My name is Refilwe Mongale in am employed as an Executive Manager: Office of the CEO, Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), below is a profile interview I did recently and I thought I would share it as a way of introducing myself: 1. Can you briefly explain to us your role in your organization My role in my organization has taken various forms and shapes, I have led Communications, Stakeholder Management, Governance and Strategy functions, at some point I served as Acting COO for almost a year and was called upon to act in the CEO position in the absence of the CEO. If I were to summarise it, I would say my role is “to be of service” I am currently focused on the development of the strategy of the Corporation, determining the direction that we should take in ensuring that we meet the mandate of our business as a lead agency on road safety. In essence my position entails planning and reporting to the Board and Its Committees on the progress that we are making in line with our plans, we are currently undergoing an organisational turnaround and I am a key part of that process. I am at times called to present at conferences on road safety aspects. 2. What are some of the personal attributes suited for your position? Well, I have been around the block from a tender age and was always forced to adapt or die in whatever circumstances I found myself in. My work experience is not limited, in fact it is very broad, hence I can adapt to various situations, this is an indispensable trait. The personal attribute that I value most about myself is that of hard work, I was raised by a very hard working woman who managed to give all her children a good education from her meager earnings, so the trait of hard work and having to learn to depend on oneself is a trait that was inculcated into my character from a very early age. In the midst of growing up, one also went through phases and as I got older I began to appreciate the meaning of getting an opportunity and appreciating it by doing the best you can. There are so many people out there who are desperate for the opportunities that we have. Don’t just occupy space; use the space to make a difference. When I was starting out as a young professional I had a very passionate mentor who always used to tease me about my attitude, he never failed to emphasize the discipline aspect and this has helped me a lot in my career. 3. What are some of the challenges associated with your career? The biggest challenge would be to get everyone to rally behind a cause, in our line of work if we do not get cooperation from stakeholders then we cannot deliver the products that we are responsible for. For instance, we have to work with the Provinces to develop plans, and strategies for the country and if the Provinces do not agree to our plans then we might as well close shop, therefore relationship building and sustaining relations is very important in our business and this is not as easy. From my experience at the RTMC and elsewhere I also find that Change Management is one of the hardest things to deal with. Most people find it difficult to adapt to new processes, systems and even leadership styles. But in order to effect delivery there will always be a need for change and this requires management because in its nature it is a sensitive process that threatens the comfort zones of people and thus making those affected insecure. One thing that continues to be a great challenge is the gender and age stereotypes that still exists. For the longest time I was the only female member of my Executive Committee and the youngest. You find that you have to fight the gender and age bias all at the same time, to this day this still continues to be a challenge, it is almost as though one has to work twice as hard to be heard, and I know that at first appearance people assume that I have a lot less experience that what I actually have. 4. How would you advice people who would like to follow your career path? A first degree is not a destination but the beginning of a journey. I never went to varsity to study strategy, but it was my resilience and tenacity that landed me my first job in strategy back in 2001 as a new entrant in the world of work. Perhaps it is a story that might be worth telling: I had graduated with a Commerce Degree, Economics Major from the University of Cape Town. At the age of 21, I had ambitions of working for the central bank and mapping economic policy for the country. The reality is that my first job was in Information Technology - my employer who had paid for my studies and I was obliged to work for had placed me in Finance, and for the life of me I could not imagine a life that is full of debits and credits as well as reconciliations, just the thought of it killed me. So I walked to head office and negotiated to be placed elsewhere, and that is how I started my career, an economics graduate mapping business processes in a system environment. After getting the hang of Business Architecture Management and churning out one business process after another I got tired and I started asking to be relocated to strategy, having done a bit more research about the business units in our company. The excuses did not deter me from being persuasive about my move to the top floor, where the strategy unit was based. The moral of the story really is that in order for you to find a career path that is suited for you, you need to perhaps kiss a few ugly frogs before you get to meet your prince charming. As a young person, there was really nothing to lose. I would say perseverance is the key to getting to your desired destination and researching as much as you can about professional areas that are of interest. 5. Do you believe in the saying that states that leaders are born? Please elaborate? I think if anyone has said that I would be a leader at an early age in my life many would have disagreed. I was quite and perhaps even disconnected. I found myself at varsity and I started assuming leadership positions in the active student life. I am practical in my approach and I believe that there are certain innate attributes that can complement leadership, for instance cognitive ability can support leadership traits but it does not make you a leader. I believe that it is our experiences and how we react to them that determines whether we become leaders or not. I was raised in a family where activists surrounded me, my brother was an activist and all his comrades would frequent our house and those are the people I idolized. As I got older and went through my own experiences I started finding my way and my experiences and surroundings influenced me to participate in youth politics, and this is how I established a Young Communist League in my branch where I became Branch Secretary, I went on to be the Deputy Chairperson of the District later became a member of the Provincial Committee. No one saw that coming and it is because of my experiences that I was able to occupy leadership positions in the Young Communist League. 6. Do you think the youth of South Africa are currently being groomed enough for future leadership positions? I have just graduated from the youth structures as I turned 35 this year. If you take the opportunities that I have had at my age then you have no choice but to believe that the future of the country is bright. There are many, who like me came from humble beginnings and took every single opportunity that was given to them and made the best use of it. Of course, as a country our policies are correct, as a black person in particular and a female for that matter, there is no reason not to believe that South Africa is the “Promised Land’. Then again, the recent statistics tell a different story that shows that the promise has not touched all young people and the number of unemployed youth is alarming, hence you see the explicit expression of youth empowerment in our policy documents. I am not ignoring this fact; I think that with economic growth opportunities will expand. I think that we downplay the complexities of government since 1994, we expect that the government having assumed political power for 20 years should have sorted all our ills, but the problems are more complex than that, for instance, the post 1994 government had to provide services to the entire nation as opposed to a government that was only focused on the minority population, everyone had to acquire the same level of education and the gaps were and remain way too wide to be closed in 20 years, at the time of assuming power these realities had not been tested. As we speak today, the government has to accelerate service delivery and create an environment that is conducive for economic growth while balancing all the economic factors by implementing sound regulations with regard to input costs such as telecommunication, transport and energy in order to accelerate growth. We have to industrialize and create opportunities for young people to participate meaningfully in the mainstream economy and ensure that the private sector brings its contribution to the table. I sincerely believe that the best of our country is still to come, we are not there yet, but we are certainly a wiser nation now and the first wave was filled with euphoria and not so well calculated hopes, a lack of skills and the ills of corruption. However in the second wave, we will witness a wiser and more attuned type of leadership that will take this country forward and deliver the promises of freedom as enshrined in the freedom charter. My message to the youth is consistent “go to school” we don’t need an under-skilled and uneducated leadership to take our country forward, hence I decided after many years of procrastination to enroll for a leadership degree, I am doing my part to make education fashionable. 7. Have you always wanted to be in the transport sector? With a qualification in economics, transport is a key driver of investment and efficiency in the economy and I was always interested in it. But the fact that I started my career in a transport giant, Transnet means that the sector has always been close to my heart. 8. If you were not in the transport sector what profession would you have ended up in? The army is a strategy center, as a person that loves strategy I am not shocked that I harbored the ambition of donning the uniform in defense of one’s country. I still get goose bumps when I watch the army in parade, it really emits a sense of joy and pride in me and I am a patriot to the core. Perhaps it is the discipline that comes with the “force” environment, I think discipline is an important ingredient in attaining success in anything. 9. Career Highlights I have been blessed to be of service, as a young person who occupied senior positions at an early age and a woman for that matter every position that I have held has brought its own highlights. I look back with pride at the fact I became a Director in Government at the age of 25: 1. I was part of the Delegation that accompanied President Mbeki on his African Renaissance mission in Sudan in December 2007 2. Participating in the development of the Shareholder Management Framework for the management of State Owned Enterprises and actually led the development of the guideline for remuneration of Board Members and Executives 3. Participated in the Department of Home Affairs Turnaround Project as a consultant and when the service delivery processes actually improved I was happy to have played my little part in that turnaround 4. Leading the implementation of the World Professional Drivers Championship in South Africa which turned out to be the best championship in the history of the international association that looks at the development of professional drivers, and for the first time we were able to bring other African countries to participate 5. The implementation of some of the best programmes on road safety, such as the South African Road Assessment Programme 10. What motivates you in life? I am inspired by everyday people doing excellently at everyday things. I admire people who are willing to stand up for principle regardless of the consequences of their acts. People who go out and make an honest living for themselves and their families, in their small way making sure that they are playing their part in our society. I am inspired by the people who are told things are impossible and choose not to believe in defeat. I draw inspiration from the people who are downtrodden where the miracle of 1994 has not touched their living conditions and yet they still believe. The people who refuse to let go of their hopes and dreams and keep fighting for a better tomorrow. The women who raise families on their own and face the reality of triple oppression and still rise above their circumstances by raising Kings and Queens really speaks to my inner core. I am inspired when I see black excellence, when I see black people do well in areas where they were previously excluded from participation then my heart beats jazzy tunes. 11. What do you normally do when you’re off duty? I am hardly off duty, sad but true. I spend some time with my five year old son Gosiame. I also attend as many Bloemfontein Celtic games as I can and look forward to jazz festivals. Yes, I am avid reader, I keep a good set of books in my library that keeps me going when I need an escape.
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 21:08:47 +0000
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