Durban — The owners of Izipho Zokuphila tracking company said they are planning to open more branches in the provinces and other countries.
The company, which was established in 2017, creates traceable fashion accessories of watches that provide protection with a panic button, track and location feature, 24-hour emergency response team and counselling for kidnapped women and children.
Founders and business partners Simphiwe Ntuli and Siyabonga Mngadi spoke to the Daily News after being announced as SAB Sharp Awards winners. They walked away with R500 000 for their innovative effort.
Mngadi, founder of Uku’hamba Prosthetics and Orthotics, snapped up the Disability Empowerment Award and Liz Moynihan, founder of Kotonki, won the Social Innovation Award. Both winners will receive R1.3 million in funding for business development and a lifetime of business mentorship.
The pair said the tracking company was established with the aim to help fight gender-based violence and human trafficking. Ntuli, 30, of uMlazi, said seeing the continuous rise in the number of women being killed in the country drove them to seek a solution.
He said he had always had a passion to help people feel safe in their own spaces.
Looking back to 2018, Ntuli said they were grateful that throughout all the challenges, they managed to revive the business and continue ensuring the public’s safety.
“We had to close down the business due to lack of knowledge. We were able to revive the business in 2022. We were warmly welcomed and did interviews and profiles with different media houses, and this proved to us that we are doing something good for our communities, province and the country,” he said.
Mngadi, 29, said they were facing high demand challenges for their products across the country.
“Our business is growing fast, which is good but also the biggest problem. The demand is high, but the supply is low (as) we are still trying to get all the required resources and documentation. We know our business would have gone far if we did not close it down. We believe that everything has its own time. It is for this reason we are working hard to make our products accessible everywhere,” he said.
Mngadi said they were both considering furthering their studies to improve their leadership skills.
“We still want to know more about the business we are into, especially the security part of it. This is important because we have a lot of plans ahead of us. After taking our business further, we are planning other developments in the business so we can start employing people and fight unemployment,” he said.
The pair entered the SAB foundation competition in March. Mngadi said it took them years of experience to get where they are.
“You can take away all the money that we won, but you can never take away the experience we’ve gained.”
Daily News