Bridging a nation

Civil engineer Dawie Botha honoured for lifetime of youth development, infrastructure insight and SET impact

- Jamaine Krige

David Benjamin “Dawie” Botha has spent his life building South Africa not just in steel and concrete, but through leadership, mentorship and visionary thinking that has shaped the country’s engineering landscape for more than five decades. Now, he's being honoured with the Ukhozi Award at the 2025 NSTFSouth32 Awards for his extraordinary lifetime contributions to SA and to the National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF).

The Ukhozi Award, symbolised by the eagle for its sharp vision and far-reaching impact, recognises individuals whose leadership and influence have left a lasting imprint on SA’s science, engineering and technology (SET) ecosystem. For Botha, a civil engineer raised in the small town of De Aar in the Northern Cape, the honour represents a full-circle moment.

“The day I received a bursary to study civil engineering, my life changed forever,” he recalls, adding how his widowed mother wept tears of joy at the news. “It gave me the foundation to dream — and then to build.”