One Mother’s Journey Through Kumba’s Portable Skills Programme

In less than a year, Puseletso Sechogela went from carpentry graduate to full-time administrator, and then computer skills facilitator, assessor and moderator, a trajectory she says she never saw coming.

The 32 year old from Kuruman is a graduate of the Portable Skills Programme, an initiative run by Anglo American’s Kumba Iron Ore that offers young people in its host communities accredited trade training in disciplines such as carpentry, plumbing, welding and bricklaying.

Sechogela enrolled in November 2024. When her six month carpentry course concluded in June 2025, she left the B Safe Africa Academy, the accredited institution that partnered with Kumba to provide the training, with a new trade qualification, a toolkit provided by the programme, and plans to start her own small business.

One day later, on 1 July 2025, she received a call: B Safe Africa wanted her back, not as a carpentry graduate, but as an administrator. “They told me, ‘We saw your potential, your drive, and the effort you put in. That’s what made you stand out.’ They recognised my background as a receptionist and administrator, along with my computer qualifications, and that’s where they placed me,” she says.

Within three months, Sechogela had moved into a facilitation role. By October 2025, she was running the computer lab. She has since qualified, at her own expense, as both an assessor and a moderator.

Today, Sechogela facilitates computer skills training, supports HR administration, and volunteers in the kitchen whenever extra hands are needed. She funded her assessor and moderator certifications herself, setting aside a portion of her salary each month.

“I didn’t even know I had this potential,” she says. “When I was at home, I did not understand what my potential was or what I could do. Working in an environment that you love, that’s the most important thing.”

That outcome was not accidental. When Sechogela enrolled in November 2024, she threw herself into the carpentry stream at the Be-Safe Africa Academy, going beyond the required coursework and completing the computer literacy module alongside her trade training. “I like to learn,” she says simply. It was that initiative, and the computer skills it revealed, that caught her managers’ attention and opened the door to employment.

A wife and mother of two, Sechogela had been building her skills for years, including short courses, certificates, work experience as a receptionist and administrator. Getting a call in November 2024 inviting her to interview for the Portable Skills Programme was, she says, the moment that opened a new chapter. “I was a stay-at-home mom,” she recalls. “I had to make sure my kids had a good education. This gave me the push I needed.”

Sechogela’s message to young people in the Northern Cape is straightforward. “The short courses that people often undermine are the ones that gave me confidence,” she says. “Engage with the opportunities in front of you. Volunteer if you can. And be patient.”

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Author: T M from ByDesign Communications on behalf of Kumba.

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