Shon Lungisa Cabanga hails from De Doorns in the Western Cape and has been with ASLA, where he works as a Quantity Surveyor, for five years. He is currently based at the Sir Lowry’s Pass Village site, where the company is constructing a City of Cape Town development, that includes 307 houses for the local community. After ASLA Construction completed the civil scope (that included a road and traffic circles) and bulk services for the residential erven, ASLA Construction Housing commenced with the construction of the houses, that are being handed over in a phased approach.
Shon’s role as a quantity surveyor includes related production support functions and ensuring the administrative compliance required by City of Cape Town and its various agents. “We deliver a quality product according to prescribed standards” explains Shon, “and by quality and standards I mean that we ensure that we procure durable and certificated materials that will last over time, so that people will enjoy their structures, even when we (ASLA) are no longer here.”
Shon is currently a Candidate Construction Manager (registered with the SACPCMP) and one of several employees participating in ASLA’s Mentorship Programme, which sees career starters being mentored by the company’s middle and senior management. This mentorship is not limited to succession planning and career growth, but also covers essential life skills – from maintaining a work life and personal life balance, ensuring that one makes time for family as well as one’s own growth, all the way through to leadership skills, emotional intelligence, and the importance of presentation and communication. Key success factors for mentees include that they must show interest, come with an expectation of learning through the mentorship, and demonstrate a willingness to learn.
The mentor
Shon’s mentor is Deon Prinsloo, ASLA Construction Operations Manager: Housing, who has been with ASLA for almost thirteen years, and in the industry since 1996. “Starting a career can be a very lonely place, and it is often expected that young professionals just arrive in the workspace and get going,” says Deon, “I remember when I finished exams for my first qualification, I naively expected a crowd to invite me in and guide me along a career path, but there was no one there! It might have made my first few years easier…”
Today Deon is happy to be able to ease the way a little for his younger colleagues – by imparting his understanding of the industry and ASLA’s expectations with his mentees, as well as sharing his own on-site experiences, and the insights imparted to him in his earlier days.
“I see myself as a ‘father’ or an ‘uncle’ figure to our youngsters,” explains Deon. “They have acquired the knowledge and skills through study, and the work environment provides them a place to shape their abilities through experience. However, encountering a multitude of hardened and experienced contractor personnel and tradesmen on site can be a daunting experience.” He stresses that the biggest influence on a project is the human factor, and that the ability to manage this resource will determine the measure of success.
Deon continues, saying that while mentorship is often perceived to be technical and academic in nature, (which is part thereof), the biggest lessons imparted to him by his elders were the soft skills – their wisdom and their ability to lead people. “I learned two very distinct lessons, that I will never forget in my first years on site.”
During his first road construction project plant breakages saw an already tired team having to work late into the night to prepare the surface. “We needed to get shovels and brooms onto the surface to prepare but the guys were getting despondent,” says Deon. “Izak Sehlabi, a two-metre tall 72-year-old Zulu foreman of the road construction team, placed his arm around my shoulder and ushered me away from the team. ‘Pule’ he said to me, ‘people are tired and will only follow where we are able to lead them. Let the two of us take the brooms and start the work, they will follow us.’ And so, we did.”
Another lesson, imparted by a previous manager Jan Blom was the advice to put everything in writing, leave a paper trail and maintain proper, comprehensive documentation. Or as Mr Blom put it, to ‘always cover your ‘behind’ with paper’. “This has also stood me in good stead and is a wisdom I share often – as it is important to document and formalise informal conversations and agreements that were made.”
The mentee
Shon is finding the mentorship very valuable, saying that he would never have known what the company can do for him as an employee, without being part of the programme. After finishing his diploma and B-tech Quantity Surveying in 2016 Shon had gone straight to work as a quantity surveyor – first for WBHO and then later for Power Construction, before eventually joining ASLA. “I just wanted to work and earn a living, but the mentorship at ASLA has shown me that there is still potential for growth and that there is more that I can still do.”
This ‘more’ includes being mentored by Deon, and other operational staff, in preparation of Shon being able to fulfil the role of a Construction Manager, managing a site and its team. ASLA is also covering the South African Council for Project and Construction Management (SACPCM) annual fees and assessment.
There are deliverables that Shon needs to achieve to be ‘judged as competent’. As part of the mentorship Deon sets tasks for Shon that will expose him to experience that is not necessarily within his current job description, and then allocate operational people to fulfil a mentorship role on a specific topic. “We will always discuss first, so that I understand the requirement and what needs to be done,” says Shon. “For example, if I am looking at project scheduling and have questions around this, my contracts manager Emil Young will explain and illustrate via examples and forecasted stages.”
Sotho name given to Deon – Pule is a male name and stems from the word “pula” meaning rains. Deon was born into a farming family, just as summer rains started. The Sotho people on the farm gave him the name Pule – the one that came with the rains.
Over the next years Shon will be closely accompanied by his peers as he becomes well-versed in what it requires to manage a site, on an operational level, as well as in line with all project deliverables. “Some key learnings include the importance of behaviour and observation on site when it comes to putting theory into practice,” he says, “as well as the value of presentation in terms of both my personal and working environment, and of course that a proper record of the paper trail is kept, to provide evidence of, and information about the construction processes.”
Deon stresses that many things will be learned over time and with experience and exposure, but presentation speaks volumes about your approach to work and your ability to control your surroundings. “Where there is order on a site, there is discipline and inherently you will see good results,” he concludes.
And good results are what both ASLA and its clients love to see.
