Edited by Tanya Olckers – Submitted by BluLever Education
Plumbing Africa thanks BluLever Education for providing coverage of their ongoing Women on Tools campaign, which aims to change the narrative about women in the trades by sharing the success stories of their female apprentices.
Supplied by BluLever Education
Tsholofelo Phukwi started out in construction in 2013, just after she matriculated. There, she got the chance to do her community house building NQF2 and learned how to build RDP houses. This is where her passion for plumbing and construction began. She tells her story of success:
I am a very competitive individual, so I always had the thought that if men can do it, what could possibly stop me as a woman? One thing that always bothered me was hearing men whisper, “we will see if she will do it.” We always have to prove our capability to men. For me, I always take this as motivation to do better than the men.
At my first employer – for employer-based learning – I was the only lady among a bunch of men. That’s where I felt I had to prove that I could also do this – and even better than them. Sometimes I felt like they would pick me to do a certain job to test me and see if I had the capability to do it. One thing I love about myself is that I am always up for a challenge as it gives me the opportunity to learn.
I have contributed to changing the mindset in the industry about these being ‘male’ jobs, as I have shown that I can definitely do it. I can say my ideas where I was working contributed to the way we did our jobs. I believe I paved a way for other female plumbers to be able to express their thoughts and share their ideas without any fear of not being heard.
There is absolutely a growing number of women in the industry, which is something I was definitely anticipating. The only concern I have is that we don’t have many leadership positions out there.
My advice is to believe in your strength and capabilities. Never let other people’s opinions rule your life. That feeling you get of wanting to do a certain trade is validation enough that you can do it.
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