With a passion for learning and a calm demeanor, Joyce Pitso is rising the career ladder at the road agency with grace. 

One step at a time, Joyce Pitso has climbed the ramp to career success and is a shining example of what sheer grit and determination can do for professional advancement. 

In 2001, Pitso joined the South African National Roads Agency (SOC) Limited (SANRAL) as a receptionist at the Eastern Region offices in Pietermaritzburg. Today she is the Regional Finance and Administration Manager. 

When she began working at SANRAL, she was not satisfied with her job and yearned for a better position.  

SANRAL management saw her potential at an early stage and within a year she was promoted as an assistant Registry Documentalist. 

Her National Diploma in Management from the Durban University of Technology stood her in good stead.  

After two years of working in the registry environment and attaining a wealth of knowledge of SANRAL procedures and protocols, Pitso embarked on a B Comm degree through the University of South Africa. 

A passion for learning 

In the interim, and keen to learn as much as she could, Pitso helped the Finance Department, which was then short-staffed, with numerous financial functions whilst still performing her normal Registry duties. 

The aplomb with which she conducted herself in performing these functions did not go unnoticed.  

After two years at Registry and when a vacancy arose in the Finance Department, Pitso was a successful and deserving recruitment. 

She held the position of Financial Controller for 15 years, during which time she also successfully attained her Bachelor of Commerce degree.  

Since she was versatile in performing the various financial and administrative functions, Pitso acted as Regional Finance and Administration Manager on several occasions until she was permanently appointed in this role. 

The mother of two boys, who enjoys cooking as a hobby, was born in Pietermaritzburg where she attended primary and high school. 

She describes her greatest attribute as her calm demeanour in an often-volatile environment where she must work with technical staff not well versed in the vagaries of the financial requirements in terms of the Public Finance Management Act and IFRS® Standards. 

Pitso urged young people to acquire as much education as possible if they hoped to land a lucrative career. 

“Education is the key to success and if you have an opportunity, please grab it with both hands and move with it,” she said. 

Asked what she found most rewarding about her work, she said it was the realisation that together with her colleagues she was contributing to the development of the national road network “which is of vital importance to our economy and citizens of South Africa”.