Exxaro backs women entrepreneurs across Mpumalanga
In 2020 the company spent almost R200 million in support of socio-economic initiatives, including investing in black women-owned businesses
Mary Phadi used to be a food hawker serving workers at Exxaro’s Belfast’s digital and connected mine while dreaming one day of being a business owner.
“I started selling everything for some schools around the area. I used to sell Russian sausages and chips as an unregistered entrepreneur. In 2006, I decided to register my company and that’s when I realised that I could carve out a niche in the male-dominated logistics industry. So, I bought a truck where I started working with side tippers.”
Today Phadi’s company – Basadi Logistics owns a fleet of side tippers, flat decks and tankers, where she transports coal, lime, manganese and maize. Basadi Logistics also service the whole of the Mpumalanga region and have clients as far as Zimbabwe.
The company is just one of many local businesses that benefit from Exxaro’s enterprise and supplier development (ESD) programme. Exxaro’s integrated approach to infrastructure development, education, healthcare and ESD aims to advance and strengthen communities. In 2020 the company spent almost R200 million in support of socio-economic initiatives, including investing in black women-owned businesses.
Another of these entrepreneurs is civil engineer Mantombi Mahlangu from Delmas. Unemployed and unable to find a job in 2019, Mahlangu started her own business, Zonhle Trading and Projects, and today, it is a construction and civil engineering contractor to Exxaro’s Leeuwpan mine, amongst other clients.
As a woman entrepreneur in a male-dominated industry, it has been a tough journey.
“Not only are you not taken seriously as a woman but being young and black are also contributing factors to being overlooked. You don’t only get criticism from the clients, but you also get it from the people that you hire because they assume you are inexperienced and don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Mahlangu.
Mahlangu says Exxaro’s Leeuwpan mine’s commitment to ESD has been invaluable.
“It has given us a huge boost in our company, especially financially. We went from grade two with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) and now we are eligible for grade five, so that has been amazing. Not many companies can get to grade five. We have been able to pay salaries despite the negative economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The mere fact that we were able to get here is incredible.”
“The support of Exxaro did not stop there, they also helped us when we started a project. We worked together as a team. They helped us with our safety compliance and contract management. They’ve been extremely helpful.”
Executive Head of Sustainability and Chairman of the ESD Committee at Exxaro, Mr Mongezi Veti said companies like Basadi Logistics and Zonhle Trading and Projects are an indication of the vast economic potential that exists in local communities.
“It has been great to witness how Mary and Mantombi have grown as entrepreneurs. Not only are they proof that we at Exxaro are on the right path in empowering women, but they are also inspiring the communities to understand what can be achieved through grit and determination.”
Today both Mahlangu and Phadi are excited about their future and what they could accomplish personally and for their communities. “This opportunity has made it possible for us to employ more people,” said Phadi.
“We currently have 53 employees and we run more than 20 vehicles. They’ve helped us to assist the community in Belfast and beyond as we’ve been able to hire people from Belfast and the greater Nkangala region. I am proud to say that we make sure that we continue with empowerment by setting aside a percentage of our profit to empower the communities in the Belfast area,” adds Phadi.
Veti says, through the company’s commitment to the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals, Exxaro is playing its part to fight poverty, unemployment and inequality – addressing the UN goal of “ending poverty in all its forms everywhere”.
“Our commitment to a comprehensive ESD programme among marginalised groups, including women, seeks to foster job creation in those local communities in which we have a footprint,” added Vanisha Balgobind, Executive Head for Human Resources and lead in Exxaro’s Diversity and Inclusion strategy. “Our ESD programme, facilitated in communities such as those around our mine, supports the establishment of entrepreneurs and small businesses through grants and loans, investment and training to tap the full human potential of our community members.”
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