Today, all three women — and thousands of others — are seeing their dreams come true thanks to support from Kagiso Trust.

"As we celebrate Women's Day on Saturday, 9 August, it's inspiring to see how our programmes have been able to ignite women's capacity, empowering them to drive sustainable change for themselves and their communities," says Kagiso Trust CEO, Dr Mankodi Moitse.

"Everything we do is based on the belief that investing in people is the greatest investment of all, and the women who have benefited from our local governance, education and socio-economic development programmes have proved that time and time again."

Beacon of Hope

Zumani, 42, says she remembers the Eastern Cape town of Makhanda when it was "at its peak, economically and socially". But things deteriorated and no one seemed interested in "bringing back the dignity that we as black people had in Makhanda." 

That changed in 2023 when Kagiso Trust ran Asset-Based Capacity-Building community-led development workshops as part of its pilot Collaborative Governance Model in the town. Zumani and others were inspired to launch a non-profit company, Imbumba Yeemboni ("a collective unity of visionaries") to tackle social challenges, says the organisation.

They identified four strategic pillars on which to build "sustainable solutions that foster empowerment" — tourism, environment and healthy living, sport and education. Today they host heritage tours guided by residents who share authentic Xhosa stories, adds the organisation.

The second pillar will be introduced later this year, aiming to improve nutrition and the physical landscape by establishing community gardens and rehabilitating dumpsites. Zumani says Imbumba Yeemboni has become a "beacon of hope".

Game-Changer

Ngwenya has a master's degree in agricultural science, but instead of following a conventional career, she decided to set up an organic farming business in the Mopani District of Limpopo, specialising in cocktail tomatoes, herbs and moringa, says the organisation.

Things were difficult without international certification or a way to transport her products to market. This changed in 2022 when she joined the SPAR Rural Hub farmer development programme, which is supported by Kagiso Trust's Tyala Impact Fund, adds the organisation.

The programme provides small-scale farmers with resources, training and access to markets, and Ngwenya says it was "a game-changer". Last year, she was named Female Farmer of the Year at the Kagiso Spar Agri-Awards that celebrated excellence amongst the emerging farmers in the SPAR's Mopani Rural Hub programme, and she used her prize money to invest in solar-powered irrigation. Through the Agri-Awards, Kagiso Trust committed R3-million in funding to support 10 outstanding farmers from Mopani Rural Hub Programme who had demonstrated significant improvement and profitability during the financial year, says the organisation.

Collaboration is Key

Phakathi, a qualified engineer, was working in Standard Bank's Enterprise Development Department in 2017, when a negative experience with a cabinet supplier persuaded her to start a side hustle, DeNic Cabinets, in partnership with a carpenter, adds the organisation.

In 2019, she resigned from her job to focus on the business full-time, but then Covid-19 struck. Fortunately, Phakathi spent the first half of 2020 as a member of the first cohort in Kagiso Trust's PROPreneurX, a property entrepreneur accelerator programme. It was established to support black property entrepreneurs to be market and finance ready, in order to grasp opportunities in the property sector and the overall entrepreneurial ecosystem, says the organisation.

When she graduated from PROPreneurX, Phakathi said she had learned the value of strategy, deepened her leadership skills and built business networks. "I wanted to see where I needed to place my business, who I needed to market and speak to," she says. "Collaboration is key. I wanted to build a network of trusted suppliers I could go into projects with. Who better to refer to a client than the same people you have sat down in a classroom with and know? For me that was gold."

Phakathi now delivers high-end custom furniture across South Africa and internationally, and she has represented South Africa on the global stage at Decorex Africa, an exhibition in Paris, and as a speaker at the Africa Investment Forum in Morocco.

Resilient and Sustainable

Dr Moitse says the Trust's work in education, though its Beyers Naudé Schools Development Programme and Eric Molobi Scholarship Programme has also had a powerful impact on women. "To mention just one example, Takalani Netshia from the village of Tsianda in Limpopo was among the first cohort of Eric Molobi scholars in 2007. She completed her National Diploma in Civil Engineering in 2010, and today she is a project manager at Eskom," she says.

"As the CEO of Kagiso Trust, I lead an organisation that's mostly female, and I'm supported by a female chairperson, Mankone Ntsaba. Together, we have made the Trust a resilient, sustainable organisation by building networks and partnerships rather than empires," she says.

"These are characteristics we also see in many women beneficiaries in our programmes, and it is wonderful to see them repaying our investment in the best way possible — by Igniting Human Capacity themselves," concludes Dr Moitse.

For more information, visit www.kagiso.co.za. You can also follow the Kagiso Trust on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, or on Instagram. 

*Image courtesy of contributor