Quality assurance assessor

Mongameli Langa is a quality assurance assessor who began as a general worker at a mining company.

He explains that he then became a supervisor and was trained as a process controller.

Only then, after years, did he qualify to be an assurance assessor.

Langa says one must have a matric certificate with maths, business studies and economics as subjects to follow this career.

“A quality assurance manager is someone who works as an independent individual, who does daily reports and findings on whether a specific product, for example gold, meets the standards of the mining companies, before it is sold to the consumer,” he explains.

The size, shape, weight, strength and material are taken into consideration when ensuring the quality of a particular product.

The disadvantage of the career is having to give warnings to employees who have been negligent on standard operation systems.

According to Langa, the advantage of the career is that you create an awareness of quality at your workplace and in everyday life.

He adds that one can pursue a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, majoring in Industrial Relations and Labour Relations, at any university.

Langa explains that one must be accredited with the South African Business Council when working as an assessor.

“A background knowledge of the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) is also very important in the industry, as it helps with product testing and consignment inspection in the company,” he says.

He adds that this knowledge helps the assessor to obtain the SABS mark of approval for a company’s products.

According to Langa, having the SABS background assures buyers that products are safe and fit for their purpose.