Makgola Makololo

South Africa

Occupational Information

Job Title: Managing Director at Bombardier Transportation South Africa

Professional History

Makgola is Managing Director at Bombardier Transportation South Africa. Prior to this, she was the acting Deputy Director-General for Energy in the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) of the South African government with shareholder oversight on Eskom (energy), Safcol (forestry), and Alexkor (mining). In the last ten years, she has gained extensive experience in the energy sector including utility operations, policy formulation, and regulation. She worked as an electrical system engineer and in various management roles for South African power utility, Eskom, and also worked as a senior reliability engineer for gas giant Sasol.

Makgola has served as a non-executive director on the board of Zenzele Technology center, an incubator of SEDA that assists small-scale miners to develop mining technologies and build sustainable businesses. She was co-opted onto the board of the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA). She was elected as one of the top 80 emerging leaders in science and technology in Africa and the Middle East and participated in TechWomen in 2013, an exchange program for women in STEM fields. In 2017 she was listed in the Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans.

Born in a village from Limpopo, Makgola is a qualified electrical engineer at Eskom and Sasol. Makgola is passionate about people and leadership development and is committed to excellence and good service. She enjoys engaging in politics, current debates, motorsport, and golf.  She was a co-founder of STEM-IT-FWD, an NGO that works to stimulate interest and support young black girls to take up a career in STEM.

Qualifications

BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of KwaZulu Natal
MBA from the Gordon Institute of Business Science at the University of Pretoria

Program

2019 Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellow

 Additional Tags: Electrical Engineering, Business Science, Energy, Forestry, Mining, Policy Formulation and Regulation, Non-Executive Board Director, Science and Technology, Politics