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At first sight Noma Nibe looks no different from any other ordinary office worker in her modest administration block at Steloy Castings.
Like all others, she seemed oblivious to the irritating whine of steel being cut and the clanking coming from the workshop situated meters away in the workshop in Ekandustria outside Bronkhorstspruit, Mpumalanga.
It was only until Nibe was seated next to company CEO Danie Slabbert in the boardroom some distance away from the workshop noise that it became apparent that she was no ordinary worker but a businesswoman of note. The shrewd business persona emerged from behind a beaming face and a contagious smile.
At the age of 26, Nibe, who hails from Port Elizabeth, owns a sizeable chunk of the company.
The multi-million rand foundry company manufactures and supplies a full range of stainless steel, super alloyed and carbon steel components to markets as diverse as pump and valve manufacturers, as well as the petrochemical, chemical, glass, cement, rolling stock, and power generation industries.
Until three years ago, she was a human resources manager after she was recruited by Slabbert who had been impressed by her work while she still was still with a consultancy company doing work for Steloy.
“Danie was coaching me in the foundry industry and one of the things I focused on was to transform the then 100% white-owned company and ensure it meets its BEE requirements and skills development,” she says.
“It was around this time that I noticed an opportunity when Transnet and other rail contracts started coming through.
“I immediately approached Danie offering to buy shares in Steloy but he laughed it off, probably thinking how can a 23-year-old buy shares which were worth millions of rands. After looking around, the (Industrial Development Corporation) came on board with funding.”
Nibe formed a consortium with another company and together they bought a 26% stake in Steloy. She owns 70% of the 26% stake.
“This transaction was also good for Steloy enabling it to smoothly diversify into the railway sector. It was a positive injection for the company in terms of business prospects,” she said.
Slabbert said there were lots of opportunities in the rail industry and there was a need for his company to “expand and modernise its facilities”.
“It is good that unlike the banks, the IDC doesn’t look at the security like assets but their finance schemes are more based on opportunities that exist and that is a good business principle. They came on board and an opportunity was created for young investors,” he said.
Nibe said that as a shareholder she soon became more involved in the business.
“I didn’t just buy shares to be a fronting person. I am involved in operations and I also go out a lot in search of new business for the company,” she said.
She has done it for herself but her dream is to see more young people getting involved in the “little known foundry industry”.
“Not a lot of people know about the foundry industry but Steloy and I are going to change this. We’re going to universities, engaging student engineers and students in related disciplines to take interest in foundry and we are intending to give them further training and exposure,” Nibe said.
“This company will have more young faces than ever before in the next year.”
One of those who was spotted while a student metallurgist at the University of Johannesburg was Anicia Dipale who is now a product development engineer at Steloy.
“The exposure at Steloy has helped me grow as a person as I put whatever I learnt at university into practice. Students need practical exposure and I believe foundry can offer a lot of that,” she said.
For Nibe, now Steloy’s human resources executive director, it does not end here.
“Who knows? Three years from now I might open my own plant,” she said with a giggle.
Telemedicine Africa is the brainchild of Dr Moretlo Molefi. The company uses technology to bring healthcare to inaccessible areas in Africa.
A single mum of two teenage boys, Molefi (47) has pioneered a way to provide cost-effective medical diagnosis and treatment.
“Telemedicine Africa started in 2008 and it is basically trying to bring healthcare to rural populations that otherwise wouldn’t have access to it. So if there’s a patient in Venda who needs a specialist, but there aren’t any located there, they can see the specialist through our technology,” she says.
“After approaching the Industrial Development Corporation to build a virtual healthcare centre to add to Telemedicine, I received funding for R2 million,” Molefi says.
Molefi studied telemedicine at the University of Arkansas in the US after graduating from Medunsa in 1995. Before studying medicine, Molefi graduated with a BSc in biology and chemistry from the University of Lesotho.
“After my BSc, I worked at a pharmaceutical company as a lab technician. I was so bored. My brother, who’s a doctor, didn’t want me to pursue medicine, but I applied and got into medicine. My medical degree has helped to broaden my scope and helped me to be innovative in my thinking,” she says.
“I’ve been lucky in life. All my qualifications were sponsored and I received scholarships. But we do need more women in innovation today. For example, I have been nominated for the PwC 2015 Vision to Reality Awards and Telemedicine Africa is one of the finalists. What struck me is that from the top 20 finalists, my company was the only black, female-owned business that made it,” she says.
Molefi shares a close bond with her sons.
“My boys are 13 and 16, and it’s been tough to have them in boarding school. But I have a strong family-support system. Being a businesswoman, I am often told that I am too ambitious to have a male partner. I don’t know why this is the case, because it is who I am. Perseverance, respect and empathy have helped me navigate through life’s challenges,” she says.
“The major challenge I had to begin my business was the funding. I didn’t get funding because I didn’t know anyone. I have 10 full-time employees and I know that my business also supports their families, so it’s a constant challenge.”
Molefi believes that men support each other in business more than women do.
“Men meet at the golf course and do their deals there. Women, unfortunately, rush home after work to look after the kids, but we need to find more time to network among ourselves,” she says.
Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo (49) has spent 25 years making a name for herself in the hospitality industry.
She co-owns the Soweto Hotel and Conference Centre in Kliptown, Soweto, an up-market four-star establishment on historic Freedom Square, where the Freedom Charter was adopted in 1955.
“In 2005 I sensed an opportunity from an advertisement that was posted in the Sowetan newspaper. It was a proposal to develop and build the Soweto Hotel. At the time, it did not have a name; the ad was simply about developing a hotel. I found some partners and we put together an operational plan,” she says.
“That’s when I visited the IDC. I presented the plan to them and managed to get approval for the funding of the hotel.”
The IDC funded Sangweni-Siddo and her partners to the tune of R24.5 million.
“I am aware that challenges exist for female entrepreneurs, but I have never allowed myself to be drawn into negative conversations about women not being given an opportunity,” she says. “I step in, I claim my space and I move. If I believe this is the salary I must be paid, that is what I negotiate and when I get it, I’m happy.
“I am not a feminist, but I am passionate about women’s rights. I have proven with Soweto Hotel that you can have a business run entirely by women. The only male at the hotel is the chef,” she laughs.
“In the early days of my career, and even currently, I have sat around tables where I’m the only black woman. In this environment, the onus is on me to be a voice for women and to keep challenging the notion of male dominance. My motto is to keep them uncomfortable until there is transformation.”
Sangweni-Siddo believes female entrepreneurs do not support each other enough. “We tend to want to do things on our own, and are embarrassed to tell other women about our weaknesses and the challenges, in case we get judged.
“On the other hand, I have bumped into phenomenal women who are great role models. They allow others to stand on their shoulders. We need to keep opening doors for other women,” she advises. – Avantika Seeth
The second of eight children, Matsotso Vuso (43) grew up in Limpopo. A bursary from the SA Institute of Race Relations enabled her to study at the University of Cape Town, where she completed her BCom degree and qualified as a chartered accountant.
Vuso was an accounts manager at the IDC for five years before she left to build a business advisory company focusing on financial plans and auditing. Her group of businesses has expanded to include her latest venture, Nyamezela Group, which makes prepaid electricity meters. Vuso runs the business with her husband, Chris.
“Our relationship with the IDC is a new one, and they’ve given us the facility of R40 million. When I first went to the IDC for a project I received in Zimbabwe, the funding was declined. I still believed I could make it though.”
Vuso, who has two teenage sons and a seven-year-old daughter, says women ought to try to strike a healthy work-life balance.
“You can’t be in both spaces. I still do the morning rituals of driving the kids to school and that’s where I connect with my children. My weekends are spent with them. I don’t do work over the weekend.
“I have support from my au pairs, who help with looking after the kids, and a lady who has been with me since they were born. So, when I am not with them, and away on business, I am not restless that my kids are not looked after. The support has helped me to focus and navigate between being a mother and a businesswoman.”
Financing, she says, is one of the major problems facing black businesswomen.
“We cannot underestimate the issue. With me, I think it was my skill [as a chartered accountant] that helped me with the funding side of the business. You cannot take for granted how important it is to understand what a big role funding plays. The fact that you are a woman won’t get you anywhere if your pricing is high, so I have had to make sure that we remain competitive.”
Vuso believes more can be done for women to support each other in business.
