Personality Profile
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THOBILE VILAKAZI:
“WE NEED MORE WOMEN IN HVAC”
By Ilana Koegelenberg
Thobile Vilakazi (29) has started her own 100% female-owned HVAC contracting
company, Vila Comfort Systems, with the goal of introducing more women into
this male-dominated industry.
A
s managing director of Vila Comfort Systems, her role is to
manage projects and tenders, and to plan and implement
business strategies.
GETTING STARTED
After graduating with a diploma in financial management from
South West Gauteng College, Vilakazi got her first job, which was
in the construction industry. After switching to the marketing
sphere for a while, she was offered a job in HVAC as the financial
manager at Bophepha Environmental Control, where her duties
were to oversee the company’s financial activities and operations,
among others. This was her entry point into the industry, where
she then recognised the need for more female representation.
So, why HVAC? “Honestly, I had no knowledge of the industry
at large until I was offered a job in it,” she explains. “But I’ve never
regretted taking up the offer.”
Thobile Vilakazi,
managing
director of
Vila Comfort
Systems.
PROJECTS
FOR THE LOVE OF THE JOB
Vilakazi loves what she does because she says her job never gets
boring. “There are always new things to learn and opportunities
for growth,” she says. Her favourite part of her job is constantly
being exposed to new innovations, big projects, and meeting new
people.
She is motivated by the drive to learn new things, leading her
team to success, and seeing difficult projects through to the end
and completing them to the client’s satisfaction.
www.hvacronline.co.za
The biggest projects that Vilakazi has been involved with to date
includes Sentech and Boipatong Monument. The scope of work
was the supply and installation of the HVAC systems.
FUTURE PLANS
“I can already perceive the brightness of my future,” says Vilakazi,
specifically referring to her new contracting company. Her plans
are to focus on this business and grow it to be able to employ
even more women in HVAC. RACA
RACA Journal I January 2019
41