Tafadzwa Mafuma

Tafadzwa (Taffy) completed her BSc in Civil Engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2013 and is currently working towards her M.Eng. in Pavement Engineering at Stellenbosch University.

She is Technical Manager for the Northern Region of AECI Much Asphalt and also has experience on the contracting side of the industry, having played a role in rehabilitation projects involving BSMs, asphalt and seal works in different parts of South Africa.

Taffy aspires to be a well-seasoned pavement engineer and to get her professional registration in the near future.

Nishaat Mowzer

Nishaat Mowzer is a Professional Engineer with over 12 years’ experience in pavement design. She completed her BSc Eng in Civil Engineering in 2009 at the University of Cape Town and her MEng in Pavement Engineering in 2019 at Stellenbosch University.
Nishaat began her career at KV3 Engineers in January 2010 as a graduate engineer and has remained with the company until 2022 through name changes to WorleyParsons RSA and iX engineers. She begins a new position as Associate Pavement Engineer at Zutari in June 2022.
She has worked extensively on all aspects of the design of new roads and the maintenance, rehabilitation and upgrading of roads, for clients such as the City of Cape Town, local municipalities, SANRAL, the Western Cape Provincial Government and ACSA.

Dr Elaine Goosen

Elaine is a Pavement Engineer and Lecturer in Civil Engineering at Stellenbosch University, specialising in Pavement Engineering and Bitumen Rheology.

Elaine completed her BEng in Civil Engineering in 2011 and her PhD in 2021, with the award of various bursaries and scholarships testifying to her talent and dedication.

She spent a semester at Technische Universiteit in Delft, Netherlands, as an Exchange Student in Civil Engineering, and worked for WorleyParsons RSA as a Graduate Civil Engineer and then Assistant Resident Engineer in Roads and Stormwater.

Elaine is establishing her research career focusing on sustainable pavement materials and applying numerical models and machine learning to materials datasets.

Kele Makamu

Kele is a Civil Engineering Technologist with more than a decade of experience in road material testing and management of civil engineering materials laboratories. She completed her B-Tech degree in Transportation Engineering at Tshwane University of Technology in 2015.

She is currently Laboratory and Quality Manager at the CSIR’s Advanced Material Testing Laboratory.

Kele’s career started in 2004 at the Johannesburg Roads Agency Laboratory where she was a Soils and Concrete Officer. From there she moved to Aurecon for four years as an Associate Laboratory Supervisor. In 2010 she joined the CSIR as a Lab Supervisor and in 2015 she returned to the JRA as Laboratory and Technical Services Manager.

Prior to her current role she worked for three years at Specialised Road Technologies as an Operational Executive.

Tumelo Thothela

Tumelo Thothela completed his BSc in Civil Engineering at the University of Cape Town in 2007, followed by an MEng in Civil Engineering specialising in Pavement Engineering at Stellenbosch University.

He has been involved in all aspects of projects including the planning and execution of visual condition assessments, centreline materials surveys, development of rehabilitation strategies, sourcing of materials, mechanistic pavement design and analysis, as well as drafting of tender documents and contract administration.

Tumelo also graduated with an MBA from the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) in 2017. He is a co-founder and Operations Director of Royal Mndawe Holdings (ROMH Consulting), responsible for strategy, business development, marketing, operational and personnel management, staff training and mentoring, engineering design and contract administration.

Gretchen Weber

Gretchen is a Civil Engineering Technologist with more than 20 years’ experience in all aspects of road projects. She obtained her National Diploma (Civil – Materials) at Pretoria Technikon in 1998 and her BTech (Civil) at Tshwane University of Technology in 2000. She has also completed Stellenbosch University’s Construction Management Programme.

Gretchen began her career with the Department of Transport and Public Works, moving on to Kwezi V3 Engineers as a Materials Technician, growing into the roles of Resident Engineer and Assistant Laboratory Manager. In 2011 she joined WorleyParsons RSA where she further expanded her experience in the industry.

She has been with SANRAL for the past eight years, currently as a Materials and Pavement Specialist for SANRAL Western Region.

Trevor Zumani

Trevor is a Project Manager in SANRAL’s Eastern Region, currently looking after some Capex projects under Design and Construct Division and some Routine Road Maintenance projects in KZN and Free State.

He graduated in 2005 with an ND Civil Engineering at the Durban University of Technology and went on to complete various qualifications in project and quality management. He obtained a B.Tech. Civil Eng. Urban Planning at the Vaal University of Technology in 2017 and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Programme Management at Cranefield College in 2021. He is an ISO9001 Certified Provisional Auditor registered with SAATCA and professionally registered with ECSA as Pr Techni Eng.

He gained his early experience in the private sector, starting his career at Rand Roads (Grinaker-LTA), followed by Edwin Construction (a division of WBHO) then Themba Consulting Engineers. Thereafter he joined Johannesburg Water for seven years before moving to SANRAL four years ago.