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Gumede returns to roots for 50th

Festivities are almost upon self-made billionaire, Mr Robert Gumede, his family, friends, and his hometown community.

“If you dream it, you can achieve it”. This is what Mbombela’s favourite son, Robert Gumede, believes and for this self-made businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist, the dream has certainly become a reality.

At the age of seven he became a golf caddy, and went on to work as a gardener, bus conductor, petrol attendant, ou klere salesman, former professional football club owner and state prosecutor.

Gumede, founder of the Guma Group which employs thousands of people via his global companies Guma, Gijima, Tourvest and others, also believes in spreading goodwill on a grand scale. He has invited business clients and partners, friends, foreign dignitaries and captains of industry from across the globe, to join him and his family from August 8 to 11, to celebrate several important milestones with the people of his hometown Nelspruit.

Paying tribute to his roots is very important to Robert – this is why all these people gather in Mbombela every year, the place where he was born and raised.

Although this social event, hosted by the Guma Group and Robert Gumede Family Keni Foundation, has become an annual highlight, this year’s occasion is especially momentous – not only does it mark Gumede’s 50th birthday, but it’s also been exactly 15 years since the inception of Guma, and the 12th anniversary of the Annual Guma Family Weekend, which is the most sought-after premier event in Nelspruit.

This year, thanks to Robert and his family’s generosity and legendary hospitality, the celebrations promise to be unlike anything seen since his wedding and will result in a substantial economic boost for the town.

In the true Gumede style of humility, ubuntu, love of family values and celebration of Women’s Month, the festivities are also an opportunity for Robert to honour his beloved late mother, Keni, and his late grandmother, Memede Gumede, the two women who raised him and who had the greatest influence on shaping the man he is today.

To set the tone, the events will kick off with “Keni’s welcome party – a diva’s jazz night”, featuring South African jazz divas, Judith Sephuma and Brenda Mntambo.

In planning the events for day two, August 9 – Women’s Day and Guymede’s actual birthdate – no detail was overlooked and there will be fun and excitement for everyone. From the 12th Guma Golf Day and an elegant ladies luncheon and tea party, a survivors camp for teens, an Alice in Wonderland playground for the little ones – every guest is guaranteed an unforgettable experience.

The night will culminate in a Hollhywood-style birthday party and a Guma 15th anniversary celebration banquet, with a musical feast featuring multiple American Music Award winner and R&B singer Keith Sweat, as well as the Three Afro Tenolrs and DJ Siyanda. A specially commissioned stage play depicting Robert’s five decades of life, his hardships, successes and dreams, titled The journey: the unfinished story, will be staged. A two-man show starring local and internationally renowned movie actors has been commissioned under the watchful eye of a Nelspruit-born movie director and producer.

Day three, August 10th, is the Mbombela Youth Family Day which is dedicated to the memory of Robert’s mother Keni and grandmother Memede Gumede, as well as other single mothers and grandmothers who raise and educate their children using their meagre domestic-worker salaries and social pension grants.

For the family weekend, Guma’s VIP’s and their families are invited to join the Gumedes at the KaNyamazane Stadium in hosting more than 7 000 primary pupils from vulnerable communities in the area. They will be bused from the various townships and villages to KaNyamazane Stadium. Most of them are looked after by their single mothers and grandmothers.

Robert has chosen to go back to his roots and take his 3 000 global VIP’s to celebrate with children in the township from which he and his family, just like hundreds of thousand others, were forcibly removed to Kanyamazane. In the Nelspruit Location, Africans, Indians and cColoureds lived together, but Africans were moved 30km away to KaNyamazane Township by the apartheid government on December 13, 1972.

During the day from 10:00 to 16:00 the KaNyamazane Stadium will be transformed into a land of magic with music, games, fun rides and even a circus exclusively for more than 7 000 pupils. Robert Gumede’s magic continues from 18:00 when township parents and other young people will also be invited to enjoy the fun rides and circus. That night the stadium will be lit up by a spectacular fireworks display, never seen before in the township.

Gumede indicated that when he was growing up blacks were allowed to travel by bus on only one day a year to the Lowveld Showground to enjoy the fun rides and circus, while whites had the rest of the week. Gumede, like many others, could not afford the bus trip, admission fee, rides or games fees at the Lowveld Show.

The evening will culminate in the mega Robert Gumede and Guma Thanksgiving six-to-six music festival, featuring a dazzling line-up with USA R&B sensation Keith Sweat being supported by top South African award-winning artists Khuli Chana, AKA, Zahara, Mafikizolo, Dr Malinga , Zakes Bantwini and others.

For the first time in the history of theatre, the broadway Umoja musical will perform in an outdoor stadium to more than 40 000 concert goers. Everyone must bring their dancing shoes and have the stamina to boogie all night long until 06:00 the next day. There will be massive fireworks to celebrate the events. All this is free mahala for the people of Mpumalanga.

Besides the activities on the day, the Robert Gumede Family Keni Foundation (managed by his wife Dr Tee Gumede) is involved in a number of ongoing initiatives in the Mbombela community such as health care, education – including over 100 tertiary education bursaries – equipping schools with computer hitech and education centres, as well as improvements to local schools and the SAPS stations. The focus of this year’s event, will be donating clothes and food parcels to deserving families. The Robert Gumede Family Keni Foundation will also give away two houses as winners’ prizes, one at the KaNyamazane school kids extravaganza and the other at the music festival. Two lucky families will each receive a house to be built by the foundation.

“It is my sincere wish to celebrate my half-century milestone in the true spirit of ubuntu and for us all to work together in making a difference, especially to the children. It is also about making sure that our children know that if you dream it, you can achieve it. For me as the son of a single mom, it’s all about giving and giving and never giving up,” Robert Gumede concluded.

BLOCK MUST GO IN!!

Pet owners are advised about the fireworks display that will take place on Saturday at KaNyamazane Stadium from19:30 to 20:00 and at Nelspruit Rugby Stadium from 23:30 and 00:30. Owners are requested to make provision for their pets in order to prevent any unfortunate incidents.

MAYBE IF SPACE

ABOUT GUMA

The Guma Group of companies, founded by self-made entrepreneurial businessman, Robert Matana Gumede, is a black-owned, hands-on operations and investment power house intensely focused on adding value and initiating growth by means of operational and managerial participation. With broad-based shareholding and a development community trust, Keni Development Trust, Guma is able to offer unsurpassed strategies for commercial success while upholding the agenda of transformation in South Africa and beyond. Guma Group has its headquarters in Johannesburg, and operates throughout the African continent, as well as Canada, Australia, Europe, Middle East and Asia through its various subsidiaries, and employs more than 12 000 staff members.

Guma’s outstanding management skills are paramount to the hands-on methodology which it has been adopted in all its business ventures. In instances where Guma’s ownership is less than 50%, strategic resources are provided to assist management and brings on board top black executives. The objective is to invest in a management team that shares the ethos of entrepreneurial excellence.

Guma, whilst diversified, seeks to maintain synergy among the group of independent operating concerns. Seasoned managers, good corporate governance and superior business-growth strategies guarantee profitability and year-on-year advancement.

The Guma Group of companies employs more than 12 000 highly skilled staff members on five continents. It is a highly diversified, hands-on, value-adding and entrepreneurial group focused in four sectors of our world economy – ICT, mining, tourism and energy.

Through its vast entrepreneurial acumen, impeccable empowerment credentials, highly skilled management, respect for and adherence to sound corporate governance and fervent attention to detail, Guma is perfectly positioned within the African continent to grow its business on its own or with partners, identify new partnerships and possibilities, which not only maximise return on investment, but most importantly, contribute to the creation of sustainable jobs, thereby eliminating poverty.

Its proven track record in various African countries makes Guma the indisputable partner of choice for global companies seeking African opportunities and involvement. Guma is the gateway to Africa, as it represents the glorious, unexploited prospects that exist within this vibrant, incandescent continent.

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