Tanja started in the industry in 1998 when she joined the Gauteng Gambling Board just at the time when all the licensed temporary casinos were opening in Gauteng. During this time, she was part of the compliance team for the opening of the temporary casinos and bingo halls, as well as the permanent casinos from 1999.  She also assisted other jurisdictions where needed with the opening of their casinos.

In 2001 she was promoted to the position of Section Head: Gaming Control (later manager: Gaming Control), where she managed more than 20 staff members, including onsite inspectors based at the various casinos in Gauteng. She was responsible for the evaluation of all Letters of Certification (LoCs) for gambling equipment in the Gauteng Province. The first Electronic Bingo Terminals (EBTs) were introduced in Gauteng in 2005/6 , and the first Limited Payout Machine (LPM) sites rolled out in 2009 with her team was responsible for all the verification and required testing.

She formed part of the Editorial Committee for the SANS 1718 standards for gambling equipment from 2003 until 2018. She also provided training assistance to regulators in other jurisdictions in the country as well as in Africa, including Botswana, Tanzania and Seychelles. After 20 years Tanja resigned from the Gauteng Gambling Board at the end of 2018.  In 2019, she started working as a technical expert for SANAS (South African National Accreditation System) for the accreditation assessments of the testing labs in the country.  After completing training through SANAS she became a gambling technical knowledge assessor.

She joined the team at Legends in October 2024. Tanja is a dynamic woman and an industry Legend.