Tapiwa Samanga on a mission to build South Africa’s manufacturing future
· Citizen
Tapiwa Samanga, chief executive of the Production Technologies Association of South Africa (PtSA), is on a mission to build a new generation of skilled employees who can position South Africa’s manufacturing industry on the global stage.
PtSA, a membership-based organisation representing the Tool, Die, Mould and Special Machining (TDM) sector, has long championed industrial competitiveness.
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Under Samanga’s leadership, it is sharpening that mission: shaping policy with government, benchmarking against international standards and driving skills development through global networks such as the International Special Tooling and Machining Association (Istma), where he serves as Istma Africa chair.
Born in Eastern Zimbabwe’s Honde Valley, Samanga’s formative years were steeped in rural resilience and the turbulence of the liberation war.
Those early experiences – herding cattle, dodging bullets, and learning survival instincts – forged the independence and risk-taking spirit that now drives his vision for Africa’s industrial development.
For him, manufacturing is not just an economic imperative but a calling: the pathway to jobs, innovation and sustainable growth across the continent.
“Looking back, I see that the basic skills I use in life and in business I acquired as a young boy herding cattle and dodging bullets long before I set foot in a classroom,” he says.
“I am a child of war. When I first came to know what was around me, it was during the Zimbabwe liberation war.”
Honde Valley borders Mozambique and “was one of the key fronts during our war of liberation”, he says.
He attended primary school in Manga and high school at St Augustine’s Secondary School – an Anglican institution which was the first secondary school open to blacks in colonial Rhodesia.
The school produced many of Zimbabwe’s freedom fighters and liberation leaders.
Samanga holds an engineering honours degree from the University of Zimbabwe.
He also has a master’s in business leadership from the Unisa School of Business Leadership and a master’s of law (mining law and policy) from Dundee University in Scotland. He is now pursuing his PhD.
Before he became fully educated, he spent some of his time underground as a rock drill operator, dump truck operator, blaster and other related tasks.
He spent most of his days in Zimbabwe, Zambia and, now, South Africa.
But the African country that fascinated him more was Uganda “as it has hard-working people, it is multiethnic, multifaith and is also an enterprising nation”.
“I used to think Zimbabweans were highly educated until I went to Uganda. Smart folks there. Remember, it is the home of the legendary Makerere University,” he says.
“They are quickly developing their TDM capability and now make electric vehicles at Kiira Motors in Jinja.
“If they can sort out their transition politics from long-serving leader Yoweri Museveni to a new crop of accountable leaders, it is a country that is destined to fly.”
He says his transition point to industrial development was in 2009, when he joined the South African department of trade, industry and competition (DTI) as director: capital equipment and allied services.
“So began my journey in industrial policy and development. It is a space where everything comes together,” he says.
Back to his current job, under his leadership, PtSA has established a vital partnership with institutions of the same calibre based abroad, which assist South African-based tooling professionals with further training.
He regards tooling as the “mother industry” of manufacturing, producing every product, from automotive parts to mining equipment.
He has urged young people, especially females, to take careers in tooling as there are many opportunities.
A large part of his focus goes into building a pipeline of artisans this industry depends on.
He says their TDM-powered apprentice programme, run in partnership with DTI under the Intsimbi Future Production Technologies Initiative, shows that a properly resourced, competency-based apprenticeship, with real workplace exposure, not just classroom time, delivers a 98% employment rate.
“That’s the model we need more of and it needs continued public-private investment to expand,” he says.
“Second, we have to benchmark ourselves against the best in the world – not just against our own past performance.”
When he is not working, he says he likes to enjoy a well-roasted meal with sadza.
He does not drink alcohol and prefers red Grapetiser, which he fell in love with after he came to South Africa in December 1994.
He worships at the Bread of Life Church International, Midrand Assembly.
His late father was a driver before he became chief of the Manga tribe from 1981 to 2003.
His mother, who is still alive and in her mid-90s, became a full-time housewife, farmer and the family’s primary caregiver.
“Both our parents were steadfast on us getting a good education. There was nothing as scary as going home at the end of term with a bad school report,” he recalls.
He has nine siblings who are supportive of his career.