Tholakele Nkosi and Sandile Ndlangamandla feature in the National Furniture Design Competition

Ms Tholakele Nkosi and Mr Sandile Ndlangamandla were finalists in the National Furniture Design Competition presented by the Department of Trade and Industry.

The duo were the only finalists from the Mpumalanga province and winners were announced at the Proudly South African Buy Local Summit in Sandton, Johannesburg on Tuesday, 12 March.

The competition was aimed at identifying and nurturing furniture design talent, raise the profile of furniture manufacturing in South Africa and to grow the industry’s competitiveness by encouraging new product design and differentiation.

The theme of the competition was making the best use of the minimum available space in a house. All the finalists were eligible to win in two categories, namely students and established manufacturers, and they will also get an opportunity to exhibit their designs at the summit.

Ms Nkosi stumbled upon the furniture competition while she was in the process of seeking information about getting a stamp of approval (SABS approval) for the products that her company, Nape Mbhele Tradings and Projects, manufacturers.

Born and bread in Wesselton, a former student at Gert Sibande TVET College, she enlisted the help of Mr Sandile Ndlangamandla, a Civil Engineering and Building

Construction student at the same college, to draw and construct her designs.

“I am a creative mind and I conceptualise ideas in my head and Sandile makes them come alive on paper and constructs them,” Ms Nkosi said.

Their unique, multipurpose bed and stylishly attractive television stand captured the imagination of the judges, resulting in them being nominated as finalists.

Ms Nkosi said the national exposure that her company received from being in the competition and from participating in the exhibition was a huge boost to the profile of the company, and probably the company’s bank balance.

The duo has already begun getting orders for tailor-made furniture and with the exposure from the competition, their company continues to grow from strength-to-strength.

“With the necessary funding, we could grow our company, employ more people and start producing furniture in bulk so that we could get owners of hotels, guest houses, and furniture shops to place orders.”

However, the pair have long term goals of owning their furniture factory in Ermelo and create employment opportunities for the youth.

For now, they continue to use the facilities of GS College, who they are grateful to, to produce beautiful works of furniture.

“With the right connections, we will be able to buy the necessary machinery and expand our business,” Ms Nkosi concluded.