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PERSONALITY PROFILE
Trying, failing, and trying again
Sello Mokawane, a qualified plumber and owner of SNS Plumbing
and Project Specialists (SNS), sat down with Plumbing Africa to learn
more about his success in plumbing.
By Benjamin Brits
WHY DO YOU THINK
PEOPLE ARGUE?
What I believe happens
is that the one person
wants the other to
recognise their opinion
as the correct one and
vice versa. Most of
the times people will
meet at a crossroad
and find a solution
because they were
saying the same thing
but just in a different
way, and then you get
those times where you
just have to walk away
and agree to disagree.
OUTSIDE OF THE WORK ENVIRONMENT
Mokawane enjoys watching and playing soccer and
considers himself a soccer fanatic. “Playing soccer for
me is a type of therapy. As part of the exercise and
fitness that people should partake in, it takes your mind
away from work and the work environment, allowing a
refreshed way of thinking,” he says.
Mokawane is not only a qualified plumber and
business owner, he is the first black regional
chairman of the Gauteng committee of IOPSA, junior
vice-president of the MBA North (the first member
to achieve a Certificate of Appreciation through his
meritorious service and dedication to the building
industry and construction industry), an executive
member of the Waterproofing Association Gauteng,
and an executive member of the Plumbing Industry
Registration Board (PIRB).
Mokawane is also a ‘die hard’ Blue Bulls rugby fan
and watched them when they played in Soweto at the
Orlando Stadium. He eagerly awaits the time (in the near
future) when the Bulls will reign supreme again!
Mokawane was born and grew up in Molapo, Soweto,
where his career initially led him into politics where he
held the position as the regional manager responsible
for ward councillors: ward governance department at the
Johannesburg Metropolitan Council. This portion of his
career lasted a significant 18 years! Today, Mokawane is
happily married and blessed with two children.
TIME FOR A CHANGE
Having held his career in politics for almost two decades,
and given his expertise in project management, politics,
and business, Mokawane felt the pressing need for a
change of career, even at the scary thought of the incredibly
challenging future that was on his doorstep. This choice was
prompted by the increased cost of living at the time.
“I looked at the opportunities in plumbing because in Soweto
we had very few qualified plumbers, so I put my nice suit
and tie away, and started working the streets to see if this
opportunity could make a difference in my earnings. To
be honest, my water and lights were more than my bond
instalment. Moving into a suburb, you have responsibilities
and find you incur these costs, but I didn’t want to go back
home, so I needed a solution,” Mokawane says.
In 2004, Mokawane entered the building industry with
his former amateur Molapo United soccer teammate,
Sidwell Matlala, a qualified plumber by profession. And
so, SNS was born! Together, they started out with after-
hours work in the evening, over weekends, and on public
holidays, until it began to gain traction.
May 2019 Volume 25 I Number 3
Mokawane recalls that he learned to love plumbing and
knew that in order to expand the business, aligning to the
necessary compliance and belonging to an association
such as IOPSA, and others, would move him closer
towards being a professional of the industry.
Being invited onto the exco of IOPSA, Mokawane quickly
realised that the other members were really the gurus of
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