KZN Youth And Aspiring Entrepreneurs Excel In The Play Your Part Ignite Pitching Session
KZN Youth And Aspiring Entrepreneurs Excel In The Play Your Part Ignite Pitching Session. While economic challenges in the country remain, the strong entrepreneurial spirit of South African youth remains more prevalent and propelling entrepreneurs in the right direction with their business ideas can be the lifeline needed to end the cycle of poverty. Brand South Africa, through their Play Your Part Ignite roadshow, has been traveling through the provinces to give South African entrepreneurs an opportunity to ignite their entrepreneurial spirit.
Play Your Part Ambassador and Founder of Pat on Brands and Lerato Agency, Pat Mahlangu believes that there are misconceptions about the quality of service youth-owned businesses can provide. The Play Your Part Ignite masterclass and pitching session has been created to shatter these misconceptions by providing youth with the skills needed to fine-tune their business ideas through the skill of how to successfully perform an elevator pitch. The pitching session, a Shark Tank-esque format, provides Ignite attendees the opportunity to present an elevator pitch to the judging panel. A share of R25 000 is also up for grabs for the Top 3 Pitches.
Stakeholders such as Youth in Business South Africa, Elangeni College, Ethekwini Municipality, and Dube Trade Port, and eThekwini College mobilized aspiring entrepreneurs and students to attend the highly anticipated masterclass and pitching session. The day was programme directed by newly appointed Play Your Part Ambassador and actor, Lunga Shabalala and hosted Play Your Part Ambassadors, Justin Yarrow, Founder of Codemakers, Khethiwe Zulu, Creator of the SA Heritage game and President of Wear Your Brand, Selby Gumede as the Ignite judging panel.
Myaenziwe Khumbuza took first place and won R12 000 with her nifty needlework. Mayenziwe runs a small business called Banenhlanhla Cribs, which specializes in home décor and personalised accessories such as aprons and tote bags. Mayenziwe will be using her winnings to purchase a brand-new sewing machine and to purchase better quality materials. In second place was Adasa Mitonga who walked away with R8000 for her handcrafted and laser cut handbag and jewelry designs. In third place was Banele Sithomo, with his eco-friendly business which focuses on recycling and re-using waste material such as paper and plastics by turning them into pens and pencils.
