Energy Conversations Podcast

How do you build a 20-year career in the energy sector without ever planning to? For Lomile Modiselle, Director of Energy and Electricity Technical Services at the City of Tshwane, the answer is simple: find the gap, and fill it.In this episode of Energy Conversations - Careers, Lomile shares her remarkable journey. From dropping out of civil engineering due to lack of funds, to stumbling into electrical engineering at an FET college in Pretoria, to being scouted by companies before she even applied for an apprenticeship. Along the way, she earned two master's degrees and is now pursuing a law degree to better understand the contracts shaping South Africa's energy future.Lomile's story is a masterclass in intentional career-building: identifying what you don't know, going out to learn it, and refusing to be left behind as the sector transforms. Her message to young people — especially young women — is clear: master your technical skills, find your gap, take up your space, and never go without a mentor.Guest: Lomile Modiselle — Director of Energy and Electricity Technical Services, City of TshwaneHost: Thokozile Zambane
Energy Conversations, Careers, goes behind the job titles to understand the different pathways into the energy sector, the choices people make along the way, and what others can learn from them.Powered by Kani Development Solutions and the African Energy Leadership Centre at the Wits Business School.

Eskom generates South Africa's electricity, but it's the municipality that gets it into your kitchen, and that last mile is where the energy transition will actually be decided.  
In this episode, Thokozile Zambane speaks to Lomile Modiselle, director of energy and electricity technical services at the City of Tshwane, about her Wits research into how municipalities in Gauteng are integrating renewable energy into ageing infrastructure. They get into what's actually holding progress back: siloed departments, a skills gap that isn't about wires but about translation, and a retention crisis nobody's talking about. 
Follow Energy Conversations on LinkedIn, Instagram and Tiktok. Subscribe for more as we translate South Africa’s Just Energy Transition.  
Energy Conversations is produced by Kani Development Solutions and supported by the African Energy Leadership Centre at the Wits Business School.

Dr Phindile Masangane's career has taken her from a chemistry lab in rural Eswatini to executive roles across South Africa's energy sector, and now to the Development Bank of Southern Africa.  
In this episode of Energy Conversations, she walks through the real version of that journey: the opportunities she didn't plan for, building a career and a family at the same time, and what it actually takes to rise in an industry that's still overwhelmingly male. This isn't the LinkedIn version. It's the turns, the doubts, and the doors.

Every substation, wind farm, and power line in South Africa gets built because someone took on the risk first. In this episode of Energy Conversations, host Thokozile Zambane sits down with Dr. Phindile Masangane, Group Executive: Programs at the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), to unpack how South Africa's energy infrastructure gets funded.
Energy Conversations is powered by Kani Development Solutions and the African Energy Leadership Centre at Wits Business School. Also on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.#EnergyConversations #DBSA #JustEnergyTransition #SouthAfrica #WomenInEnergy

Loyiso Tyabashe, Group CEO of Nexa (the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation), traces his path from a village outside Mthatha to leading one of South Africa's key energy institutions. He talks through the chance detour from automotive engineering into nuclear at Koeberg, the "nuclearisation" training that reshaped how he makes decisions, and the toughest transition of his life — not a professional setback, but adjusting to city life and a new language as a first-year engineering student. He also shares how listening to staff, not top-down strategy, turned Nexa's finances and governance around after 2021, and closes with advice for young people starting their own energy careers: stay disciplined, and don't be afraid to ask for help.What questions do you want answered this season? Share them in the comments. Energy Conversations is powered by Kani Development Solutions in partnership with the African Energy Leadership Centre at the Wits Business School. Where to find us: LinkedIn: energyconvosInstagram: energyconvosTikTok: energyconvos#EnergyConversations #Necsa #NuclearEnergy #SouthAfrica #Koeberg #EnergySector #CareerJourney #EnergyLeadership #NuclearPower #STEM #EngineeringCareers #WomenInEnergy #AfricaEnergy #EskomEskom #EasternCape #PowerSector #CleanEnergy #EnergyLeaders #CareerAdvice