Bambelela Business Awards Recipients 2023

Mpumalanga: Glitz and glamour was the order of the day at the inaugural Bambelela Business Awards held at the Tsogo Sun, The Ridge in Emalahleni, on 21 February 2023.

The event hosted by the Hollywood Foundation, through its Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) programme, was attended by various stakeholders in the business fraternity including National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) and Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA), government, public figures and young entrepreneurs.

The Awards recognised local heroes and heroines who are making a positive impact in various communities through their businesses. The Bambelela Business Awards, through its slogan “Bambelela (Hold On)- Your dreams are valid,” aim to shine a spotlight on some of the great achievements made by entrepreneurs in the province of Mpumalanga.

The event commenced with an SMME exhibition and seminar during the day where local businesses had a chance to showcase their work and also pitch their business ideas with hope to get funding. Entrepreneurs were upskilled by industry experts during a panel discussion and also had an opportunity to learn more about how to grow their businesses and have access to markets and funding. The exhibition and seminar culminated into an awards ceremony where a panel of judges chose 20 candidates to be awarded their share of R750 000 of funding from the Hollywood Foundation.

Some of the judging criteria included team strength, sector or product, experience, revenue generation and community impact.

Amongst the chosen 20 candidates, 17 received 30 000 each while the prize winner walked away with R 100 000, second winner received R70 000 and the third prize winner got a massive R50 000.  

Talking about the event, Babongile Mkhize, Group Transformation Manager at Hollywood Foundation said, “It has been such an honour bringing the first Bambelela Business Awards to Mpumalanga! What a heart-warming feeling it has been to witness many SMMEs in the region, and the products and services that they offer to the community. We applaud the winners, and we hope that our contribution as the Hollywood Foundation will allow them to reach all of their goals and dreams in the future, as they continue to be a driving force for our economy.”