Engineering a rewarding job – Mapula
29-year-old Mapula Mamabolo, is a qualified civil engineer and has worked for the Polokwane Municipality since June 2013.
POLOKWANE – She serves under the Roads and Stormwater Sectional Business Unit (SBU).
Upon completing high school in Moletjie, Mamabolo furthered her studies at the Vaal University of Technology in Vanderbijlpark where she obtained a national diploma in civil engineering. According to Mamabolo, she was able to make a success of herself because she always had support. “Growing up in a rural area was tough but I was always an A student and got a lot of encouragement from the people around me. Their well wishes and excitement at how I excelled in school made me realise that there is more I can achieve outside the village I grew up in,” Mamabolo explains.
“My late father was an architect and I was always fascinated by how he would draw structures on his drawing board that looked like they were computer generated. I knew very little about architecture then but I understand how skilled he was now that I am older. I was always curious about structures and how they were built,” she tells Review.
Mamabolo has been in the engineering industry for 8 years and says as a woman she had to work twice as hard to prove herself. According to Mamabolo, men in her field with the same qualifications as women get more recognition. “It was a challenge to voice my views in the beginning but now my work ethic speaks for itself. I no longer find myself having to force my way through. My feet are firmly planted in the industry.”
Mamabolo goes on to explain what some of the best things about being a civil engineer are
“Starting a project from a mere idea on paper, to developing the concept, designing and finally implementing it; having a tangible structure like a fully surfaced road is amazing.
“Furthermore, working in local government, which is predominantly rural, we take the services to the people who need them most and their joy in the end is the prize”.
Mamabolo’s tips for those who are considering civil engineering as a career:
• Do pure maths and science in school. You need good results in these subjects in order to gain acceptance into tertiary institutions. English is also a prerequisite.
•If you want to study civil engineering at tertiary level, you don’t have to go to university. Colleges and technikons offer engineering courses as well. The better your grades are, the better your chances of studying at an institution of your choice.
