August 9 is South Africa’s National Women’s Day, commemorating the 1976 Women’s March on the National Union Buildings in Pretoria. In celebration of this special day in our country’s history, ‘Water&Sanitation Africa’ magazine and the Young Water Professionals South Africa (YWP-ZA) interview some of the most dedicated, inspiring young women in the sector.

YWP-ZA is a division of the Water Institute of Southern Africa (WISA).

Here are some of the highlights from these interviews with links to each profile.

A very big adventure

Anya Eilers is currently completing the final stages of her Master’s degree in hydrogeology at the University of Stellenbosch and is the chairperson of the YWP-ZA Western Cape branch.

September marks a new adventure in her life as she’s moving to Ethiopia to start an internship at the Global Green Growth Institute, in the water sector under the policies division. “As their branch in Addis Ababa is one of their oldest and most active, it will be an exciting opportunity to contribute to their Climate Resilient Green Economy project, as well as collaborate with their partnering organisations, the Water Research Institute and the International Water Management Institute,” says Eilers.

It takes heart

Preyan Arumugam-Nanoolal is the YWP-ZA treasurer and a PhD candidate in civil engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Arumugam-Nanoolal had wanted to be a heart surgeon when she was younger and eventually came to civil engineering via Zoology. She belives that some of the main challenges to securing water and sanitation for all in South Africa include water scarcity and our vulnerability to drought caused by climate change.

“Further, the misuse of water leads to wastage and a preference for flush toilets poses problem as these require water,” she says.

Past master

Jo Burgess, is a former Young Water Professionals (YWP) chairperson, and currently serves on the WISA  Board and as research manager at the Water Research Commission (WRC).

Her experience in the water sector has given Burgess an insight into how we can make it better: “We tie ourselves up in red tape, and that’s a pity. South Africa has some of the most enlightened legislation in the world but we get tangled up when we try to make it reality. It’s always easier to complicate a thing than it is to simplify it, and I think our public services have reached a point where it’s so difficult to procure anything that they’ve been paralysed to a large extent,” she observes.

Speaking out

Nora Hanke-Louw Is the YWP-ZA chairperson and water sector manager at the Energy and Water Sector Education and Training Authority.

Hanke-Louw takes a measured approach to the different ways women and men experience the water sector, noting that the water sector is not unique in the gender-related challenges it faces.

“Inappropriate and unsolicited sexual advances are common but usually only discussed in private. Women seem to feel disempowered to the extent that almost no cases of harassment are filed. I think that if all women in the water in the sector would write down their experiences, we’d be in for a shock. I imagine that most men in the sector do not experience this personally to the same degree,” she says.

Finding balance

Dr Inga Jacobs-Mata, is a former YWP chairperson and research group leader for the integrated water solutions research group at the CSIR.

She believes that balancing professional and personal commitments is made much easier by having a good employer. For Jacobs-Mata, that means a work environment that supports employees, encouraging them to grow and develop holistically, helping staff to grow in the areas they are passionate about.

“At first, find a balance wasn’t easy. Then when I became a mother, everything changed. Having a one-year old hanging on your leg for attention really jolts you out of your work bubble and into the ‘here and now,’” says Jacobs-Mata.

Danish connection

Suvritha, “Suvi”, Ramphal, YWP-ZA vice-chairperson and program officer at the Danish Embassy in charge of promoting and supporting bilateral cooperation between the Water Ministries and other stakeholders in South Africa and Denmark.

The YWPs have played a huge role is Ramphal’s life. “What role hasn’t YWP played in my life? It has allowed me to grow and develop in my career, explore my passion, connect me with amazing people and build my profile in the South African and international water sector. As a bonus, I have an unquestionably supportive network of colleagues and friends,” she says.

Power to the Process Controller

Last but not least is Zanele Precious Sifundza, YWP Mpumalanga branch chairperson and water care technician at the National Department of Public Works.

Sifundza says her journey to where she is today has been a rollercoaster. “Straight after my tertiary education I did quite a lot of marketing work that included door-to-door sales. Without luck for two years, until I ended up on a lucky door where I was hired as an assistant resident engineer in a consulting firm working on water and sanitation projects for schools.”

“After, I took a leap of faith and left my well-paying job to take up a graduate development programme as a process controller because I wanted to add more value to the sector. Today I am a professional registered process controller (Pr. process controller) with WISA and I am happy in my work,” she says.

*For a look at more profiles on leading and highly accomplished women in the sector, see the Water&Sanitation article on pages 12 and 13 of the July/August 2017 edition, titled: ‘Leading transformation’