Creative.Entrepreneur.Performer

Based: Cape Town

Siyabonga Mbaba is a creative, entrepreneur, event organizer, performing artist and community activist. Siyabonga is the founder and Managing Director for Ride 2 Empower (Pty) Ltd, an entrepreneurship development company that focuses on micro-enterprise development and bringing funding opportunities for social entrepreneurs from marginalized communities.

The company exists to support the township economy and promotion of vibrant culture of entrepreneurship and enterprise growth through bicycles, where micro-enterprise act as drivers of job creation and inclusive economic benefit, to develop and accelerate entrepreneurship in the townships.

He founded a retail store in Khayelitsha which didn’t go well however in business you “Do.Fail.Learn and repeat the same thing “until you make it right. Siyabonga is also a co-founder of Amagugu Nenkcubeko Art Market, Ghetto Soul Sessions, Investment tours, Angel Investors Stokvel where they fundraise R50 000 every month  for the Groundbreakers Pitching Den.

In 2015 he was project manager for the Cape Town International Dance Festival for Ikapa Dance Theatre, as well as the Cape Town Graffiti Festival for Ikhaya Le Langa and in 2016 he was a finalist at the CapeTalk Small Business Awards.

Siyabonga recently joined the Heavy Chef (Pty) Ltd team as the Ecosystem Manager and Project Director for all South African townships events, which is a community platform for entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs.

Heavy Chef is the most popular monthly leadership and tech event company in South Africa, and offers immersive learning experiences for startup entrepreneurs across the country to a diverse range of people.

What people don’t know about Siyabonga is that before he ventured to business, he was strongly involved in civil society organizations where he served as a board member at Bathandwa Orphange and volunteered at Love life as a groundbreaker/facilitator as well as Nal’ibali where he was a literature activist.

 

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