Recognized as the first Black female engineer to graduate from a South African university and South Africa’s first female CEO of a major consulting engineering firm, Malani Padayachee-Saman is leveraging her historic milestones to drive a new era of female participation in critical sectors. As the founder of MPAMOT—a trusted, 100% Black women-owned and managed engineering and advisory firm—Padayachee-Saman is challenging historically male-dominated industries to create practical, purposeful pathways for women in STEM.

Under her strategic direction, MPAMOT has demonstrated the vast capabilities of female-led enterprises in complex, capital-intensive sectors. In the mining and industrial spaces, the firm specializes in structural and civil engineering solutions that modernize operations and directly improve worker living standards. MPAMOT has executed essential infrastructure upgrades for major mining firms, including structural designs for the Anglo Platinum Medical Centre, comprehensive living quarter upgrades via the Anglo Platinum Hostel project in Rustenburg, feasibility assessments for the Mpumalanga Mining and Metals Technology Park, and structural consulting for Exxaro’s Manketti Lodge in Limpopo.

Furthermore, this woman-pioneered team bridges the gap between essential resource extraction and green infrastructure by helping mines and national grids transition toward reliable, lower-carbon power solutions. MPAMOT has managed utility-scale solar PV feasibility and design integration across Eskom power stations like Lethabo and Tutuka. Across borders, the firm has driven impactful regional clean energy projects, including the 20 MW Omburu solar plant for NamPower in Namibia, the Nkhotakota Solar PV project in Malawi, and Kenya’s historic Lake Turkana Wind Farm—Africa’s largest wind power project.

“Being first only matters if it helps make the path clearer for those who follow,” says Padayachee-Saman, whose status as a trailblazer was formally identified in an article by the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE), echoing the research of respected structural engineer Allyson Lawless. “I grew up without engineering role models. I entered a profession I barely knew, learnt from demanding mentors, strengthened my technical and contractual skills, and discovered that engineering could become a career of real purpose.”

This track record of advancing economic resilience and social development has garnered significant global recognition. The firm recently secured the No. 44 spot on the 2025 Women Presidents Organization (WPO) and J.P. Morgan Chase global list of the Top 50 Fastest-Growing Women-Owned and Managed Businesses. Furthermore, MPAMOT rose to No. 14 on the global "Top 50 Women to Watch" list.

To actively support the influx of female talent into technical roles, MPAMOT is launching the “First, Then Forward” programme this Women’s Month. The year-round initiative provides career guidance, mentorship conversations, and practical resources to young professionals. Crucially, the programme invites mining corporations, professional bodies, and industry funders to collaborate on building sustainable access to STEM fields.

Padayachee-Saman’s advice to aspiring female engineers entering these rigorous sectors is highly practical: build technical capability first, invest in personal development, seek mentors who will challenge you, and do not mistake unfamiliarity for inability.

“South Africa does not need one exceptional story repeated once a year,” Padayachee-Saman notes. “We need many women to gain the information, confidence, support, and opportunity to build stories of their own. Let us ensure that their challenges and proposed solutions get heard and actioned.”