SA Affordable Housing March - April 2020 // ISSUE: 81 | Page 28

PROFILE A passion for concrete By Eamonn Ryan Matthews Magwaza, lecturer at The School of Concrete Technology (SCT), has been working for the Institute for 27 years, 15 of those as its most highly experienced lecturer in concrete. M agwaza started by doing all the concrete courses himself, qualifying as a concrete technologist through the TCI, which delivers courses overseen by the UK Institute of Concrete Technology. “I started as a laboratory assistant and worked my way up to lecturing,” he says. From this experience, he is one of the most well-known lecturers and personalities in the concrete industry, whether at universities of technology, universities or among the corridors of construction corporates. “What inspired me to follow this field is concrete: I love concrete. Even before TCI (as it only later came to be known) I worked for a company called Cement Distributors in its sales department. I was intrigued by the various aspects of concrete and wanted to know more about it. So, I did various courses at that early stage through TCI’s predecessor Cement and Concrete Institute, which qualified me as a concrete technologist,” says Magwaza. Matthews Magwaza, lecturer at The School of Concrete Technology (SCT), at his favourite spot – the lecturer’s podium. 26 MARCH - APRIL 2020 SAAffordHousing saaffordablehousingmag SA Affordable Housing www.saaffordablehousing.co.za