Iwisa No.1 competition gives back to local social enterprises
Iwisa No. 1 Communities Champion Competition aims to unlock township social entrepreneurship by providing a platform to help enterprises build sustainable businesses.
On March 30, The Iwisa No.1 Community Champions Competition hosted an award ceremony for social entrepreneurs at Gold Reef City.
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The competition aims to unlock township social entrepreneurship by providing workshops, mentorship, and networking opportunities to build a sustainable business that drive positive impact.
The Premier FMCG, Social Enterprise Connect, Social Academy Africa and Industrial Development Corporation have come together to host the Iwisa No.1 Community Champions Competition so as to identify, upskill and reward the nations impact makers.
“We collaborated with the IDC in order to give social entrepreneurs an opportunity to come together as a means to respond to challenges and be able to address different topics, but most importantly to improve the social enterprise scope in South Africa,” said Jacqueline Mhlanga, Programme Manager at the Social Enterprise Academy
The top eight finalists pitched their business plans to a panel of judges as well as the audience and the top three were selected following a round of presentations and questions from the judges.
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Mzokhona Maxase and his partner Tshepo Hadebe took first place and won R30 000 for their business, Cubic 38 which produces shoe polish using waste tyres.
“It feels great to know that we can now get a financial boost. As social enterprises we always rely on such contributions but also, we are glad to see that what we are doing does impact our community positively. We want to grow our distribution network and also increase our production capacity because we have got a lot of demand from our customers, so we are working towards satisfying our customer needs,” said Maxase.
The second prize was won by Gontse Selaocoe, from All Day Jam PTY LTD, a business that produces jam using a delicious receipt from Selaocoe’s grandmother.
The third prize was won by Simon Tsotsetsi, from Bajha Etsoseng Agricultural Farming and Projects, a business that produces fresh vegetables.
“I am really happy that I got the second position on the competition because I will be getting mentorship in terms of my business going forward.
“The most important thing I’m looking forward to is creating job opportunities for the youth, making sure that my brand is visible and giving back to my community because it is very important,” Selaocoe said.
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