Pongola cooperative gets all wired up
TPT hands over barbed wire manufacturing machine to youth entrepreneurs
TRANSNET Port Terminals (TPT) on Friday handed over a barbed wire manufacturing machine to youth-owned cooperative Sibambisane in Pongola.
The donation forms part of the TPT’s SMME development programme, run in conjunction with the Department of Economic Development Tourism & Environmental Affairs (EDTEA) and the Coastal TVET College in Hammarsdale.
TPT said the programme, launched in 2013, has provided a boost of more than R2-million to women and youth-owned rural cooperatives in KZN through the supply of barbed wire security machines and tissue manufacturing equipment.
Altogether 10 cooperatives were trained in the manufacturing sector, taught business management skills and equipped to manage their businesses once the machines had been delivered.
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‘In the first phase of the programme, the cooperatives underwent the supplied training and graduated at Coastal TVET College in Hammarsdale in November last year,’ said TPT Procurement Executive Manager, Thandi Sabelo.
‘The second phase of the programme is the handover of the nine machines purchased by TPT and EDTEA.
‘We place great importance on giving back to our communities and particularly when there are opportunities for job creation and stimulating further growth of the economy.
‘We are aware of the dire need to create employment, predominantly among women and youth in our province, and that is why it is imperative that we provide meaningful support to these entities and ensure that they become operationally and financially independent.’
Sibambisane is a cooperative started in 2010 by five members, of whom three are youth and one is disabled.
They grew up in Pongola’s Lubisi area and knew each other socially before they decided to become business partners by forming their cooperative.
Once the co-op was registered, the members purchased wire from local hardware stores and worked together fencing people’s homes.
With the machine donated by TPT and EDTEA, the cooperative will be able to manufacture more efficiently to fence properties for potential customers in the area.
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