Southport boys are lighting fires with their charcoal
Today they are proud owners of Fire King Charcoal, employing over 27 permanent staff at their Harding and Kokstad plants.
Just two years ago, Ayanda Mavundla (30), Thabani Mavundla (30), Ndumiso Mbili (30) and Zwelibongile Mavundla (27) of Southport were unemployed, despite having all obtained degrees at various universities.
Today they are proud owners of Fire King charcoal, employing over 27 permanent staff at their Harding and Kokstad plants.
The four young men started their business from scratch in 2017 after having identified a massive market demand for charcoal.
They did this without any formal funding from government departments, whose doors they had tirelessly knocked on for assistance, but to no avail.
The four told the Herald, they too, like any other young man in the country had dreams of pursuing different careers but were confronted by unemployment.
“We chose to be part of the solution and chose to be among those who try to curb the current scourge of unemployment facing our youth.
As we speak, our staff are now able to feed their families,” said one of the directors Ayanda.
The business is fully operational and currently contracted to supply all Boxer Stores in South Africa with quality charcoal.
“We will gradually expand our product line to the rest of South Africa pending the securing of better infrastructure, which will enable us to push product at higher capacities. We are calling on all to support young black entrepreneurs who have risen above difficult circumstances and who continue to make a difference in the lives of other ordinary young men and women,” he added.
Their journey to securing their first big deal was by no means easy.
“Many reputable companies turned us down, even government departments that fund youth-owned businesses shut doors in our faces, but we did not give up, we kept trying until we were able to secure one deal.”
The four are looking to expand their business.
“We won’t give up, we will continue to knock on other business doors and hopefully they will be able to assist us.
We are appealing to everyone to support our brand to help us keep the business going,” Mr Mavundla concluded.
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