Bonga Mkhwanazi-Director
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Experience
Director
Gowip Energy Sdn. Bhd.
- Responsible for the planning and execution of large complex EPC projects across 3 regions and recently on renewables, including 14 years on Aramco projects.
- Develop processes and techniques to evaluate the local supply chains and technical capabilities to maximize the local content requirements within the projects.
- Provide oversight and cascade the global best practices during the technical feasibility and constructability studies of solar farms.
- Successful completion of 132kV export cable termination works on 70MW Mafeteng Solar PV Plant in Lesotho.
Project Manager
McDermott International Inc.
- Project: Marjan-1 Full Field Development for Aramco, total value ~$3.5bn.
- Responsible for the full EPIC scope of 2x 230kV export cables (90km each) from onshore substation to 6 new offshore producing platforms (oil & associated gas) and 75km of pipelines.
- Led, managed, and motivated multidisciplinary teams from suppliers, subcontractors and fabrication yards enabling them to become high performers in delivering the agreed project scopes within the schedule and cost constraints.
- Timely identification of potential cost overruns and schedule slippages and developed mitigation strategies in conjunction with the project director and the cost controls team.
- Managed revisions to the agreed lump sum turnkey scope of work whilst ensuring that the necessary amendments to the overall project schedule, milestone dates and contract prices were made well within time, considering the committed schedules.
Results & achievements:
- During the 18 months Covid lockdown period, there was minimum disruption to normal business operations due to the rapid response systems that I set up for the team such as cloud-based dashboard progress reporting using Tableau instead of individual excel files.
- Project managed the world’s longest dual circuit 230kV subsea cable system (90km each) from Nexans Norway, installation in 2024.
- Received praise from Saudi Aramco for exceeding their expectations considering many challenges faced on the project.
Subsea Package Manager
McDermott International Inc.
- Projects: Safaniya Offshore Field Upgrades Phases 2, 3, 5 & 6 for Aramco.
- Led the negotiation sessions with the manufacturers of cables, umbilicals, rigid and flexible pipes in China, Norway, Japan and the UK prior to order placements and contract signing.
- Resolved conflicts promptly and amicably.
- Performed regular reviews at manufacturers’ facilities to ensure that their activities were in line with the overall project schedule.
- Monitored the cost aspects of the project, forecasted final costs and identified trends to avoid budget overruns.
- Coordinated all aspects of the scope of work to ensure alignment and integration between engineering, procurement, construction and quality teams.
Recognition award:
- Internal spot award for the seamless execution of the subsea scope for Safaniya Phase 3 project with a focus on minimizing cost overruns by aligning delivery schedules and consolidating all subsea project materials from Europe during shipping to the Middle East.
Project Engineer
McDermott International Inc.
- Project: Safaniya Phase 1 Offshore Field Upgrades Project for Aramco.
Achievements:
- Successfully led the integrated factory acceptance test (IFAT) of the digital control system in the UK with multiple stakeholders from different regions.
- The IFAT was completed one week ahead of schedule and Aramco reps were extremely satisfied with the positive outcomes.
Graduate Project Engineer
McDermott International Inc.
- Projects: various for Maersk Oil Qatar, RasGas Qatar & Reliance India.
Achievements:
- Successfully completed a global 3-year rotational graduate development program with placements and exposure in project planning, supply chain management, subcontracts, engineering, fabrication, marine & project management.
- Due to high performance, the final placement was in project management, which was highly sought after by all graduates but only a few were selected.
Graduate Project Engineer
Unilever Foods
- Led and managed various CAPEX projects with a value of ~$2M.
Industry experience
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Experienced in Energy and Food and Beverage.
Business area experience
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Experienced in Project Management, Procurement, Supply Chain Management, Operations, Quality Assurance, and Business Intelligence.
Summary
Results-driven, analytical Project Leader with over 17 years of broad experience managing multi-million-dollar offshore oil and gas projects across 3 regions and recently on Renewables, including 14 years on Aramco Projects.
Expertise extends to managing combined project budgets in excess of $300M, leading diverse and multidisciplinary teams to execute on design, engineering, fabrication and offshore installation of subsea assets such as connectors, umbilicals, manifolds, flexible risers, pipelines, jackets and composite cables.
Recognised for consistently exceeding set project goals and deadlines while executing robust risk management strategies.
Possesses a proven track record of effective communication and leadership qualities working with multi-cultural teams to translate project visions into reality.
Languages
Education
University of Cape Town
Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering, Grid Planning, Power Generation, Transmission & Distribution · Electrical Engineering · Cape Town, South Africa
Statistics
Experience
Global experience
Expertise
Qualifications
Profile
Frequently asked questions
Have questions? Find more information here.
Bonga is based in Ladysmith, Malaysia and can operate in on-site, hybrid, and remote work models.
Bonga speaks the following languages: English (Advanced), Xhosa (Advanced).
Bonga has at least 21 years of experience. During this time, Bonga has worked in at least 5 different roles and for 3 different companies. The average length of individual experience is 3 years and 5 months. Note that Bonga may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.
Based on recent experience, Bonga would be well-suited for roles such as: Director, Project Manager, Subsea Package Manager.
Bonga's most recent position is Director at Gowip Energy Sdn. Bhd..
In recent years, Bonga has worked for Gowip Energy Sdn. Bhd. and McDermott International Inc..
Bonga is most experienced in industries like Energy and Food and Beverage.
Bonga is most experienced in business areas like Project Management, Procurement, and Supply Chain Management. Bonga also has some experience in Operations, Quality Assurance, and Business Intelligence.
Bonga has recently worked in industries like Energy.
Bonga has recently worked in business areas like Project Management, Business Intelligence, and Supply Chain Management.
Bonga holds a Bachelor in Electrical Engineering from University of Cape Town.
The availability of Bonga needs to be confirmed.
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Average rates for similar positions
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The median daily rate is the middle value of all daily rates — half of comparable freelancers charge less, half charge more. Unlike the average, it is barely affected by outliers.
Calculated based on our freelancers’ daily rates as of 28 Aug 2026. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
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