there; humble yourself so that people will want to grow you. Build the relationships because the education becomes less important than the work relationships you have with people.” She concludes.