Edited by Megan O’Connor
Here, we profile Amogelang Phelane – a vibrant and young passionate plumber, who always knew he wanted to do hands-on work.
© Plumbing Africa
The 29-year-old Phelane completed his plumbing apprenticeship at BluLever Education in Braamfontein – “I gained a solid foundation in the theoretical and practical aspects of plumbing, not forgetting the soft skills as it was one of the skills they made sure you go through and pass. My time there really shaped my understanding of what it means to be a skilled artisan and the level of responsibility that comes with working in such an essential trade. After my apprenticeship, I completed my trade test at PCD College in Pretoria. That was a defining moment for me – passing that test gave me a real sense of pride and reinforced my commitment to continue developing my skills in the plumbing field.
“I’ve been in the plumbing industry for three years now. It’s been a journey filled with constant learning, hands-on experience and personal growth. Every day presents new challenges, keeping me motivated and passionate about the work I do – well sometimes ‘ziyakhala’. But because I know what my goal is, I kept pushing.”
So, what made Phelane want to get into plumbing? “Growing up, I actually dreamed of becoming an architect. I was fascinated by design, structure and the idea of creating buildings from the ground up. Unfortunately, due to financial problems, studying architecture wasn’t an option at the time, so I chose civil engineering at college as a more affordable route. After completing my N6, I needed to complete in-service training to obtain my diploma. Unfortunately, I struggled to secure any placement, even when I offered to volunteer. It was a frustrating time because I wanted to apply what I had learned and continue building my career. Around that time, my aunt had started her own construction company. She faced a lot of challenges as a woman in a male-dominated industry and I witnessed first-hand how difficult it was to break through. I wanted to support her and also find a way to build something for myself within the same field. She encouraged me to specialise in a specific trade, and plumbing immediately stood out to me. Once I started learning more about it, I realised how important plumbing is to daily life and the functioning of every building. It’s a trade that combines problem solving, technical skill and hands-on work – all of which really appealed to me. From that point onwards I knew this was the path I wanted to follow.”
His philosophy when working is, ‘Take pride in every task, no matter how big or small’. “There’s no room for cutting corners or doing half-hearted jobs. I believe every plumber is an essential worker so each call-out is a new challenge and each problem is an opportunity to prove my professionalism and skill. I also live by the belief that plumbing is a noble profession. We keep homes, businesses and communities functioning. When you do your work with integrity and excellence, people notice and that’s how you build trust, reputation and long-term success. Networking is very important in this industry.”
His funniest moment on the job “There is one incident I’ll never forget – it still makes me laugh to this day. I had a call-out to change a leaking bottle trap for a urinal. After removing the trap, I realised it was still full of urine. Without thinking, my first instinct was to pour it into the urinal I had just disconnected and yes, of course, it didn’t go quite as planned. I ended up having to clean the entire floor afterwards. It was one of those moments where you just have to laugh at yourself and learn from the experience – but they say you are not yet a plumber if such hasn’t happened to you before!”
