profile
RG: As the first female president of the Society in a
typically male-orientated industry and sector, have
you faced any specific challenges?
HT: The greatest challenge was within
myself — to not see myself as the token
appointment, a case of, “Oh, it’s about time;
let’s appoint a woman.” The challenge was to
believe in myself, to believe that I was elected
by a very professional technical board, and
that I had their blessing and support to be
an effective president, regardless of who or
what I am. My fellow board members put
their trust in me and I then had to own that
space. Another challenge was to realise that
while I might not be technically qualified,
I bring a different, and very valid, point of
view to the boardroom table. I’ve actually had
tremendous support in this role. I believe it
also helped that I have been in the industry
for so long and I've got a huge contact base,
so I wasn’t an out-of-the-blue newcomer who
could be seen as a ‘token’ appointment. I have
paid my dues in our industry.
RG: Do you think the new B-BBEE regulations
will have a big impact on the concrete industry
in South Africa?
HT: Anybody who operates in South Africa
is well aware of the B-BBEE requirements,
and while the impact may be significant on
the management structures and workforce
requirements, I believe that the transition
has already been achieved to a great extent.
I don’t know whether it is going to impact
that significantly on our industry, as long as
we don’t just do B-BBEE on paper. This is also
something I feel very strongly about, and it
ties in again with the succession planning. I
have actually seen where the older generation
agrees to B-BBEE on paper, but we do not want
to let go of the power. People from previously
disadvantaged groups are employed and the
scorecard looks good, but in some cases, those
very same employees are set up for failure
because we are not prepared to share, to
mentor, to include. All firms and individuals
need to internalise the concept of B-BBEE and
not just make it a paper-based system.
I believe that for the Concrete Society it is
very easy because we are not commercially
or politically driven; it comes naturally for us
to be very inclusive. If we can influence other
people just to be aware of these things, be
aware of the younger generation out there and
include them in our planning, then I think we
have achieved something.
RG: What would you say are the biggest challenges
facing the concrete and cement (and general
construction) industries in the region?
HT: We often say, “Government isn’t
spending.” This recurring theme has been
with us for several years. There’s also a lot of
discussion about public-private partnerships
or initiatives (PPPs or PPIs), and I think that
is going to be our salvation. We cannot just
sit back and wait for government to start
doing things; big corporates will have to
initiate some projects through appropriate
partnerships. I believe that the PPP concept
is starting to take off, and I believe a lot of
good is going to come out of it. We say our
industry is suffering; the economy worldwide
is in a different space to what it was 10 years
ago, but when you look at it, construction in
South Africa is actually not in a bad space.
If you look at this year’s Fulton Awards,
there were 30 entries, and that is just for
projects that have either been completed or
had most of the concrete work completed
in the past two years. These were often big,
iconic projects that will result in legacy
structures. Faced with these facts, I believe
we are complaining because we are merely
perpetuating the negative, unfounded stories
we read and hear so often.
We must remember that times have
changed. We are not living in the days
where people just employed staff; everybody
is looking at the bottom line, no matter
what country or industry you are in.
Because of the increased focus on process
optimisation and the increase in automation,
it is a given that we do not have the same
workforce that we used to have — it’s not
because the construction industry is in the
doldrums. The playing fields have changed
tremendously, but when you look around
us in South Africa, a lot of construction
is going on. People need to redefine how
we assess what is actually happening and
steer clear of being prophets of doom. I
actually see tremendous growth — look at
all the construction cranes around Gauteng.
Construction is certainly happening in
South Africa. So, the whole world has just
become a very different trading place — a
much more competitive trading place — and
these changes cannot be ignored, but the
construction industry is definitely not on the
brink of collapse.
RG: What have been some of the
highlights of your career?
HT: Purely from a very personal viewpoint,
being president of the Concrete Society is
the pinnacle of my career. One derives career
satisfaction from doing a project well, or
working in an enabling environment, but
the recognition that has come from being
president, for me personally, is just amazing.
It really is an honour, and I am so thankful to
the Concrete Society for having afforded me
this opportunity.
A project of which I am very proud is one
that I am involved in at PPC. We devised a
portal, the C3 —Cement and Concrete Cube
— which is a groundbreaking, innovative
idea; the first of its kind in our industry. It is
an enterprise social media platform where
people can interact and find information
on cement and concrete. It was initially
developed to add value to our customers,
but as an open portal anyone can access
and interact on this platform. There is good,
diverse DIY and technical content on many
issues relating to cement and concrete and
to our industry. We have also entered into an
agreement with EBSCOhost under which we
make our EBSCO licensing available to what
we call ‘expert searchers’ — academics who
we have contact with — and our customers,
at no cost to them.
The C3 is a global platform, accessible to
anyone, anywhere, anytime. We currently
have ar ound 2 000 registered users on
the portal, including overseas users. The
information that is available there is public
domain information; there are no trade
secrets, so it doesn’t matter who registers
to use it.
RG: What advice would you give young women
looking to work in your industry?
HT: Be enthusiastic about what you do;
focused enthusiasm is seen and is often
recognised. If there is one thing that I really
dislike, it is apathy. Enthusiasm gets noticed,
and I think that is what has got me to where
I am today.
The second thing that I think is important
in terms of succeeding in any industry, is
commitment and staying power. I see many
young people these days who job hop. When
I came into this industry I made it my own,
and I feel that it has become part of me — I
cannot imagine myself in any other industry
— and it has paid off. But if you are in the
financial industry today and the medical field
tomorrow and then you are in construction
the year after that, you will never build up
real expertise in any one industry.
Then, possibly the most important
area to focus on, is networking. Never
underestimate the power of networking. It
can open many doors — or close them if your
networking reflects badly on you.
My primary piece of advice, my ‘word of
wisdom’, would be: focus on networking, on
building up your contact base.
An interest body like the Concrete Society
is actually perfect for that type of interaction,
because it's neutral ground — we do not fight
for market share or sell our products, so it
is an ideal place to network within a neutral
space within the industry. n
QUARRY SA | SEPTEMBER 2017 _ 37