Springs woman drives growth in tech and property development

In light of Women’s Month, the Springs Advertiser is shining the spotlight on women who dare to dream and continue to inspire through their innovative thinking.

One such woman is Springs resident Doreen Mbhalati-Mashele, a property manager and telecommunications CEO whose company employs 500 people.

Doreen’s journey of establishing herself in the tech industry came after trials and tribulations, but it was her willingness to work hard and her dedication that made her a success.

After graduating from university with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Chemistry in 2001, she struggled to find a job.

She eventually worked at a supermarket packing groceries before she landed a position at Transnet in Johannesburg. Despite working at one of the biggest freight companies in the country, she knew she had a passion for the world of fibre connectivity.

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“One morning, coming off the night shift, I noticed some guys working next to my house. They were installing optical fibre, a project for the local telecom company. I told myself that I wanted to be a person bringing technology to South Africa,” she said.

In addition to her daily job, Doreen began working as a subcontractor doing maintenance and repairs on damaged telephone lines.

“They were not giving me enough of the high-end work. I wanted to work on optical fibre. I didn’t win my first bid. They saw I didn’t know anything, so they rejected me. I eventually got to work on fibre projects, but not before I failed at least three times,” she said.

Through hard work, Doreen got her big break when Huawei appointed her as one of the major contractors supplying fibre-to-the-home in Gauteng.

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She has evolved from being a contractor waiting for projects, to building infrastructure from scratch in areas where fibre is in demand, and then sells it to fibre network operators. She now specialises in what is called inbuild and sell/transfer.

Doreen owns and manages properties around the East Rand, giving accommodation to hundreds of people. Some properties are NSFAS-accredited, including residences for Springs Ekurhuleni TVET College students.

“I hope to bring better technology to the doorstep of our community and to make communication easy. Our children no longer need to walk to libraries and internet cafes to get access to Wi-Fi, and adults can avoid physical meetings and instead do online meetings via Teams or Zoom. This is safer and more effective at saving time and money,” she added.

Doreen offered some words of advice to women who may be struggling to discover their purpose: “Women must believe in trying new things.

“There are few women in ICT because we are scared to face challenges. Attending workshops or seminars, doing your research and getting mentors in the field that you want to specialise in can help,” she concluded.