Johannesburg – Limpopo entrepreneur Mamorafi Ntjana has set her sights on growing her business, Maphalakarabo Trading Enterprises, into a force to be reckoned with after receiving support from mining giant De Beers.
Ntjana founded her construction company in the small town of Bochum in 2011.
She said she initially struggled to break into the male-dominated industry in which opportunities were scarce and more established firms dominated.
But she has since managed to grow the business into a construction and transportation company that provides jobs for more than 24 people in the region.
Now she aims to grow this “significantly” as she pursues her vision of becoming an established operator in the mining and transport industries.
Ntjana’s break came when De Beers awarded her company a R500 000 contract to pave several new offices.
Her company’s relationship with Anglo-American subsidiary has since grown, with the company securing additional contracts, including a R2-million contract to pave roads as part of De Beers’ Allday’s project this year.
The company has since been able to build up a good record doing construction projects and is now expanding its operations into the transport sector, having recently bought two trucks that trans port diesel from Durban to Venetia mine.
“Getting involved in the De Beers’ supplier development programme has been a game-changer for our business,” said Ntjana.
“They not only helped us secure ongoing projects, but have helped us develop our technical and business management skills so that we are able to compete more effectively in the marketplace,” she said.
De Beers, which has one mining operation in South Africa, spent R359-million procuring goods and R3.4-billion procuring services from local suppliers in the 2020 financial year.
“This partnership between De Beers and Maphalakarabo is a great example of how entrepreneur development can drive sustainable local procurement activity, and more importantly, create a lasting impact through skills development and job creation, said De Beers’ socio-economic development manager Livhuwani Nwachukwu.
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