When she enrolled for a Degree in Control and Instrumentation at the University of Teesside in the United Kingdom under the Debswana scholarship, Monkgogi Tshosa knew she was going to enjoy her stay, after all she was good in Mathematics and Sciences and was passionate about them. “It was just a sail through. I am good at Maths and Science
and control and instrumentation was quite interesting because most of it is mainly based on physics and mathematical concepts, so I never really struggled,” she said. True to that, she aced her studies, and graduated top of her class in 2008 earning herself two awards for being the best female student in Science and Technology department. Tshosa currently works as an Asset Management Engineer – Automation & Information at Debswana’s Orapa, Letlhakane and Damtshaa Mines (OLDM) where she is charged with, among others, supervision and leadership of Automation and Information team comprising of four areas of expertise; radio communication and telemetry systems, mining systems, Software and plant maintenance execution, technical support in Automation and Information, A&I across OLD mines, and development and implementation of sectional strategy and business improvement plans in line with the Business Strategy. She has before then held the position of Maintenance Engineer Plant 2 at OLDM where she was responsible for management of the treatment plant equipment maintenance, projects, and Plant shutdown Maintenance management, budget, and compliance to environmental and safety regulations of a plant of throughput of around 25,000 tonnes per day. Tshosa started off with Debswana fresh from university and worked herself up the ladder, from Junior Engineer in 2004 to Assistant Engineer in 2008 and to her current position. “The mining industry is male dominated and when you are a female engineer most of the times you will be the only woman among men but it doesn’t scare me because what is important is to know what you are doing because if you know your job you will know your purpose and it doesn’t scare you. It only gets scaring and dark when you are clueless,” she said. She has never in her career felt excluded and her gender has never been an issue. In fact, she says she works very well with people and is an open-minded person. “I advise women to believe in themselves and know that they are capable. The mining industry is not as scaring as perceived and nowadays there is an issue of technology which makes things even easier,” she said. Tshosa plans to focus on strategic issues and want to in future assume a more strategic role within Debswana that will give direction to the organisation. The 39-year-old engineer is married to Albert Tshosa and together they are blessed with two children Larona and Lungile.
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