Mandla Mlangeni

Mandla's company, MMQS, started working in joint venture with Mace on cost consultancy projects in South Africa in 2013. Since then the relationship has gone from strength to strength, and in 2016 the two companies took the decision to merge this part of their businesses to create MMQSMace.

How did you get into cost consultancy?

I love infrastructure, property and construction, so it seemed a natural step for me to get into a profession where I could help shape new developments and infrastructure schemes. After completing my high school education, I couldn't decide between civil engineering and economics, but I was then advised about quantity surveying which combines the two. I studied for five years at the University of Pretoria, South Africa before working for two years for a consulting firm. I started my own quantity surveying business at the age of 24 and have never looked back.

How did you start working with Mace?

Our two firms started working in joint venture in 2013. Since then we've grown our client base and we've worked on a wide range of projects - all of them have been exciting and will make a real difference to South Africa.

From the beginning there were a lot of synergies between our approaches and we worked really well together. It made sense to merge the companies in 2016 to create MMQSMace. Mace's international experience and their work across financial service and infrastructure went really well with my firm's local knowledge of working in South Africa and my local contacts.

What advice would you give to someone looking to get into what you do?

Do what you love - it makes it easier when you're dealing with challenging situations! If you want to be a consultant, you have to understand the art of listening - you need to understand your client's problem before you can try to address it. And obviously, a qualification in a quantity surveying or related studies would be a requirement.

What does the future hold for quantity surveying in South Africa?

I'm finding that increasingly we're providing our clients with strategic advice on how to take projects forward - not simply costing the project - and I definitely see this role increasing for us in the future.