Young, rural and ready to lead: Students launch businesses against the odds

In rural Bushbuckridge, education non-profit the Good Work Foundation (GWF) is tackling the area’s 63% poverty rate and 52% unemployment rate head-on by promoting entrepreneurship among its students. And their business ventures, ranging from traditional fashion to homemade skincare products, are taking off.

GWF’s Bridging Year Academy (BYA) recently launched its inaugural Pitch Your Business entrepreneurship competition across its six digital learning campuses. Four of the campuses are in villages adjoining the Kruger National Park, with the fifth in Hazyview and the sixth in the Karoo town of Philippolis. 

What is the Pitch Your Business initiative?

The Pitch Your Business initiative celebrates and empowers self-starters by offering them a platform to pitch their ventures to a panel of judges. 

Supported by Absa, the BYA’s biggest sponsor, the competition seeks to help BYA students apply the knowledge gained from their theoretical curriculum in a real-world setting. Beyond that, it offers young people the chance to rewrite the narrative of rural South Africa and demonstrate that innovation can thrive anywhere – even in the quietest corners of tucked-away villages. 

While many aspiring entrepreneurs have dreams that are never realised due to a lack of investors or capital, the initiative focuses on students who have already started businesses without external backing. It offers meaningful support to young, emerging entrepreneurs building their futures in some of the most rural parts of Mpumalanga and the Free State.

When submissions opened, the initiative drew a positive response, with 41 young entrepreneurs from GWF’s campuses - 34 of whom were women - advancing to the pitch phase. The winners walked away with valuable prizes, including media exposure (such as interviews on the local BlueHazy FM radio station), mentorship opportunities and ongoing support to help grow their businesses.

Giving support and mentorship to young self-starters

“The aim of this initiative is to support ideas that are already making a difference; to get behind young entrepreneurs who refuse to wait for outside funding before pursuing their dreams,” says BYA manager Ntsako Mandlazi.

“Through this entrepreneurship challenge, we are recognising students who have started businesses that solve problems in their communities. We want to give them the tools, confidence and exposure they need to take their ideas even further.” 

From fashion, skincare and agriculture to music and entertainment, these young visionaries have identified problems in their own communities and built solutions that are already gaining traction. 

Among the 12 winners chosen this year are Mduduzi Mdhlovo, Jubilee Mhlongo and Tiyani Sibiya, all from Mpumalanga. They are living proof that passion and determination can ignite powerful businesses in even the most remote corners of the country.

Mduduzi Mdhlovo of MMC Clothing

From face masks to fashion, Mduduzi Mdhlovo is building a brand that combines culture with contemporary style.

At just 24, Mduduzi Mdhlovo from the village of Dumphries in the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality has already turned his love for design into a thriving clothing brand, MMC Clothing. He started his business in 2020 during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when he sold homemade face masks. 

He then felt inspired by his grandmother, herself a fashion designer, to move into creating heritage-inspired garments, school bags and trousers.

Mdhlovo’s designs carry the pride of his culture while meeting the everyday needs of his customers. “It was very hard at first,” says Mdhlovo. “But with my grandmother’s support and mentorship, I gained the confidence I needed. Shortly after starting, I began posting my designs on social media, and customers started finding me.”

Today, MMC Clothing has become a go-to destination for traditional wear with a modern flair in Mdhlovo’s part of the world.

Jubilee Mhlongo of Jubilee Skin Products

A personal struggle with acne became the inspiration for Jubilee Mhlongo’s business. Jubilee Skin Products uses natural ingredients to create affordable skincare solutions.

Twenty-two-year-old Jubilee Unathi Mhlongo’s business was born out of personal struggle. As a teenager residing in the village of Lillydale, which adjoins the Sabi Sand Nature Reserve, she battled stubborn acne – and tried product after product, only to be met with disappointment and rising costs.

Instead of giving up, Mhlongo turned to research and discovered that she could make her own skincare products from natural ingredients she had at home.

In 2024, she came up with Jubilee Skin Products, beginning with soaps, scrubs and serums made from turmeric, honey and other natural ingredients. She started with door-to-door sales, winning over neighbours before expanding her reach through social media. “I wanted to create affordable products because I know many people can’t afford expensive skincare routines,” Mhlongo says.

Her products proved effective in helping her clear up her own acne, which gave her the confidence to share them with others.

Tiyani Sibiya, independent artist

Tiyani Sibiya, an artist with a calling. Through his stage persona, Psalmist DeeMthunziE, he uses music to heal and share his faith.

For Tiyani Sibiya (stage name Psalmist DeeMthunziE), music is more than a business; it is a calling. The 25-year-old gospel artist based in Nkwinyamahembe, Lillydale, turned to music after a spiritual epiphany that he says gave him clarity about his purpose. “I wanted to use this gift only to praise God. Music is meant to heal, and it is through music that I feel most comfortable to share and preach the good news,” says Sibiya.

Since 2021, Sibiya has recorded and released two albums and two EPs, with his music available on streaming platforms. He books his own gigs, promotes his work online and has even diversified into other ventures, such as selling his own blend of chilli sauces and printing T-shirts. But for the Pitch Your Business opportunity, it was his gospel music that took centre stage.

Fostering entrepreneurial ventures such as these forms part of GWF’s Ecosystem of Learning and Working, which helps young people to “bridge the gap” between high school and further studies or the workplace, enables them to study further in vocation-specific fields such as hospitality and conservation, and then supports them in finding meaningful employment (including self-employment) after they have qualified. 

And as the initiative grows, it promises to be a launchpad for even more budding entrepreneurs who are determined to transform their lives and uplift their communities.