Dr Trueman Goba HonFREng

Outgoing President, The South African Academy for Engineering; Chair, Hatch Africa

Dr Trueman Goba is the outgoing President of the South African Academy for Engineering and Chair of Hatch Africa, a leading consultancy working with clients to support growth and sustainability across Africa. He has been instrumental in opening up the engineering profession in South Africa for Black people, through his business and professional leadership roles, and through his personal breakthrough as the first Black engineer to graduate at the former University of Natal in 1979 in apartheid-era South Africa. He overcame multiple obstacles in apartheid-era South Africa to graduate in civil engineering at the former University of Natal in 1979, at a time when it was virtually impossible for Black Africans to do so. In recent years he has taken on a variety of leadership roles in the South African engineering profession, where he has built up a reputation as an ambassador for the profession to the public and government and been a strong advocate for opening up engineering careers to formerly disadvantaged communities, particularly for broader access to postgraduate training, to improve the quality and quantity of engineering skills.