Johannesburg, South Africa – In line with Sasol’s commitment to nurturing entrepreneurship in South Africa and supporting the socioeconomic development of fence-line communities, Sasol Energy Marketing and Sales is partnering with Township Entrepreneurs Alliance (TEA) as a fuel sponsor to enable TEA to conduct its mission of developing entrepreneurs in townships, rural areas and informal settlements.
Founded by Bulelani Balabala, TEA, a township-based organisation with a national footprint, creates platforms for learning, information sharing, brand engagement and networking for entrepreneurs from disadvantaged communities. With eight years in operation, TEA has directly impacted over 80,000 entrepreneurs through its workshops and mentoring. TEA connects government, corporate South Africa, and entrepreneurs together.
The fuel that Sasol provides will help Balabala and his team to travel across South Africa for their workshops for the rest of the calendar year 2024, starting with the next workshop to be held in Thohoyandou, Limpopo on 20 July 2024.
The TEA business workshops and exhibitions are hosted in all nine provinces, with one taking place every three weeks in a township in South Africa.
The business workshops aim to equip township start-ups and small business owners with soft and practical skills. Business owners walk away inspired, having gained access to practical learning, and connected with local entrepreneurs. The workshop in Thohoyandou will focus on Compliance Management.
Further workshops this year will be held in Ibhayi in the Eastern Cape, Sebokeng in Gauteng, Mokopane in Limpopo, Soweto and Tembisa in Gauteng.
Says Zanele Hadebe, Vice President, Strategic Marketing for Energy Marketing and Sales, Sasol: “As a proudly South African company, we are delighted to join leading organisations such as Brand South Africa and the NYDA in developing township and rural entrepreneurs. These organizations share our passion in developing the SMME sector. At Sasol, we understand that successful entrepreneurs in our fence-line communities hold the key to spurring economic development and job creation that benefits the whole country.
“Recognising that many entrepreneurs spend a lot of time on the road and that fuel is a major cost to them, the Sasol Rewards programme is a terrific way to stretch their rand further. They can earn rewards for fueling up and these rewards can be spent on fuel, in a Sasol Delight store or with a range of our Sasol Reward partners that include various iconic South African brands.”
Says Balabala: “Building entrepreneurship skills is essential to help address the youth unemployment crisis as it encourages the young people to start their own businesses. It is also vital to help existing entrepreneurs scale and grow their businesses in challenging times. We welcome out partnership with Sasol as corporate partners play a key role in helping us to bring our vision of enabling small business owners to thrive and grow to life.”
Green Scavenger
South Africa is ranked 34th out of 183 countries for ease of doing business according to Doing Business 2011, a joint publication of the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation.