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From trash to
cash, at just 22
SIZWE SAMA YENDE
sizwe.yende@citypress.co.za
Three Mpumalanga entrepreneurs are breaking new
ground in the waste and recycling business in rural areas.
“Recycling is visible in urban areas, but not in
townships and villages,” says Lebo Malope, Bhangula
Waste and Recycling’s managing director and co-founder.
“You see, there’s virtually no waste collection in these
areas … our research tells us that Mbombela municipality
provides this service only in 46% of the area under its
jurisdiction.”
He, Nyiko Baloyi and Patrick Maseko, all 22 years old,
started their company in 2014 and have created 18
permanent jobs at their plant in KaBokweni township,
45 kilometres from Mbombela.
They have 650 vendors in the township and in places
such as Sabie, Manyeleti, Bushbuckridge, Mashishing,
Graskop and Barberton.
The vendors supply their plant with recyclable
material, such as cardboard boxes, paper, plastic and
bottles, for payment per weight. Bhangula Waste and
Recycling then takes the waste to big companies for
recycling.
Malope says they want to “revolutionise” the waste and
recycling business.
“It’s a white-dominated business, as we all know, and
we are infiltrating the market.”
He says they are also planning to expand throughout
Mpumalanga and then to Limpopo and Eastern Cape.
They also want to replicate the KaBokweni plant
elsewhere in the province.
The company applied for R4.5 million in funding from
the Industrial Development Corporation to fuel its
expansion plans.
The loan was granted in February last year and they
have subsequently bought state of the art machinery, two
trucks and a bakkie.
They are also renovating their KaBokweni plant.
The businessmen have allocated themselves jobs in
their company according to their previous job experience
and strengths.
Malope had enrolled for a marketing diploma, but
dropped out to take a job as a service consultant at a
bank.
Maseko is the operations director, while Baloyi, a
qualified mechanical engineer, is the technical director.
Malope says his banking experience has come in handy
because it exposed him to business.
SUCCESS STORY Entrepreneur Solathiso
Sotshongaye PHOTO: ELMOND JIYANE / GCIS
Youth jobs, one
brick at a time
S’THEMBILE CELE
sthembile.cele@citypress.co.za
Solathiso Sotshongaye (28) graduated with a degree in
public management in 2011 from the Cape Peninsula
University of Technology in the Western Cape.
A year later, he still could not find a job, and took a
look around his neighbourhood in Flagstaff in the
Eastern Cape and found something it lacked.
Combining the management side of his qualification
with his passion for business, he took advantage of a
gap in the market and started his own brick-making
business.
“I had saved up R30 000 of my own money and I
started out small. Before I knew it, people started
paying attention and it started to grow,” he said.
“There is a lot of construction in our area, but people
have to travel 250km to Port Shepstone in KwaZulu-
Natal for concrete blocks. So there is basically no
competition in the area. Recently, I started supplying a
big hardware store, which has given me a boost.”
Sotshongaye started his business alone, but the
support he received once it started to grow has
contributed greatly to its expansion.
“Looking for funding as a first-time business person
can be really strenuous. In the end, the IDC agreed to
give me R1.8 million over five years. It was a difficult
process, though, and there was a lot of jargon that I
didn’t understand. But they guided me through it and
taught me a lot about my own business and how to
maintain it.”
Three years later, Sotshongaye has acquired new
machinery to make a more efficient brick-making plant,
and he has hired six young people from the area to
work for him.
“When I came back from studying in Cape Town, I
saw my community in a different light. I realised there
were a lot of young people just loitering with no
purpose, so I realised that I could also contribute in
some small way towards changing the attitude of young
people in my community.
“The people who work with me are between the ages
of 21 and 30, so I have been quite intentional about
helping empower other young people.”
CITY PRESS, 14 FEBRUARY, 2016
A
PROJECT IN
PARTNERSHIP
WITH THE
IDC
BRIGHT SPARKS NEEDED From mining and agriculture to textiles and manufacturing, the IDC has R4.5 billion to spend on bright business ideas pitched by young
entrepreneurs PHOTOS: LEON SADIKI AND LULAMA ZENZILE
Want a job?
Create your own
The IDC has committed itself to investing billions of rands into
quality youth businesses across all sectors in the country
S’THEMBILE CELE Vuuren, has been employed by the IDC to specifically work on
developing youth enterprises.
I But for those young people who have taken the leap of 63% young people.
sthembile.cele@citypress.co.za
The IDC also offers various internships and learnerships to
t’s one of the country’s biggest crises: about 63% of the
20 million South Africans aged between 15 and 25 are
Bartlett stressed that, unlike banks looking to make a profit,
unemployed.
as a developmental finance institution, the IDC was committed
Even those who have managed to study towards a
to growing businesses to stimulate the economy. The benefits of
degree have landed in the unemployment queue.
start-ups need not have as much collateral or the type of
faith and dared to start their own businesses, the rewards are this include a low interest rate on the loans, and the fact that
collateral banks require.
great. They are able to do more than just provide for their own The youth unemployment rate He also touched on a pattern of young people whose hearts
families and supply goods and services to their neighbourhoods were not necessarily into entrepreneurship but who were
– they have also been able to provide much-needed jobs for coerced into it by their circumstances. Fortunately for them and
others like them. others looking to run their own businesses, South Africa finds
Together with the National Youth Development Agency itself in an environment with many gaps in the market that are
(NYDA) and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa), the waiting to be filled.
Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) has made a R2.7 bn Van Vuuren had some tips for those who are thinking of
R2.7 billion commitment over five years to invest in quality doing their own thing.
youth businesses across all sectors, including manufacturing, “The drought we are battling at the moment has brought
agriculture, metals and mining, and industrial infrastructure. The amount of money the NYDA, Sefa and the about the question of food security. There is a chance for
IDC officials say that while many young people have good
serious innovation there in terms of tunnel farming and similar
business ideas, they fall short in their execution because of a IDC have committed to funding the businesses projects,” he said.
lack of financial backing and business skills. of young entrepreneurs renewable energy, and that will remain an area that demands
“The energy crisis has started a conversation around
“A challenge that young people who want to start businesses
have is that they have never been employed anywhere. They
The first hurdle for young entrepreneurs is often a lack of 600 000
there are some challenges by way of barriers to entry.
don’t have any exposure to working life and the skills that can innovation as well. Of course, in terms of renewable energy,
be acquired in those environments,” said Stuart Bartlett, the Entrepreneurs may have to team up with bigger firms, but that
IDC’s head of development impact support. can be valuable for both parties.”
Van Vuuren said an important thing for budding
“It is imperative for us as a development finance institution to
contribute to addressing the youth unemployment crisis.” entrepreneurs to always remember was the principle of supply
and demand. If you can find a gap in the market, your idea is
capital. Those turned down by banks often believe they are out likely to be successful.
of options, when in fact there are other avenues that could The number of unemployed graduates in SA, Ntlangeni highlighted one of his favourite success stories
provide them with cheaper loans and assist them with their according to Deputy Higher Education and Training funded by the IDC, which shows how spotting a gap in the
business development. Minister Mduduzi Manana market can lead to great things. “A young man from the Flagstaff
Daniel van Vuuren, senior youth enterprise specialist at the area in the Eastern Cape started a brick-making company.
IDC, stressed the importance of support structures, especially in Because the area is so rural, previously the bricks would have to
the early days of a business. be purchased from as far away as Durban,” he said.
“In our bid to curb youth unemployment, we have made a Solathiso Sotshongaye (28), a previously unemployed
series of commitments that we will be focusing on over the next graduate, now supplies bricks to hardware stores in the area
two and a half years. These include the formation of an after he was given R1.8 million in funding from the IDC.
partnership made up of the NYDA and Sefa, which will see a “His business has just past the three-year mark, which is big
R2.7 billion commitment to supporting youth-empowered because many young start-ups fail to make it that long,” said
entrepreneurship, as well as other support services including Ntlangeni.
mentoring,” he said. The IDC has also committed itself to Van Vuuren added: “The important thing that people need to
providing R4.5 billion to youth empowered businesses over five “Often the plans need to be worked on. In those instances, know – because previously there was a perception that this was
years, including R1 billion Gro-e Youth Scheme. we refer entrepreneurs to the NYDA or to the relevant business not the case – is that the IDC is open for business, particularly
But to benefit from the programme, young entrepreneurs unit, where the plan is reworked. From there, the business unit from youth enterprises. The IDC is also committed to working
between the ages of 18 and 35 will first be put through their will look at the viability of the business,” said NYDA senior with young entrepreneurs to develop their ideas.”
paces, which will start when they submit their business plans. youth enterprise specialist Mzwabantu Ntlangeni who, with Van . This series is reported by City Press and sponsored by the IDC
OPINION
Wanted: more young entrepreneurs
It is a national priority, as articulated in the National commercial banks. For young people from disadvantaged productive sectors of the economy, and there are many parts
Development Plan, to find ways to create jobs and build the backgrounds, most of these options just don’t exist. But that of the productive sectors that only require some ingenuity to
economy in a sustainable way. Particular focus is placed on doesn’t mean that their business ideas are not worthwhile. get started in. What is required is an entrepreneurial mind
the youth, who bear the brunt of unemployment. Young people need to tap into available financial packages and the willingness to work hard.
The challenge facing young people, especially those from so that they too become active participants in the national South Africa needs people to manufacture products more
disadvantaged backgrounds, is that they have limited access to economy and create jobs. than ever. And for the country to get back on the path to
start-up funds. There are opportunities out there for new ideas. growth, young people need to step up to the plate and start
Typically, new businesses get their start-up capital from Government, through its development financial institutions looking beyond an office job for their futures. – Mandla
personal savings, family and friends and, in some situations, such as the IDC, has put incentives in place to bolster the Mpangase, IDC spokesperson