Where are they Now? – Marie-Tinka Uys

The K2C BSP Cluster’s story telling takes an approach of tracing three former female Environmental Monitors that have moved on to better employment. The inspiring stories of Vulani Mabunda, Shoki Mafogo and Dimakatso Nonyane demonstrate how the opportunity to be part of this foundational work programme can unlocks futures for young female conservationists.

Vulani Mabunda

Vulani Mabunda’s eyes twinkled with enthusiasm as she tells her story. She was born and bred in Giyani before the family moved to Lulekani, Phalaborwa. After she matriculated, she obtained her Nature Conservation Diploma from the Southern African Wildlife College in 2012. After a stint as a WESSA Eco School Coordinator, she started her career as an Environmental Monitor in 2016 with the Sefapane Foundation in Phalaborwa. Soon her excellent performance with Environmental Education in Schools was noted, and she was nominated as a K2C EM Maeba (Peer Educator Leadership Group). In 2017 she won the accolade to be the best K2C Environmental Monitor of the Year. In 2018 she applied to be a SANParks BSP Field Assistant, where she manages the career pathing and development of 32 other Environmental Monitors.

“Being part of DEA’s Environmental Monitor Programme, was a game changer for my career,” she says. “The work and growth experience set my career on course. My next goal is to complete my Environmental Management degree with UNISA. I am inspired to embrace the future.”

Shoki Mafogo

Today Shoki Mafogo is the Assistant Stewardship Officer for the GEF5 Protected Area Effectiveness Programme – K2C Node. Her spatial focus is on the northern Drakensburg catchment area in the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Region, specifically in and around the Lekgalameetse Nature Reserve. “To enable a balance between biodiversity conservation and the development of our people in this area is so important,” she says and explain further: “The Escarpment Mountains are very important water resource areas on which the downstream people as well as the Protected Areas, of which the Kruger National Park is the biggest, depends. I am proud of what we are achieving with the network of young DEA Environmental Monitors emanating from the Community Property Associations and based in the villages. Their sense of being custodians of these resources and impact in sharing this message with resource users are crucial for sustainability outcomes”.

Shoki would know that, being a former Environmental Monitor herself. In 2014 she was selected to be an Environmental Monitor in her village, Enable. “After obtaining my degree from the University of Johannesburg in 2013, it was frustrating just to sit at home. I was grateful to become part of the Environmental Monitor Programme. It launched my career”.

Shoki’s next goal is to complete her Honours Degree in Development.

Dimakatso Nonyane

Dimakatso hails from a village on the foothills of Hebron Mountain in Bushbuckridge. Her beautiful smile is confident when she tells her story: “I completed my Diploma in Nature Conservation in 2009, but with no work experience it was so difficult to start a career. When the opportunity arose in 2013 to become an Environmental Monitor based at Mariepskop State Forest, I grabbed it. In 2015, I was elected as part of the Maeba Peer Education Leadership Group and today I am the Project Manager for the Blyde Custodianship Project in the mountains I love. It is so important that these areas should be rehabilitated and protected for future generations.” 

Dimakatso believes that it is every Environmental Monitor’s own responsibility to make the most of the opportunity the Programme offers. “I have developed good management skills, good work ethics in my years with the Environmental Monitor Programme. My attributes make me a strong competitor and a perfect candidate for any vacancy I wish to apply for” she says.

Dimakatso’s next step is to completed her B.Tech Degree.