FEARLESS BUSINESS WOMAN CHOSEN TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SERITI WOMEN IN MINING ESD PROGRAMME
“Life is short. Do what you love and love one another.”
Middelburg businesswoman, Olivia Knoesen, is the owner of Abhay Projects and was chosen to participate in the Seriti Women in Mining ESD programme, in partnership with Collective Value Creation (CVC). Abhay, an Indian name meaning ‘fearless’, fits well into this self-confessed tomboy’s love for life, Formula One Grand Prix racing and horse-riding.
Abhay Projects manufactures, fabricates, supplies and installs anything to do with steelwork from a carport to a steel structure. They also do maintenance and breakdowns as part of their service to their clients. Supporting her is a team of fifteen employees, her two children and her husband who acts as her educator and guide through the minefield of engineering jargon and products.
Born in Barberton and raised in Middelburg, from the age of seven, Oliva started volunteer work while still at school. As a young woman, she became an au-pair in the United States of America. Here she found herself in the midst of the 9/11 tragedy while living in New York. Some of her au pair colleagues perished on that day and as she puts it in no uncertain terms: “This experience taught me that life is short. Do what you want and love each other.”
Oliva’s overwhelming passion and goal for her company are to be able to grow and benefit others by providing job opportunities to the people most needy. Her qualification and background in human resources, especially labour law combined with a creative flair and quest for self-satisfaction, drove her to start the business six years ago after leaving her job at the South African Police Services.
As with many other businesses, Abhay Projects was and still is, badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Olivia managed to supplement her employees’ UIF pay-outs, ensuring they still received their salaries to provide for their families during the difficult times.
Speaking on her expectations for the Women in Mining programme, designed and managed by Collective Value Creation on behalf of Seriti, Olivia hopes to grow into a stronger person, develop her career, and eventually fulfil her plan for creating more jobs. She believes the programme will be a backup for problem-solving, enabling her to handle the challenges on the ground and serves as motivation to achieve even more as a woman and entrepreneur.
The launch of the Seriti Women in Mining programme took place in Middelburg in May 2022 and will run over the next eighteen months, and participants will be supported through development workshops, backed up by one on one mentoring. As Managing Director of Collective Value Creation, Wybrand Ganzevoort said: “With most programmes of this nature, immediate attention is provided to the business support needs, however, Women in Mining specifically addresses the holistic relationship between the female entrepreneur and all the various stakeholders.”
Olivia believes the women participating in the programme can be a chain of motivators. Once you share your experiences, challenges and solutions with each other, you too become a valuable link in that chain.
Also read: Women in Mining – Minah Zulu participates in Seriti”S programme.
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 base our Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) policies and actions to support the country’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) strategy in order to redress historical socio-economic imbalances.
Through this Women-focused programme, we believe we are able to grow and sustain Women entrepreneurs, enabling them to enter the economy and augment the creation of employment through their successful businesses.
This programme will be run by Collective Value Creation (CVC) over the next eighteen months and emphasises Seriti’s focus on women empowerment.
