Mrs E T Mhlongo is a qualified and registered Social Worker and a qualified Business Executive. She graduated with a BASW from the University of Zululand in 1973, was awarded an Honours degree in Social Work from the then University of Natal in 1984. She obtained both a Master’s degree in Social Work (MSW) and a Postgraduate Certificate of Advanced Study – Social Work in Industry from the University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA in 1993.
Her qualifications in Business Management include postgraduate Diplomas in Human Resources and Marketing Management awarded in 1995 and 1997 respectively by the Damelin Institute as well as the Postgraduate Certificate in Engineering Business Management from the University of Warrick, UK in 2002 in part fulfillment of her MBA studies.
Mrs Mhlongo has 43 years of working life in various work settings of which 38 years at senior management level: 17 years in an NGO, 5 years’ experience in industry and the last 17 years as a government official – Regional Chief Director and Provincial Chief Director. She has also worked part time for Research Institutes and Universities. While studying in the US she was further exposed to a variety of work settings in industry, NGOs and Tertiary Institutions, as part of her paid internship. She also championed the PEPFAR funded Project – PACT- a partnership with DSD.
Her strategic skills set include human resources management, business process management, business reengineering, quality customer service management, policy formulation, monitoring and evaluation, strategy development and execution, compliance monitoring, capacity building and risk management, driving transformation including affirmative action, initiating strategic partnerships, mentoring and coaching, project management, training facilitation, supervision and management and participating in research projects.
In 2017, she registered her own consultancy and served as a consultant/technical adviser for the KwaZulu Natal Global Fund supported project through the KZN Treasury. This project was a comprehensive codetermined targeted intervention on HIV, TB and STI prioritizing Adolescent Girls and Young Women aged 10 – 24 including their empowerment on GBV, financial literacy, career advancement, parenting skills for teen moms and food security skills in selected municipalities.
She currently provides mentorship and coaching in the social work community on governance and institutional capacity building and cutting edge professional and ethical social work operations.