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Hlengiwe Zulu of Bothas Hill is one of the joint KwaZulu-Natal provincial winners in the Seda Small Business Stars entrepreneur competition.
A Zulu tourist village concept in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, combined with a spa, and a new concept in anti-litter bins for urban environments were announced as the two joint KwaZulu-Natal provincial winners in the Seda Small Business Stars entrepreneur competition.
More than 5 500 people with business ideas, start-ups or already running small businesses entered the national competition, which is organised by the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda).
The winners were selected from a group of 20 finalists in KwaZulu-Natal who now go through to the national finals, where nearly R4 million in prizes is at stake.
The joint winners are Hlengiwe Zulu of Botha’s Hill and Adesh Naidoo of Durban.
Zulu said her Zulu cultural village and spa concept would offer an authentic Zulu experience to local and foreign tourists, combined with a guesthouse. Local women would be trained to operate and run the envisioned tourist attraction.
Naidoo’s “Clean Street” business innovation was a “green” lamp-post-mounted bin that was theft-resistant. It provides an easy litter-disposal option for pedestrians and could offer the city a new advertising revenue stream.
“We congratulate the winners … These innovative products are just the tip of the iceberg. The competition has generated a wealth of new business ideas and small businesses with exciting growth potential,” said Seda spokeswoman, Nkululeko Kunene.
“Seda will be supporting these winners and other finalists to the tune of R3.5m worth of business support, in addition to the other prizes, such as laptops, software and publicity exposure.
“More than 31 192 people visited the competition website and more than 20 000 entry forms were downloaded. Several thousand people attended workshops and business plan training sessions.
“The provincial winners each receive R15 000 in cash and R130 000 worth of Seda business support, while the runners-up each receive a laptop and Microsoft Office software, as well as between R4 500 and R10 000 in cash,” she said.
The KZN runners-up were:
First runner-up – Johnathan Berning and Elizabeth Halstead of Ardmore Ceramic Art. They produce a range of upmarket ceramic artworks, drawing on a network of more than 40 artists, for local and international collectors.
Second runner-up – Lloyd Lopes of RetroNet. As the broadband market rapidly expands, RetroNet aims to offer low-cost connectivity combined with added-value services such as free or low-cost telephone VOIP calls.
