Nokwazi Mbele

Category
Mining & Manufacturing

Age
31

Organisation / Company
Hesto Harnesses
Website

Profile

Nokwazi Mbele, 31, is a dynamic senior project manager at Hesto Harnesses, a manufacturing industry based in Stanger, Kwa-Zulu Natal.

Hesto Harnesses assembles and supplies automotive wiring harnesses and instrumentation clusters to original equipment from vehicle manufacturers. Nokwazi launches and leads projects to supply wiring harnesses for new vehicle models. It starts from engineering schematics to analysing and then designing the manufacturing processes, which then leads to assembly.

Nokwazi led the team that recently won a bid with Ford, which resulted in Hesto Harnesses building a new plant and employing an additional 4 000 workers. She holds a diploma in electrical engineering from the Durban University of Technology (DUT) and is enrolled at the same university for her BTech. She also holds a certificate in project management.

As improving education is one of her ambitions, she assists learners at a primary school in the iLembe district. After meeting President Cyril Ramaphosa at the launch of the new plant at Hesto Harnesses, she was invited to various business forums, lunches and indabas.

Nokwazi owns a property in Mpangani, near the University of Zululand, and provides accommodation for 15 students and is keen to build more private residences for students. “Work hard now and enjoy life later,” she quips.

List your educational background - qualifications and institutions?

ND Electrical Engineering at Durban University of Technology

Any awards or achievements in your field?

• I hosted the President of South Africa during the Ford business launch. 
• Naacam published a great article about my career. 
• I had a successful launch of Isuzu D-max I was leading the Program for Hesto harnesses. 
• I am Part of the leading team for the Ford Ranger and VW Amarok new model launch. Previously participated in successfully launching Hilux projects.

One childhood memory that has spurred you to such levels of achievement?

Growing up witnessing my Mother being independent and taking up space in society made me release it is possible to be successful if you put in the work. She did not stop at anything to achieve what she has today, that made me believe in myself that I am intelligent enough to achieve all my goals. That drive has helped me climb the ladder in my career as I am in a management position.

Advice to your younger self?

Value of time do not get comfortable with procrastination start working hard from a young age as you grow life only gets harder. Be careful what you spend time studying, everything you study should benefit you. Make sound decisions and always seek good mentorship in career path decisions.

What would you like South Africa to look like in five years?

I would like to see South Africa with more Manufacturing companies some owned by SA youth creating job opportunities and contributing to improving the economy, this is happening in other countries and it not impossible, I am already a consultant for an upcoming manufacturing company that is looking for young engineers. Manufacturing company comes with a great deal of employment. I would also like to see South Africa nurturing the great talent of the young generation and be able to make a profit from it. I would like to see the involvement of the youth in the 4th industrial revolution, study and understand artificial intelligence because that is the future.