When tenacity fuels a meteoric rise

Growing up in the small seaside village of Mtwalume in KwaZulu-Natal, Khumbu Shelembe knew there was something bigger in her future, but she never imagined she would own a service station in Durban – let alone the one she had worked in as a cashier a few years before.

Shelembe said she had always wanted to do business and chose marketing management when she had the opportunity to study. But after getting a national diploma at Mangosuthu University in 2004, she struggled to get a job.

“My father was the only one working in the house. My mom was not working and my siblings were not working.

“I started doing piece jobs here and there and then I also found a job as a coffee maker at a restaurant. I was really struggling, hoping that one day I could get a good job.”

Hope returned to Shelembe in July 2007 when one of her job applications landed her a job as a cashier at a Caltex service station in Durban. After three weeks of punching the till, the owner of the station, Kenneth Smith, moved her to the administration department.

“He saw something in me and said he wanted me to grow,” said Shelembe.

Years later, he financed her first Caltex training course without a second thought. She was amazed that anyone could believe in her the way he did. “I passed with flying colours and he increased my salary.

“He also said the only way I could really grow [in this industry] is if I become an owner.”

Shortly after that, in 2016, she was sent to Stellenbosch for training costing over R20,000 to acquire the skills to become the owner of a service station.

“The owner and his wife gave me 30% of the business for free to say thank you for all the years I had worked for them.

“When I came back from the training, they said they were considering selling the whole business to me because I was the only one they could trust to handle it well. So they started guiding me through how I could buy the remaining 70% of the station.”

She got a loan to buy a part of the business and now she runs a service station that sells almost 10,000 litres of fuel daily, with 13 people in her employ.

“It feels like a dream,” she said. “I am so proud of myself and I still can’t believe I am the owner of a business. Sometimes, when I walk through the station I have to remind myself to keep calm and put my pride aside. I want to learn more and help people the same way my manager helped me.”

– jenniffero@citizen.co.za

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