Businesswoman Refilwe Sebothoma trains and employs vulnerable women

Refilwe Sebothoma believes in paying it forward. When she is not running the handful of companies she has created during her career, Sebothoma channels her resources into people who, like her, have had a tough start in life.

Born and raised in the mining village of Marikana, a backdrop that she said helped shaped her aspirations, Sebothoma learned the value of hard work and perseverance from a young age.

Raised by her mother and grandmother, both of whom she called impact leaders, she witnessed first hand the power of entrepreneurship to lift people out of poverty.

“I was raised by a leader who knew how to lift people out of poverty,” she said.

Her mother worked night and day to support her children. Sebothoma is one of a set of triplets.

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Overcoming challenges

Despite childhood challenges like her parents’ divorce and financial hardships, she said that she was ambitious from an early age and learnt from her mother.

Growing up without electricity, she often helped her mother in her small business making and selling fat cakes to miners.

“We would sometimes have to wake up at 3am to make the fire and prepare the cakes,” she shared.

“By 6am, when miners arrived for their shifts, my mom would be there selling to them.” This business put her and her siblings through school.

After high school, financial constraints led her to pursue a quick path into the workforce instead of her dream of studying chemical engineering.

She moved to Johannesburg and juggled studies and part-time work. “I remember my very first job; I was a flexi-teller at an upmarket supermarket,” she shared.

A turning point came after she returned to Marikana, following a series of financial challenges.

Rebuilding her life, she began working at the mines until the Marikana massacre of 2012 prompted her to leave again and start her own business.

Using her pension fund to launch a venture in personal protective equipment (PPE) she started noticing other opportunities.

“I started thinking about the value chain, and I wanted to own it,” she said.

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Sebothoma building an empire

This led her to direct her energy to producing the items she sold, and later, to seeing other gaps in the market. Now, at 37, Sebothoma has built a small empire.

Her company Prime OHS Management provides on-site health and safety management services, GSR Services delivers a rope access, replicas and structural engineering service, Phenyo Development Partners is an enterprise supplier focused on entrepreneurship.

Lewa Print House creates graphic design, mass printing and branding services. She also launched PTG Student Villas, which is safe student accommodation, and her passion project, the Helping Hand Foundation, a not-for-profit feeding scheme and community support organisation that feeds 300 families daily. She self-funded every business she owns.

Sebothoma wants to use Nelson Mandela International Day this year as a marker to make a difference in people’s lives. “Energy poverty is not just my story; it’s a South African story,” she said.

By researching and understanding the energy needs of impoverished areas, she identified liquid petroleum gas or LPG as a viable solution for clean cooking and safe heating.

As a source of energy, its potential to address multiple social dilemmas linked to energy poverty is immense.

One of her companies, Hakem Energies, has arranged the distribution of affordable LPG boxes to communities, transforming access to clean energy.

The initiative has gained significant traction and she has managed to get bigger industry role players like Ptregaz to help her fund the initiative.

Refilwe Sebothoma sees LPG gas as a possible solution to energy poverty. Pictures: Supplied

Family time

Despite a demanding schedule, Sebothoma makes time for personal pursuits such as gym workouts, shooting range sessions and golfing.

She values spending quality time with her children and long walks with her family. “Reading is no longer a hobby but a necessity for contemporary business leadership,” she said.

Sebothoma also wants to pay it forward more by hiring and training vulnerable women, providing them with opportunities for advancement within her companies.

“We look for people who need a break, not the most qualified or the most beautiful,” she said. This includes inspiring young women from rural areas, demonstrating that they too can achieve their dreams. I want to challenge the notion of the impossible,” she said.

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