Parow resident Henrietta Steenkamp, 23, is on the digital highway to success.
Ms Steenkamp is one of the technical support staff working on the Emergency Policing & Incident Command (EPIC) project at the City’s Traffic Management Centre, in Goodwood.
It’s a behind-the-scenes job, but vitally important to keeping Cape Town’s emergency services running.
Ms Steenkamp attended De Tyger Primary School and matriculated from Tygerberg High School, in Parow North, in 2011. In April this year, she completed her BTech in office management at Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s Cape Town campus.
She also completed a course through a multinational software company and intends working as a consultant for the firm abroad once she has finished a stint with the City. She has long dreamed of living and working overseas.
“I’ve always enjoyed Europe, especially after being an exchange student in Belgium two years ago, which enabled me to travel to Amsterdam and Paris,” she said.
She thanked her family for helping to get her where she is today.
“My parents, Wilma and Paul, are very proud of me, and they have always been supportive and motivated me to push further and to do my best. My former lecturer, Mandy Richards, also played a big role in my trajectory.”
She believes in hard work and said her parents always told her: “Nothing in life is for free and you have to work hard to get somewhere.” She adds: “I don’t believe in luck. Luck is when hard work meets opportunity,” she said.
As a recent, graduate, the Northern News picked her brain about the countrywide #FeesMustFall protests. She said: “It’s heartbreaking to see the destruction of our universities, especially after only graduating seven months ago. It was sad to see these buildings in flames. I believe students have the right to protest but I don’t condone violence.”