Tumelo Mphafe’s career path began in 2003, when, as a computer technician, he first discovered his passion for programming.
“While I was working as a technician, the network card from one of the machines I was working on couldn’t get a signal. Upon inspecting it, I realised it was okay, and then I went further and tried to figure out what the problem was. Two days later I discovered that there was nothing wrong with the network card but the programme sending the signal was faulty, so I embarked on a quest to make the programme understand how to communicate [with the card],” he says.
He found this to be his true passion and decided to switch from studying a business degree to a computing one.
Seven years on and a BComp Computing degree from Monash South Africa and significant programming experience behind him, he’s joined Flow as a programmer.
Tumelo finds some of the requirements to build a website quite complex, but enjoys the challenge. He says, “I chose to do programming because I love making computers do things. I like the thrill of figuring out why the computer doesn’t understand me.”
Tumelo has been at Flow for just over a week and already has his work cut out for him. “Before I came to Flow, I was regarded as the best at what I did but I felt that I still needed to grow.
Here at Flow, I am a noob.” This term (a contraction of the word “newbie”) is affectionately used by Flow’s programming head, Richard Frank, who is happy to have Tumelo on his team.
“It’s great to have someone of Tumelo’s experience join our team. We’re looking forward to his fresh perspective on this fast-changing field,” says Richard.
Tumelo has worked on a number of large website projects, including pogramming jobs for the Bank of Botswana and the Mail&Guardian newspaper, as well as a number of sites under the M&G banner like Tech Leader, Sports Leader and theGuide.
Tumelo enjoys working at Flow and describes the work environment here as casual but productive. “It’s free and the people are friendly in a warm way. It’s the kind of place that says, ‘We are here for you but if you need us to stay out of your way, we will.’ Sort of like a family.”
Welcome to the Flow family, Tumelo! May you have a long and successful career with us.