A man with a plan to prosper
- Wits University
Science Month Feature: Walter Ndlovu is a Maintenance Officer at Agincourt whose behind-the-scenes work helps sustain a world-class research environment.
This July, we celebrate National Science Month under the theme Science, Technology and Innovation for everyone.
Great work does not happen without support, and this month we take a moment to salute our unsung heroes, the people who enable Wits scientists, across all our faculties, to conduct research and push the frontiers of knowledge.
Spotlight on Wits Agincourt’s Mr Fix It!
Walter Dzunisani Ndlovu is a natural-born fixer. Where others see something broken, a task to outsource, or a responsibility to sidestep, Walter sees opportunity to breathe new life into objects, increase an asset’s longevity through ongoing care, or create opportunities for his family to prosper.
“Nobody taught me, it’s just that I'm the kind of a person who always likes to try to work things out, so I taught myself,” says Ndlovu.
As a boy, Walter worked on his caregivers’ small poultry farm in Acornhoek, Bushbuckridge, feeding the chickens and cleaning their drinkers each morning before school. His caregivers were pensioners, so he took it on himself to do any repairs needed, and when they bought a welding machine, Ndlovu taught himself to weld to a professional level.
After matriculating, Ndlovu continued working on the farm to help support his sister’s university studies. When their father passed away, he took extra responsibility, ensuring that his sister was able to graduate.
"Unfortunately, we had to close due to high costs to sustain the farm and low demand for fresh produce,” says Ndlovu.
The financial challenges of closing the farm meant that Ndlovu began searching for a job to continue supporting his family. He dropped off a CV at the SAMRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt) to apply for a driver position, was called for an interview, and got the job in 2015.
Although he was appointed as a driver, Ndlovu began making himself useful in the hours between driving.
“My background and fixing things on the farm equipped me with maintenance skills, so I was able to do small repairs around the office between airport trips,” says Ndlovu. “I would easily fix door locks, straighten pictures, and do other maintenance tasks as these came naturally to me.”
Indeed, this led to him being assigned bigger repairs, and in 2021, when he was officially promoted to Maintenance Officer.
“I really, really love my job; I even dream about it,” says Ndlovu. “What I like is solving any kind of problem. My favourite part of my job is when I make a difference and when I change things and make them into something good-looking.”
Since his official appointment in 2021, Ndlovu has been responsible for ensuring a safe working environment for facilities management, and for maintaining water and sanitation services across three facilities. He completed further training in air-conditioning and refrigeration and became responsible for servicing and testing the air-conditioning units.
“I conduct weekly inspections of furniture, building, and infrastructure to identify and address any hazards,” says Ndlovu. “I also provide technical support to the clinics, including the installation and testing of WI-FI and data cabling.”
Additional duties include gas installation for the Lab culture bench, refurbishment of filing cabinets, and reinforcement of burglar doors in the Data Hub.
Agincourt is a globally recognised health, population and development research initiative based in rural South Africa, close to the border with Mozambique, where service providers are few and having a maintenance officer who can turn his hand to most things is optimal.
“Management observed all the changes at Agincourt and saw the value of having someone in-house to handle maintenance,” says Ndlovu. “This created an opportunity for me to do more intense repairs and to improve infrastructure and buildings.”
“I’ve rebuilt the MRI room entrance to accommodate the portable MRI machine. And I manage landscaping and drainage around our archive to prevent water damage to valuable documents,” says Ndlovu.
Aside from keeping the facilities, grounds and buildings in perfect trim, Ndlovu’s can-do attitude has also helped his family to prosper. His sister, whom he helped support through university, now works in Human Resources for the Mpumalanga Department of Agriculture.
And, together with his school-teacher wife, Ndlovu is ensuring a promising future for their children too. While the younger children are still in school, his eldest daughter completed her Bachelor of Clinical Medical Practice and is working at a private clinic in Nelspruit; and the next in line is studying a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery.
All of which goes to prove that with the right attitude and a continuous eye on improvement, life gives back what you put in.