LOCAL BUSINESS WOMAN TO PARTICIPATE IN SERITI’S WOMEN IN MINING PROGRAMME
“You don’t have to be the loudest to be heard”
Minah Zulu, owner of Gladtidings in Kriel is one of twenty participants in the recently launched Seriti Women in Mining programme.
This programme was launched in Middelburg in May 2022 and will run over the next eighteen months with participants receiving support through development workshops, backed up by one-on-one mentoring. It was designed and will be managed by Collective Value Creation (CVC).
Gladtidings have been in operation for thirteen years and provide office, ablution, carpet and upholstery cleaning to clients in the mining industry. Minah’s love for cooking ensures that the business also provides catering services and currently employs twenty-five people.
Minah, who grew up in KZN but moved to Kriel in 1995, is no stranger to the industry. She started her career at the age of nineteen as a waitress in a mining security barracks; a job she was not entirely prepared for. However, she persisted, and nine years later she left the mine’s engineering department as a planner to start her own business.
This bold move happened during the 2009 recession and demonstrates her resilience which she advocates as a key ingredient for any aspiring business person. She strongly believes in working your way up and learning from the corporate world as much as possible, as the skills she picked up there proved invaluable in her own business. Despite many challenges, such as a lack of funding and getting a foot in the door, her business prospered and in 2017 Gladtidings supported ninety employees.
Gladtidings, as the name promises, aims to spread the good news and Minah’s passion and personal goals, are to give back to the community and uplift others to achieve success. During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the business took a huge knock and had to be restructured.
With this new opportunity, she believes the Seriti Women in Mining ESD programme will assist in expanding her network, grow her confidence and increase her assertiveness to negotiate new contracts. All this with her personal philosophy in mind of “you don’t have to be the loudest to be heard.”
Commenting on the launch session of the programme, Minah says it was life-changing and enlightening to dig deep into who you are as an individual as women sometimes lose confidence in their own abilities when it comes to running a business.
Also read: WOMEN IN MINING – EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMME LAUNCHED IN MPUMALANGA
Furthermore, she hopes to learn from the other participants. “The pandemic isolated us as entrepreneurs and I feel encouraged that I am not alone in the struggle. I really hope to evolve as a businesswoman.”
Minah loves travelling and hopes to visit her favourite destination, Cape Town, again someday soon. Another interest is architecture and interior design with a personal preference for contemporary mixed with country style.
Minah Zulu has one more dream for now, and that is to restore buildings, especially old dilapidated commercial ones and transform them into residential pieces.
Gladtidings, bringing the good news indeed.
Nyaniso Rapiya, Preferential Procurement & ESD Lead said: “Seriti continues to introduce initiatives aimed at developing communities surrounding our operations and the Women in Mining ESD programme is one such initiative. We believe in empowering women both in our business and in our communities, and by supporting Women-owned businesses we are reducing the socioeconomic challenges that our communities and country at large continue to face and struggle to address.”
This programme will be run by Collective Value Creation (CVC) over the next eighteen months and emphasises Seriti’s focus on women empowerment.
