Meet Port of Durban’s first female diver who is breaking boundaries
|Published
Durban - At the age of 5, Roxanne Ross-Manikkam fell into love with water and this motivated her to plunge towards her passion. Her unmissable smile and charisma lit up the room as she gets ready to unpack her journey as a female diver in a male-dominated industry.
Now, some 30+ years later, she is the Port of Durban's first female commercial diver.
"I started swimming in deep waters at the age of 5 and from then I realised that I belonged in the water and I wanted to take my love for water further," she said.
Upon joining the Port of Durban, Manikkam said she quickly realised the shortage of skills in this field and the fact that there were no female divers at the port, challenged her to not only make an impact for herself but for other women in the marine and blue economy sector at large.
Her job does come with the fair amount of challenges like gender equality, pressure from her male colleagues and being the oldest in the group meaning Manikkam has to work twice has hard to prove herself.
"I wanted to break the stereotype that men were more stronger and powerful," she said.
Manikkam said the words, 'gender does not define a person's strength and capabilities' are the words that echo as she shares her story.
"While I may be the first female diver for the port, I am definitely not the last and I feel extremely proud and honoured that I get to share my story with many and encourage other women to own their space," she said.
The effervescent Manikkam is employed as a Technical Supervisor for TNPA and her role includes managing maintenance and service contracts within the Building and Marine department, performing civil maintenance to buildings, structures, marine infrastructure and emergency services.
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