Tobela Twala

Responsible Leader and Manager who has extensive Town Planning (Urban Planning) Professional experience. Passionate and dynamic with a drive for excellence. With over 8 years work experience at National Government in partaking both in the Real Estate and Construction sectors of the economy in immovable asset management and property management. Track record of successful project completions and timeous service delivery. With values of transparency, integrity and accountability which result in consistent achievement of milestones. Due diligence is given to financial management, project and programme management, and applicable prescripts and legislation.

1.       EMPLOYER:  Hlumani Town Planning (PTY) LTD (co-owner)

UNIT:            Land Use Development and Telecommunications

POSITION:    Managing Director and Principal Planner (Senior Manager)

TERM:          September 2022 to present (12 months now) 

DUTIES:       -Maintaining sound Programme Management

-Implementation of the vision and mission

                              -Stakeholder Engagements (Both Private and Public Sectors)

                    -Overseeing of different divisions/units of the Company

                    -Managing of Heads of Units.

2.       EMPLOYER:  SFP Town Planning (PTY) LTD

UNIT:            Land Use Development and Telecommunications

POSITION:    Senior Town Planner (Senior Manager)

TERM:          August to October 2022 (3 months)

DUTIES:       -Site Acquisitions and Identifications

-Township Establishment Application

-Liaison with Municipalities and Government Departments

-Public Participation process with both tribal authorities and urban

ward committees.

3.       EMPLOYER:  Self Employed (Different projects with multiple stakeholders)

POSITION:    Freelancer – Specialist Town Planner (Senior Manager)

TERM:          April 2022 to present (17 months) 

DUTIES:       -Submission of Township Establishments

                    -Processing all Development Applications

                    -Other studies such as Feasibility Studies, Site Clearance, Property Investigations, GIS tools. 

          -Site Acquisitions and Identifications Specialist

                              -Liaison with Municipalities and Government Departments

                    -Public Participation process (both tribal authorities & committees).

4.       EMPLOYER:  University of Johannesburg

UNIT:            Town and Regional Planning Department

POSITION:    Tutor & Teaching Assistant – Planning Design Subject

TERM:          August Month 2022 (1 month)

DUTIES:       -Liaising between the lecturers, representatives and students.

                              -Teacher of subject units.

                              -Tutoring of students.

5.       EMPLOYER:  National Department of Public Works and Infrastructure – Head 

Office

UNIT:            Real Estate Investment Services Branch

POSITION:    Chief Town Planner - level 12 Deputy Director (Middle Manager)

TERM:          November 2020 to March 2022 (18 months)

DUTIES:       -Appointed by and reporting to DDG: REIS as GIS Project Lead and 

Programme Manager. (Senior Management Role)

-Implementation of the National Site Delivery Programme (for accommodation of SAPS, Justice, Correctional Services, etc).

-Site clearance processes (site audit, site creation and site legalization, site identification)

-Compliance check with legislation namely SPLUMA, GIAMA, Land Survey Act, NEMA, Heritage Resources Act, Deeds Registry Act.

-Negotiation and finalization of Land Availability Statements with various land owners in Public and Private sectors.

-Property/Land investigations for ownership and survey information.

6.       EMPLOYER:  Entrepreneurship - Consultancy (Professional Town Planner) 

POSITION:    Sole Proprietor - Specialist Town and Planner (Senior Manager)

TERM:          November 2019 to November 2020 (12 months)

DUTIES:       -Township Establishments: through Development Applications, Feasibility Studies, Site Clearance, Property Investigations, GIS tools. 

-Project Management by assisting municipalities to upgrade existing SPLUMA and Development Planning infrastructure so as to apply Covid-19 compliance. 

-Land Use Innovation systems by installing the readily available software on a specified PC workstation for Post Covid-19 IT Solutions 

7.       EMPLOYER:  National Department of Public Works and Infrastructure – Durban 

Regional Office. Professional Services Component of Projects Unit

POSITION:    Head of Town Planning (level 11) (Middle Manager) 

-In this position I was heading the Town Planning Component of Professional Services at Durban Regional Office. 

TERM:          February 2017 to November 2019 (34 months)

DUTIES:       -Implementation of the National Site Delivery Programme (for accommodation of SAPS, Justice, Correctional Services and many more)

-Head/Responsible for all Town Planning matters at the Durban Regional Office.

-Implementing all Land Use and Land Development matters to the Durban Regional Office in particular with the Construction Projects Unit, Property Management Unit and User Demand Management Unit. 

-Implementing the Ingonyama Trust Board Project (as tasked by Regional Manager) in conjunction with the office of the ITB CEO.

-Undertaking and preparation of feasibility study reports, Site Identification Reports, Site Audit Reports and Preliminary Desktop

-Site clearance processes (site audit, site creation and site legalization, site identification)

-Ensuring compliance with legislation such as SPLUMA, Land Survey Act, NEMA, Heritage Resources Act, Deeds Registry Act, etc.

-Negotiation and finalization of Land Availability Statements with various land owners in Public and Private sectors.

-Property/Land investigations for ownership and survey information.

8.       EMPLOYER:  National Department of Public Works – Head Office Pretoria 

UNIT:            Immovable Asset Register (REIRS Branch)

POSITION:     Management Trainee: Immovable Asset Register Management (Town Planning and GIS)

TERM:          April 2016 to January 2017 (10 Months)

DUTIES:       -Building and management of the dependable Asset Register Masterfile of the Department of Public Works. 

-Providing Land Use Spatial Planning information to assist in the compliance of GRAP standards as per National Treasury legislation. 

-Use of various GIS Software and other applications such as ArcMap, Quantum and Lapsis/Spysis to confirm ownership of properties and also to assist in creating GIS shapefiles of land parcels.

9.       EMPLOYER:  National Department of Public Works – Head Office, Pretoria 

POSITION:    Candidate Town and Regional Planner (level 11) (Middle Manager)

TERM:          April 2014 to March 2016 (24 Months)

DUTIES:       -Implementation of the National Site Delivery Programme (for accommodation of SAPS, Justice, Correctional Services etc)

-Site investigations and evaluation of Immovable Asset compliance with legal and development 

-Resolution of issues pertaining to environmental and heritage impact, traffic engineering, land use, site demarcations and site development plans. 

-Ensure timely progress reports and briefings to client departments such as site reports, feasibility reports, site audit reports, and site identifications reports.

10.     EMPLOYER:  City of Joburg Metropolitan Municipality – Environmental and 

Infrastructure Department 

POSITION:    Volunteer Graduate – 2014 Joburg C40 Cities - Global Warming Seminar – Environmental Sustainability Awareness Seminar and Roadshows at various Townships (Alexandra, Diepsloot, Ivory Park)

TERM:          February 2014 (01 Month)

DUTIES:       -Public Participation as we engaged with the residents of the townships 

-Environmental & Ecological education to City of Joburg townships 

-Distribution of various plants and fruit trees for the “greener Joburg theme” 

-Conveying of Roadshows by coaches and “long walks”.

11.     EMPLOYER:  PLAN Associates Town and Regional Planners 

POSITION:    Graduate Town Planner 

TERM:          July 2013 – September 2013 (03 Months) 

DUTIES:       -Subsidy Housing Development Surveys and research. This was a lot of data management and analysis using the GIS system and databases for capturing. 

-Urban and Spatial Designing by working with the Municipalities to designate areas for various projects including social housing.

-Partaking in various Land Use Management tasks and projects by assisting the respected project managers.

-Submission of Land Use Applications (Rezoning, Subdivision, Township establishment) 

12.     EMPLOYER:  Urban Econ Development Economics 

POSITION:    Town Planning Student Employee 

TERM:          February 2012 to October 2012 (09 Months) 

DUTIES:       -Local and District Municipality Research and Investigations of relevant policies against the accredited development legislation of the country. 

-Economic Market Surveys of Subsidised and Social Housing projects in terms of how happy were the consumers about the housing products, the location 

-Report Writing 

-Partaking in various Land Use Management tasks and projects by assisting the respected project managers.

13.     EMPLOYER:  University of Pretoria 

POSITION:    Student Temporary Assistant

TERM:          April 2008 to March 2009 (12 Months) 

DUTIES:       -Marketing weeks participation. 

-Student Support related services.

-Handyman

-General Assistant

14.     EMPLOYER:  MBARK Product Promotions & Marketing (In-store and out-of-store)

POSITION:    Student Promoter – Best Promoter 

TERM:          August 2007 to July 2009 (24 Months)

DUTIES:       -Product Promotions to consumers at in-store promotions. 

-Marketing duties and other related functions. 

-Professional Communication with the consumers to advise them on the products information and benefits. This sharpened my verbal skills also in terms of using most of South African languages to convey the message intended.

-Worked in big events like soccer tournaments etc.

1. Currently enrolled for PhD research study in Town and Regional Planning NQF Level 10 - at University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (UKZN). ***Funded by the University.

2. Master of Business Administration (MBA) NQF Level 9 - completed June 2022 (final mark 84% entered Golden Key Society) - South China University of Technology. 

***Studied through Scholarship awarded by the Department of Higher Education & Training (DHET) for the “Youth of Excellence” (YES) Programme.

3. Bachelor of Town and Regional Planning NQF Level 7 - completed December 2012 University of Pretoria.

4. Project Management Diploma NQF Level 6 - completed October 2022 (Final Mark 80%) through Alison Education, Ireland.

5. Certificate in Computer Engineering (NQF Level 5) - completed June 2006 Varsity College, Pretoria.

6. Matric/Grade 12 NQF Level 4 – completed December 2003 Hudson Park High School (upgraded in 2006 Tshwane North College - formerly known as Pretoria College.