“The most exciting thing about this role is that I do not do the same thing every day; each day looks different and I interact with different fields and people,” says Pitso Mahlaole, Manager of Procurement in the Department of Finance at the University of Pretoria (UP), of his position, to which he was appointed in January 2021.

He has worked in procurement for more than 10 years and holds several degrees and qualifications, his most recent being an international qualification in procurement from the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply.

Pitso Mahlaole was raised in Mamelodi, a township in the east of Pretoria. “My upbringing was that of a typical black child who grew up in the township,” he said. "Both my parents worked and we didn’t get to spend much time with them. We did not have much, but we worked with whatever we had.”

Mahlaole’s interest in supply chain and procurement started long before he knew what it entailed. “When I was younger, I was fascinated by people who drove big trucks and when I googled careers in that field, logistics came up. That’s when I decided to register for a degree in Logistics at the University of Johannesburg.” When friends and family found out why Mahlaole wanted to study the subject, he recalls them making comments like, “You’re crazy – how can you study to drive trucks?” or “just get your licence and drive trucks.”

But this did not deter him. “I wanted to understand the dynamics that go into logistics,” he explained. “Logistics includes aviation, marine and even international law, as goods are shipped across the world. Furthermore, logistics, supply chain and procurement are about satisfying the customer’s needs.”

Since his appointment in January 2021, he has implemented changes to the department. “We have started formalising supplier management processes with regards to supplier applications and onboarding to ensure that we have a relevant supplier database with correct information,” Mahlaole said. “We want to improve the University’s BBBEE level by increasing spend on black female-owned and black-owned companies.”