Learning the ropes from her father, a young entrepreneur took over the reins as she takes on the male-dominated construction sector.
Mmathapelo Mojapelo, a 27-year-old, is the managing director of Elmandi Road Maintenance.
Elmandi Road Maintenance is a medium-size road surfacing and maintenance company that was established in 2002.
It is a level 1 BBEE with 51% female black-owned youth.
Elmandi Road Maintenance has since made its footprint across provinces outside its home of Gauteng, such as Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the North West.
Speaking to “Business Report”, Mojapelo shared the most challenging aspect of the job.
She said: “The most challenging aspect is that the industry is still very male-dominated. As a young person, you have to work extremely hard because people who are your competition are people who have been in the industry for over 20 years. So you can just imagine how it is to be a young woman in a male-dominated industry with men who have been in the game for a very long time. It is just extremely hard to be taken seriously even if you have shown your competency over and over again.”
Mojapelo said the company’s clientele varied from private to government.
“We do quite a lot of estate maintenance, like access roads with estates and schools – the wonderful thing about our industry is that nothing is too big or too small – as well as work with state-owned entities such as Sanral (SA National Roads Agency Limited).”
On creating job opportunities in the country, she said: “We have a total of seven people at our offices that that do our admin, and also engineers as well as an additional 45, which is a combination of our yellow plant operators and mechanics.
“However, the number can get as high as possible when we do projects on the ground as we will be in need of as many hands as possible to ensure that we deliver. This high number could have general workers, construction specialists, extra drivers and extra engineers if the project requires that, which we can find in the local community where the project is based.”
She told “Business Report” how her father had shown her the ropes in the industry and what is was like for her.
“My father is not completely retired from business. He is now focusing more on other business interests that he used to run simultaneously with Elmandi Road Maintenance.
“After showing me the ropes over the years, he now has great confidence that I can steer the company into the future.
“Of course it was not easy. It had mixed reactions as expected from people that where against it, but I did find solace in the fact that my family was 100% behind me,” she said.
“They really supported me, emotionally as well, because walking into an industry that I knew nothing of is as good as entering uncharted waters, which is scary. I am grateful to my family for having my back,” Mojapelo said.
BUSINESS REPORT