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INDUSTRY MATTERS
2019 Iopsa Industry
Lady of the Year
This Women’s Month, Lorraine Mooi, co-founder of Just
Plumbing Girls and winner of successive Iopsa Industry Lady
of the Year awards, looks at what it means to be a lady in the
rough and tumble of the plumbing world.
By Eamonn Ryan
“Having your
contribution
recognised by
your peers is
an amazing
experience.
For it to
happen twice
has made me
want to give
back more
and hopefully
inspire ladies
that are in the
Industry to get
involved and
make their
voices heard.”
www.plumbingafrica.co.za
What helped her success was growing up in a
family of strong women. She was born in But-
terworth and moved at the age of three to Cape
Town. “When I was growing up I knew one thing:
whatever I was to become professionally, I was
going to take over the world.
Yes, it sounds audacious, but I have always had ideas
of grandeur. I was raised by very strong women –
women I call ‘the Amazonians’ - my mother, Buyiswa
Mooi, my aunt and my grandmother. They were my first
role models as they are strong, independent and smart.
They instilled the same values in me,” says Mooi.
Those values can be summed up as ‘hard work’. Her
first job came at the tender age of just ten, working at
her aunt’s shebeen. With her cousins, she worked two
weekends a month. “My grandmother would say if you
want to eat, you need to know where the money comes
from. This job continued until I was 12, whereafter we
worked on my aunt’s construction sites. Unfortunately,
her business went belly up – an event which changed
all our lives.”
Those values continued to be instilled: Mooi says when
she was 16 years old and wanted her first cellphone,
Buyiswa told her to go work and earn it. “So I became
a waitress at House of Coffees at the V&A Waterfront,
and waitressed until my third year at CPUT (Cape
Peninsular University of Technology).
One of her Amazonian role models, her mother, passed
matric at age 22 in 1989, doing so by working during
the day, going to night school in the evenings and
simultaneously bringing up two children. She got
her driver’s license at age 24, and then completed a
secretary’s course.
“In 1995 she started working for the Ellerines group
as a cashier. After three days she was promoted to a
junior credit manager. By the time she became a credit
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manager she was the youngest in the whole group of 500
stores. In 2002 she was laid off at the age of 35. She then
started her own construction business.
“She got her first plumbing project in 2005, for which she
hired the only plumber in Butterworth to help her. On the
first day she played assistant to the plumber. The following
day he didn’t come back to work, but as she still had
his tools she proceeded to finish the job. That’s how the
plumbing bug bit her.” At age 38, Buyiswa Mooi registered
at the local King Hintsa Tvet College.”
By 2007, a 20-year-old Mooi completed a Financial
Information Systems diploma but found she had no interest
in pursuing a career in that field. “I needed a break at this
point, but my mom, being mom, gave me two options:
work in an office, or become a plumber. I chose the latter
of the two.” They both qualified as plumbing artisans in
2013 at Olifantsfontein.
“At this point I started wondering what’s next. I did some
research and registered with the PIRB.” She had her
reservations as to how she would be welcomed in a
man’s world, with its obvious potential for chauvinism.
“In 2015 we were invited to the Border region Iopsa
year-end function. The guys were welcoming, so I thought
this might not be that bad. At that point a new chairman,
Martin Kaschula, had been inducted. Steve Jones and Tony
van der Lingen encouraged us (the Just Plumbing Girls
business) to join Iopsa. In 2016 we did just that. It was
then that Martin asked me to be part of the committee –
which I thought might be interesting,” says Mooi.
A seminal year
The following year, 2017, was a pivotal one for Mooi and
her mother Buyiswa. “There was a call for nominations
for the PIRB board and I decided to nominate myself. I
thought the worst that can happen is I don’t get in, but I
was elected a board member in December. However, that
same year my mother suffered a stroke. That changed
everything, as she was unable to perform as she once did.”
While Mooi was receiving the highest acknowledgements
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August 2019 Volume 25 I Number 6