Cape Town - I am Barbara Pahlana. After working as a domestic worker for a few years, I got a job at the Table Mountain Cableway as a cleaner in 1997.
Within a few months I was promoted to platform attendant where I worked for five years.
I was then given a new opportunity, to be a front line customer assistant, and I have been doing that for more than 10 years now. I love people.
I see so many people every day. I welcome visitors and help to manage the queues, and assist with information on all aspects of travelling on the cableway or about hiking trails up the mountain. One of the best things about my job is seeing the celebrities first. I have met Celine Dion, Billy Ocean and R Kelly, and more. I also love seeing moments between people, like when the oldies hold hands.
Up here it is amazing how we can have four seasons in one day: the morning can be cloudy but then it clears and we open, and then the wind picks up and we have to close, and then later it can be raining.
People love to come and claim their free ride on their birthdays.
My family thinks I have the best job in the world. My daughter, Anothando, is eight years old and she can’t get enough of travelling up and down the cable car.
In my free time I enjoy chilling with friends and a glass of red wine. I live in Langa, and I enjoy getting out to places like Camps Bay beach and the Waterfront. I have been on the City Sightseeing tour bus a few times, I liked that. I do get to travel to the Eastern Cape to see my family sometimes, so I know how to be a tourist, too.
If I could travel anywhere in the world, it would be to New York – for the fashion.
This is going to be an interesting and busy season, because there are many new things happening at the cableway. One is the introduction of a wi-fi lounge at the top, so the selfie that a tourist takes with me before they ride the cable car can be on Facebook before they even come back down the mountain.
Visitors are always asking to take a photo with me. One day we counted and it was 124 times in one day.
I know that when I go to work in the morning, I must look my best, because of all of these photos.
Visitors can get irate, especially when they are in the queues, but I keep calm and stay friendly; maybe if they see me smiling it will make them happy, too. With the sheer volume of people, I don’t take one cross visitor personally.
I look forward to meeting so many new people and seeing how I can help. Although I did not study tourism, I would recommend that anyone wanting to work in tourism study it; there are many opportunities in Cape Town.
What would I never leave home without? My lip balm.
l This holiday season, the Cape Argus, in partnership with Cape Town Tourism, is introducing some fascinating characters in tourism every week, in their own words.
Cape Argus