10 REGULARS
She did her research on the plumbing industry, and when she came across the eye-opening statistic that only 3 % of people in the plumbing industry around the globe are women, she decided to make the change to plumbing.“ I wanted to be that change to show future generations that plumbing is not only for men – women can also thrive in the industry.”
3
Her decision to join the industry was also motivated by an incident that had happened near her grandmother’ s house and involved a tragedy of a school child falling into a pit latrine.“ I told myself there and then that I would be the change. There is something I can do about children falling into pit toilets as a plumber. As plumbers, we can create toilets that flush, lowering the risk of children falling into pits and removing the risks associated with that, such as death. I saw myself playing a role in children being able to use toilets when they were at school,” she says.
Matlonya recalls her funniest moment on the job being when they were called to a site to fix toilets, and the water was coming out of the toilet like rain.“ We had to work on it, and we were super super wet – our boots were soaked and so were we. But we had to push on and do the job because that’ s what we signed up for.”
As for her philosophy when it comes to plumbing?“ Take all challenges that come your way as a stepping-stone, not your downfall. Every challenge is a learning opportunity, and the sky is the limit when it comes to learning in the plumbing industry.” PA
What’ s in your toolbox?
By
Megan O’ Connor
Here, we profile Skhumbuzo Sebastian Skhosana of MST Plumbing, to find out what tool he simply can’ t live without.
Skhosana runs his own plumbing business, MST Plumbing. When asked what tool he simply can’ t live without on site, he answers that his angle grinder is the most important tool to him.“ Most of the time I do pipe repairs, and often those pipes can be behind concrete walls or under driveways. Without my grinder, I would have to use a hammer and chisel, which is a lot more time consuming. This tool can make a three-day job only last for one day, allowing me to do more work.”
In fact, Skhosana loves his grinder so much that he owns six of them! PA
“ This tool can make a threeday job only last for one day.”
© Plumbing Africa
Skhumbuzo Sebastian Skhosana.
www. plumbingafrica. co. za @ plumbingonline @ plumbingonline @ PlumbingAfricaOnline May 2026 Volume 32 I Number 03