Flagging cars in and out of parking bays at Kelly’s Beach seems an unlikely route to a full-time job as a conservation officer. But that’s exactly the story of former car guard, Zandile Mgqokoqwane.
Though that was more than 12 years ago, Mgqokoqwane still has to pinch himself as a reminder that he is actively working a job he had always hoped to land one day while at high school.
The quiet-spoken former car guard was present in the audience at the recent national Blue Flag Awards at Royal St Andrews Hotel where his success story was highlighted by Ndlambe Municipality’s community protection services deputy director, Fanie Fouche.
Kelly’s Beach received its Blue Flag award for the 20th straight year – and Mgqokoqane is one of several role-players who have contributed to the success. Other facilities that achieved Blue Flag status on Ndlambe Municipiality’s Sunshine Coast were Kenton-on-Sea’s Kariega Beach and Middle Beach and the Royal Alfred Marina.
Fouche, in an emotional presentation to delegates from municipalities across South Africa, said the Blue Flag initiative was all about people and opportunities.
“We were fortunate that between 2010 and 2018 we had two coastal care programmes that created thousands of job opportunities,” said Fouche.
“Zandi’s success is an example of what Blue Flag can do: he was a car guard all those years ago at Kelly’s … but most of the time he would go to the interpreter signboards and started reading up about sea life and marine life, and started telling people visiting the beach about it.
“One day I saw him at work and said to him, ‘no let’s make a plan’.”
Sheilan House, a nearby B&B establishment, sponsored him to do a field guide course. He worked in the roads department on maintenance, patching potholes, but that was not his passion. Eventually in 2012 he was appointed as an educational conservation officer in Ndlambe Municipality.
“He was shy in the beginning, but you should see the confidence now, especially in his classes,” said Fouche.
Mgqokoqane said he’d never forget the day he landed the job he’d always wanted.
“I love this job very much, especially when it comes to teaching kids about the ocean. I am also giving them information that they can share with parents and others, so they can spread the word. “They come from humble backgrounds and their parents are lacking this kind of information so it is very helpful for them too.”
The former car guard-turned educational conservation officer feels very proud for having impacted people’s lives in a positive way.
“This was a passion from my school days … I always imagined myself as a nature conservation officer – and now I’m here. I’m very interested in nature and that is what drives me.”
“I still pinch myself especially when I prepare to go to work; … that I am actually working in this career. This is exactly where I wanted to be,” said Mgqokoqane
We ask him about how he thinks climate change is affecting the stretch of ocean.
“You see the change every day. The water is rising a lot and it is causing problems with dunes and the vegetation; it’s encroaching on the road now. The sea used to be far from the sand dunes, and it’s coming right up to the dunes. The houses on the beachfront themselves are going to be impacted by shifting sand and seas,” he warned.
Mgqokoqwane conducts educational conservation talks at various schools throughout the year to make the youth aware of climate change and other events impacting the ocean and natural environment.
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, November 13, 2025. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
