A Hammarsdale-born chemical engineer has advised women to rise and never underestimate themselves.
Siza Khwela, who hails from Mpumalanga township, west of Durban, is a plant supervisor at the Engen refinery in South Durban.
She has been with Engen for 18 years and in that period she was promoted twice – a no mean feat in an oil refining environment that has historically been largely dominated by males.
“My extremely proud moment and major milestone was when I became Engen’s first female process control technician. My achievement was celebrated by all my colleagues and our CEO, which made me proud,” she said.
As part of the promotion, she was sent to Malaysia to learn from Engen’s parent company PETRONAS.
After matriculating, she studied chemical engineering at Mangosuthu University of Technology and followed it up with a “new managers’ development programme” qualification at the University of Stellenbosch.
“From that moment on, I knew that the world was my oyster and I could do and be anything that I put my mind to.”
After qualifying, she applied for a learnership programme at Engen.
“I took a calculated risk and left the position I was in and joined Engen as a trainee on a one-year learnership programme. Thereafter, I was offered a permanent position as a process technician and the rest as they say is history.”
Khwela is a single mother who is also raising her late sister’s three daughters.
“My hope is for the women of South Africa to unite and fight against gender-based violence.”
She said August was a perfect time for South African women to take stock and ruminate on their lives.
“Women’s Month affords South Africans time to step back and deeply reflect on the incredible contribution made by the mothers, sisters and daughters among us that all to ensure the stability, progress and long-term development of our beautiful country.”
She said it was good to check along the journey if one was still on the right path with their dreams and goals.
“We all spend so much time at work, so doing something that I love is very important to me because when I’m happy, there is a ripple effect on my entire team and everyone’s energy levels increase.”
Daily News