There is no reason for farmer’s wives and women in agriculture to wait and plead that busy men do work in and around the house. Does the crooked gate bother you? Grab the welding machine. Waiting for the picture of “Bull of the Year” to be put up the wall? Grab the drilling machine!
Do you need a new lamp for the table in the corner? Do it yourself. Rozanne Herion from the Cosmo group’s training academy is a living example of a woman who can!
She trains welders and is a top welder herself. Last year she won Solidarity’s prestigious award as tradesperson of the year.
The award is known as #jouYster and this iron woman has reason to be proud of it.
Rozanne says: “This is basically the top trades person on ALL trades across South Africa in the Solidarity network. I was the first woman to win the title, as well as the first welder.”
Nor is this her only achievement or qualification. She is a registered subject test assessor and moderator at the National Artisan Moderation Body (NAMB), in other words she can determine whether a person can qualify as a welder.
She is also currently doing her International Welding Specialist course at the Welding Institute and will qualify as an international welding specialist by the end of September. Rozanne grew up in Sasolburg.
“My father was a planner at Sigmamyn and later switched to teaching. My mother was a debtors and creditors clerk. I went to school at HTS Carel de Wet in Vanderbijlpark; I was also their first head girl. Both my parents supported me and my mother helped me apply for scholarships to study further in a technical field.”
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- Rozanne is at her happiest in the workshop, especially with her mentor, uncle Oscar Brewis.
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- The training team from Cosmo with a group of IIW International Welder Diploma students, sponsored by Air Products. In front are Charles Maake, Rorisa Group; Kingsley Nyatlo, Lesego Mahlanya, Tshiamo Mmutle, Lerato Malepe, Rozanne Herion and Rossouw van der Merwe one of Cosmo Group’s directors. Behind are Silence Mashaba, Sean Young and Zodwa Tomile from Air Products; and Pierre van Nieuwenhuizen, one of Cosmo Group’s directors.
After school, she studied Metallurgical Engineering at the Vaal Technikon (Vaal University of Technology) with a Samancor scholarship.
However, all the scholarships were cancelled during a period of recession shortly before she could obtain her diploma.
She went to work at a metallurgical laboratory where they tested welding pieces according to standards.
Rozanne says: “I applied to Arcelor Mittal for their engineering training to finish my studies, but unfortunately I was just too late for the metallurgical intake. The person then asked me why I do not follow a trade. I chose welding because of my metallurgical background. Little did I know that I would discover my true passion right there!”
She completed her apprenticeship and went to work as a welder at AZAM Engineering in Meyerton, but it was not long before her talent as a trainer emerged.
She started helping other welders with their coding practicals and was approached by City and Guilds in 2015 to help with the training and practical section of their welding and fabrication course.
After that, she helped a few colleges and schools to set up their apprenticeship programs before she was picked up by Cosmo at the Olifantsfontein Artisan Academy in 2023.
“I am very happy here at Cosmo,” she says. “No days are the same!
Some days I give product training, other days its practical coding training.
Even international welders here at the Cosmo Training Academy ask for training.
“Sometimes we help some of Cosmo’s customers with welding projects; a customer brought in a titanium exhaust system the other day to fix! I spend the majority of my time in the workshop, where I am at my happiest.”
A major leader in her life is uncle Oscar Brewis.
He is an aircraft electrician and has his own construction company. Among other things, he built the dome in Sutherland Observatory’s roof.
“He is my walking Google,” says Rozanne.
“He has such a wide knowledge of many things, I always approach him for advice. He is supportive, likes to help, but also likes to constantly challenge someone. He is already 72 and works harder than the young people.”
Although welding is her absolute passion, her hands are ready for anything.
She can do tiling, install water and electricity and is not afraid to learn anything new.
“One also learns by making mistakes,” she mocks.
In her free time she likes to help people with projects and she can make any party or occasion with artificial decoration pretty. She also loves camping and walking in the outdoors.
Rozanne’s dream is to empower women that they can also do what men can
She wants to begin through Cosmo to teach women about practical all day tasks by doing the small projects.
It will include stuff like wiring a plug, drilling and measuring, cutting and basic welding. “The idea is to help women on a Saturday to build their own wine rack or lamps from scratch.
“My biggest dream is to own my own centre, not necessarily to give qualifications but to help people to work with their hands like woodwork, jewellery, toys, three dimensional printing and more.
People can then attend basic courses or they can pay a monthly tariff/premium to use the centre’s tools and their knowledge to do their own projects.”
It is clear that Rozanne wants to build and empower people. What frustrates her is if people insult or underestimate each other.
“I cannot handle gossip and people that is in a position that they did not deserve. Your knowledge and skills must determine your position and nothing else.”
In her career she often has to deal with people who doubt her skills because she is a woman.
She says: “In the beginning it was extremely difficult, but my hands can do the work and my brain has the knowledge, what does the rest of my body matter? I will just let my knowledge and my hands prove them wrong. I have already trained a few ladies in this direction as well and they are doing very well.”
She has a few stories to tell about the reaction from the men when she outperforms them.
She says: “One day there was an older man who came in to get product training on his machine, especially to work with aluminium. I could see the man was shocked when I said I was the facilitator.
I took him to the workshop, plugged in his machine, explained each setting to him and assisted him until he could do the welding himself. Towards the end of the day he tells me he has to confess, he was very sceptical when he saw he had to learn from a woman, but now he has had a complete change of heart.”
She has this message for the women who read ProAgri: “Do not let anyone try to put you in a box. Be your unique self. Prove to them that you cannot judge a book by its cover.
And never let anyone convince you that you cannot do something because you are a woman. We are capable of more than we give ourselves credit for. Trust in God and cultivate the skills He has given you.
“Be the sunflower in a sea of roses!”
