Young Limpopo woman fights illness and beats the odds

When the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) dropped the university student following a long illness that had her hospitalised for eight months, her future looked bleak.

But Kedibone from Limpopo who is now 25, refused to allow all those obstacles ruin her young life. She stood up and fought again.

The Limpopo woman who beat the odds

Kedibone from Flora Park in Limpopo, now owns a big company based in the small town of Tzaneen called Shazzy Venturing (Pty) Ltd.

“My company provides cleaning services and employs people full-time and part-time. Our services are general cleaning of offices, buildings, window cleaning, canopy cleaning and we also do deep cleaning of couches, mattresses, carpets and chairs,” explained Kedibone.

She said the business was established and registered in 2018, after a long wait and struggle, but only started its operations in February 2020 due to a lack of start up capital.

“I started this company by myself, from my pocket, raised some funds, and up until now, I remain the sole director of Shazzy Venturing (Pty) Ltd,” she said.

When asked why she chose to start this company, the entrepreneurial go-getter says she chose this business because everyone loves a clean environment.

“Truth be told, poverty and an empty stomach were the main reasons I started this company. Other reasons are that I have always wanted to be a businesswoman. I love entrepreneurship,” she said.

“Most people always try to keep their homes as clean as possible but don’t like engaging in some of these heavy chores like washing windows. Lack of proper equipment in their homes to perform such tasks is also another problem. With all that, I saw an opportunity to solve a problem while making a living. My clients are individuals, households and commercial companies like hotels, restaurants, car dealer shops, office buildings, hospitals, municipalities and schools,” she said.

Kedibone was born in the Mamanyua outside Tzaneen.

“I learned to hustle for myself in a very honest way. To me, hard work pays and nothing comes free,” she said.

After completing her matric at Afrikaanse Hoèrskool in Germiston, Gauteng, she came back home to Limpopo and went to the University of Limpopo to study a B-Com in Accounting. Unfortunately, due to her illness, she had to drop out to focus on her healing.

“After eight months of hospitalisation, I couldn’t return to finish my studies due to the financial situation. Nsfas got cancelled while I was in hospital,” she said.

Kedibone said three years later she enrolled with UNISA to study a B-Com in Internal Auditing.

Kedibone’s advice to young people is: “It’s not over as long you are still breathing. Stand up and get going even when its rough.”

Also read: Limpopo woman leaves job to make cakes