Top business award for Nongoma couple
AN entrepreneurial husband and wife team from Nongoma have walked away with top honours at this year’s Ithala Business Achiever Awards.
Mlungisi Percival Nzuza and his wife Cynthia Sebenzile, owners of Nongoma Inn, were named Tourism and Hospitality Business Achievers of the Year.
With a keen eye for opportunity, the Nzuzas spotted a niche in Nongoma’s hospitality market when they realised how many business people travel to the town, but book in to Ulundi hotels owing to no options being available in Nongoma.
‘Government representatives would come to Nongoma but would not have a place to stay,’ said Mlungisi.
‘We saw this gap as something we could tap into.’
But it was Cynthia who motivated her husband to look for a suitable site on which to build 10 rondawels for accommodation.
That was the start of Nongoma Inn, which was an immediate success.
‘We had no training in hospitality at the time, so we used the knowledge we had acquired from staying at other hotels and it worked.’
After the success of Nongoma Inn, Mlungisi set his sights further afield and attended a hotel auction in Mbazwana.
For the dilapidated 17-bedroom hotel, he was prepared to offer R650 000.
‘I had never been to an auction but was looking for a new challenge.’
The final price was R700 000 but Mlungisi took a leap of faith and wrote a cheque, approached Ithala Development Finance Corporation for a loan and the rest is history.
With both Nongoma Inn and Mbazwana Inn on their portfolio, the Nzuzas arranged formal hospitality training for themselves and their 47 members of staff, employed from local communities.
‘Creating job opportunities has always been a goal, but it did not come without its own set of challenges.
‘Because Nongoma is a traditional area, we had to educate most of our staff on etiquette and many other terms in the hospitality industry.’
‘The Business Achievers
Awards initiative complements government’s efforts to address the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment, and achieve the goals set out in the National Development Plan through the implementation of radical socio-economic transformation,’ said Ithala acting Group Chief Executive, Thembe Mathe.