Women are making giant leaps in construction and engineering, a domain previously dominated by men.
One woman currently shaking the establishment is Bloemfontein-based construction firm owner Thato Mokhothu.
Mokhothu, 41, is the MD of RTT Construction & Consulting Engineering, a company she established in 2012.
Since she had skilled herself in sales and marketing, she saw a gap and took opportunity to build her own business, pushing herself to the limit to reach to the top.
“I believe when an opportunity presents itself for a person to flourish and spread their wings, you need to take that bold step to explore and reach the skies,” Mokhothu says.
“What I have learned is that once you get out of your comfort zone and face life with all what you have, clearly you will reap the rewards of success. I had to be hands on to build RTT Construction & Engineering, as I knew that for the growth of the business, I needed to work twice as hard and also get the necessary support for my team to create success of this company.”
Mokhothu says that she was grateful for the opportunity she got while working in the banking sector, where she was employed in the home loans division.
“Working at the bank with home loans exposed me to the property industry and I could see how people were struggling to get good contractors who were registered with the relevant bodies and who could enable them to eventually own their houses without any hassles,” says Mokhothu.
“I saw an opportunity and ran with it to get RTT off the ground and today I am talking a different story. It’s all about passion and dedication to get to the top, not because you in the business for
survival,’ she says.
Mokhothu believes her business success speaks volumes as it has changed and shaped how the construction industry is aligned in terms of bringing other role players for them to get a slice of the cake in big projects.
She learned the ropes fast to understand the tendering and procurement system for her company to get contracts.
“I am not resting on my laurels as I always learn new things on good governance and project tendering in order to make sure that I do my job diligently without fail. Previously big companies used to get all the tenders because some of the people employed there are skillful and knowledgeable about the work they should do,” says Mokhothu.
“I had to learn fast by equipping myself with knowledge and also bringing people with skills in my business to do things right, and today we are proud of our achievements. We are a women-orientated business as we make sure that we empower women and youngsters to get to the top of the construction and
engineering tier and be successful.”
Her business has managed to rake in huge contracts worth close to R100-million through her vision and business acumen.
Apart from RTT, Mokhothu also has business interests in auto mobile and catering sectors as she is a shareholder at Tyremart Fitment Centre Estoire and in the Food and Beverage Institution, a culinary school in Bloemfontein and Khathu in the Northern Cape.
Mokhothu is also a reality TV star on Moja Love’s Boss Lady reality show, a television show that inspires women to be assertive and recognise that all is within reach if you are hard working and dedicated to growing your business.
RTT has 70 employees and Mokhothu’s vision is to expand the firm and create more jobs opportunities in a country fighting the scourge of unemployment. In the other businesses she has 19 workers.
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