Achiever gives back to her wisdom and more

She has vast experience in enterprise development. Her passion for entrepreneurship led her to be one of the mentors of Fetola, the Cherie Blair Foundation, the National Mentorship Movement and the National Youth Development Agency.

The 42-year-old Zondi grew up in the dusty streets of Mpuluzi Township in Mayflower. She holds an MBA, BTech marketing, project management and advanced management diploma, as well as diplomas in ministry and marketing, as well as a certificate as a life coach.

Zondi is among the Top 100 Difference Makers in South Africa and is also a member of Coaches and Mentors of South Africa.

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She is the founder of the nonprofit SEZ Foundation that advocates against teen pregnancy and donates sanitary towels to needy girls. The organisation was founded in 2015 and has since touched many lives. Zondi worked for Land Bank in 2001 as a marketing intern.

She was appointed permanently shortly thereafter and was able to grow within the company. She studied the agriculture environment and worked at Absa Development Centre and later joined MEGA. “Since then, I have had the privilege of serving entrepreneurs from all industries,” she said.

Zondi has a yearly personal growth plan which guides her achievements and directs her path in life. “ I count my yearly accomplishments.

To mention a few, obtaining my MBA was my greatest academic achievement so far, the different responsibilities and projects from my current employer, MEGA, has contributed in building my professional career and the establishment of my foundation,” she said.

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Speaking about challenges faced by her foundation, Zondi said, “As a philanthropist the biggest challenge within the organisation is the lack of funds to fulfil our mandate.There are so many needy people, especially during the outbreak of Covid-19.

There is a need for food, sanitary towels and other basic necessities which has increased and it is extremely difficult to reach out to everyone, ” she said. She highlighted that as a business mentor and coach she always hurts when she sees a business fail.

“As a mentor, you build a relationship with your mentee and every challenge they face you are always the first one to know about and you are expected to offer guidance and support in that situation,” she said.

Zondi said women must never allow any circumstances to hinder their dreams and giving up must is never an option. “Never compromise on your beliefs and integrity, be true to yourself and always provide excellent services at all times. At the end of the day you must walk away with your integrity still intact,” she said.

Speaking on how lockdown had affected her, she said, “Seeing people’s dreams and sources of income vanish has been hard to fathom. When you are working within the entrepreneurial field there’s no lockdown, it has been business as usual except that I work from home sharing information about relief funds, giving support, and being a coach and mentor. The biggest challenge is that I cannot visit the business premises anymore,” Zondi is also passionate about fashion and design. After work she plays her role of being a full-time housewife.

She revealed that she celebrates her birthday twice a year, on April 25 and August 25, because her mother said she was born on April 25 while home affairs put August 25 on her ID.