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ON THE UP – YOUNG LIONS ASCENDING THE MARKETING LADDER PHOTOS: SUPPLIED

A young global leader who
is surfing the digital wave

Zibusiso Mkhwanazi (33) – recently named by the World Economic Forum as
a Young Global Leader – has turned his teen interest in computers into a thriving digital
agency that reflects South Africa’s diversity. He talks to Monique Verduyn.

T HE TOWNSHIP AND
entrepreneurship are two things
close to Zibusiso Mkhwanazi’s
heart. Born in Soweto and with his teen
years spent in an East Rand township,
he is the child of a largely entre-
preneurial family. Indeed, he believes
entrepreneurship is in his genes.

“I started selling sweets in primary
school to help my mom with transport
money. I also sold ice cream in the
Jo’burg CBD during school holidays.
These experiences turned me into an
independent child and created the
foundation for me to go into my own
business later,” he recalls.

At the age of 17, he co-founded a Web
design company with capital of just
R2 000. He developed a keen interest in
computers as a teenager after watching
his uncle and role model, businessman
Mafika Mkhwanazi, working on his PC.
This also led to him studying IT at the
University of Johannesburg.

“I went to the local library to research
how computers work and how they
talk to one another,” he says. “Within
two months I was stripping them and
putting them back together again. My
first computer-related business was in
repairs, but I didn’t make much money
because my clients were my local high
school and the library.”

He continues: “I had big ambitions of
making R1-million by the age of 21 and
realised I would have to come up with
something else. After more research,
I decided to diversify my services and

24 strategicmarketing October 2016 – January 2017