56
PERSONALITY PROFILE
Quality in
her hands
As quality controller and site representative
for Abbink Consulting on the Acsiopolis
project, Nancy Ronoh stands out.
Being a woman on one of the largest current
developments in Johannesburg, she is a rare
sight as she bustles up and down the stairs and
scaffolding to inspect and approve the work being
done. Coming from an educated and ambitious
home, one could be forgiven for thinking it was
only natural for Ronoh to be where she is today —
tackling a very male-centric world. Her father, a
doctor, always encouraged his daughter to go into
a technical field and she admits that growing up,
she always assumed she would go on to become a
mechanical engineer.
“During matric, I realised that going into the building
industry would be a better choice for me and I then
studied construction management at Wits University in
Johannesburg,” she says.
By Warren Robertson
It was to be the practical experience at university that
set Ronoh on the path she is on today.
“At the time, I hadn’t decided whether I wanted to be
in construction management or quantity surveying, so
I set out to get on site and see what it was all about,”
she says. “I was fortunate enough to be able to be
given the opportunity to work with a construction
manager by the name of Nic Strehler, who was
managing the construction of the Wits Mathematical
block. I learnt a lot in those six months about
structure and foundation and the building process.
Every year after that, I did part-time work with Murray
and Dickson at various sites, and in my final year,
I worked with them at the Tembisa private hospital
owned by Lenmed.”
This process cemented her passion for construction
management and after graduating in 2015, she found
work as an intern with W.F. Kroon Projects in Pretoria.
Always quick to credit her mentors, it was at W.F.
Kroon where she was guided by Russell Boyd and Jaco
Enslin, but she says her life really took a turn when she
met Susan and Robert Abbink while working on the
Thembelihle Village housing project.
“At W.F. Kroon, I was the construction manager’s
assistant and so worked closely with all the consultants,
doing quality control and managing the subcontractors.
Abbink Consulting were the wet services engineers
on that project,” she says, adding that she met the
Acsiopolis plumbers Arnold Retief and the others from
Thermowise on the project.
Nancy Ronoh handles quality control at Abbink Consulting.
January 2019 Volume 25 I Number 1
Speaking to Ronoh, it is apparent that her business
relationships are everything to her. She never forgets
a name or someone who has helped her, and it is
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