Rigged for success in a man’s world

Rigging no longer a man’s domain

SOUTH AFRICA: Three years ago Ntombovuyo Madyaliti was working as a security guard at Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT). Today she is one of just four women in South Africa with an Occupational Certificate in Rigging and works fulltime for DSCT, where she is the only female rigger helping to build steel hull vessels for harbours around the world.

Ntombovuyo was part of the first cohort of 27 apprentices who received their rigging qualifications last year as part of the Department of Higher Education and Training’s (DHET) Centre of Specialisation (CoS) Programme at False Bay TVET College’s Swartklip Campus.

The CoS Programme entails the establishment of a dedicated unit at a host TVET College that works closely with employers to deliver an apprenticeship programme. Graduates of the programme gain both the necessary technical training as well as on the job work experience.

“I am very proud to be the first female rigger at Damen,” Ntombovuyo says. “When I started my apprenticeship, everyone was so surprised to see me working. They were asking if I am going to be a lady rigger because they had never seen one before. Everyone said it was a man’s job but now they are used to seeing me. My job is so exciting because I am constantly learning new things and experiencing new opportunities.”

Today everyone who was surprised to see Ntombovuyo training as a rigger gets to see her play her part operating the heavy lifting machinery needed to build large maritime vessels.

South Africa’s maritime industry is historically exclusively male, but more and more women are entering the industry because of apprenticeship programmes such as DSCT’s and the DHET’s at False Bay College.

Ntombovuyo, who lives in Philippi in Cape Town, applied for the apprenticeship programme in 2019. She started her apprenticeship at DSCT and studying at False Bay College in the same year.

“This was a male dominated industry, but things are changing, and we know that we need to transform and give women equal opportunities. Of the 29 apprentices we have this year 10 are women. This is something we are immensely proud of,” says Abdula Galant, Technical Training Officer at DSCT.

Sefale Montsi, Director at DSCT says Ntombovuyo’s growth is an example of what can be done if companies in the maritime sector commit to real change.

“Our ocean economy has the potential to unlock great social economic growth and to create thousands of jobs,” says Montsi. “We are so proud of Ntombovuyo and what she has achieved. She has gone from working as a security guard to being an integral part of how we, as a business, build world class vessels, and she has broken boundaries while doing so.”

And Ntombovuyo has some wise words for any young women looking to break boundaries in the workplace.

“Don’t let anybody tell you that what you want to do is a man’s job. When I started, I didn’t listen to all the people who told me this job is just for men. I told myself that I can’t limit myself because I am a woman, and that if a man can do it, I can also do it.”