First in her family to graduate with a Master’s degree, Gugulethu Colliery environmental officer Ayanda Khumalo has dedicated her life to uplifting her community and conserving the environment. “I come from a disadvantaged family where no one was enrolled at a university or had a stable job. This pushed me to work harder in my studies so I can at least be enrolled in a tertiary institution and hopefully secure employment,” says Ayanda.

Ayanda was born in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal. Growing up in a community with waste management challenges and river streams that were not well maintained, Ayanda was inspired to take up a career in environmental management. “I was intrigued to choose a career path that would equip me to help my community improve their interaction with the environment,” she remarks. Her career highlight was organizing water conservation and waste management awareness campaigns for schools surrounding the mine where she previously worked.

She is also passionate about improving environmental compliance at Gugulethu through environmental inspections, reporting, and ensuring coworkers understand the importance of environmental management. She hopes to drive awareness campaigns to support the mine’s environmental efforts. Ayanda’s advice to young people who want to pursue a career in the field is to firstly love the environment and surround themselves with people in their line of work. “Never stop learning, learning does not stop in the lecture room,” she concludes.