South African female engineer and AvenirHoldings CEO Tshidi Mndzebele has received the prestigious 2026 cidb ERWIC Chairman’s Award, one of the construction industry’s most significant accolades, recognising women who are driving leadership and transformation in the sector.

Mndzebele also took home the Exceptional Woman in Construction of the Year Award, making it a double victory at this year’s cidb Empowerment and Recognition of Women in Construction (ERWIC) Awards.

This double win is the cherry on top of a significant Women’s Month for Mndzebele, who has spent August championing the contribution of women in engineering and mining to South Africa’s economic growth and calling for greater recognition of the women helping to build the country.

The Chairman’s Award is particularly significant. In its announcement on LinkedIn, the Construction Industry Development Board SA (cidb) said:

“The 2026 cidb ERWIC Chairman’s Award recognises an extraordinary leader whose impact reaches far beyond the projects she has delivered.”

That impact is reflected in Mndzebele’s journey from engineer to entrepreneur and industry champion. She has built AvenirHoldings, a proudly South African, 100% black woman-owned, Level 1 BBBEE engineering and infrastructure consultancy, from the ground up, providing senior project management, technical and engineering expertise to some of South Africa’s most strategic infrastructure.

But the cidb highlighted that her greatest impact may be the people she has helped rise.

According to the cidb’s LinkedIn announcement, through her structured Candidacy and Professional Registration Programme, Mndzebele has achieved a 100% professional registration success rate, mentoring professionals from organisations across the industry. The cidb further states that more than 80% of the candidates she has mentored are women, deliberately creating pathways into an industry where women have historically been underrepresented.

“This is an incredibly meaningful recognition because it goes beyond what I have personally achieved,” says Mndzebele. “For me, leadership is about creating opportunities for others to rise. We need more women entering engineering, but we also need to make sure they become professionally registered, progress in their careers and ultimately take their place as leaders.”

Her advocacy has been particularly focused on encouraging women engineers to pursue professional registration with the relevant industry bodies – an important step in strengthening their professional standing and opening further opportunities within the sector.

The cidb ERWIC Awards celebrate the excellence of women operating within construction and seek to encourage professional growth, development and leadership in an industry traditionally regarded as male-dominated.

For Mndzebele, the recognition could not come at a more fitting time.

“Women’s Month is an opportunity to celebrate women, but we must also remember the women who are doing the work every day – in engineering, construction and mining – and who are contributing directly to our country’s economic growth,” she says.

“Do not merely help women enter the industry, equip them to lead it. That is the legacy I want to help build.”