Former teacher turned contractor climbing the ladder of success

IT is common for people to work in the construction industry to save some money for furthering their studies until they become professionals such as teachers, lawyers, to mention but a few.

But Mrs Duduzile Zungu (48) from KwaMashu did the opposite.

Mrs Zungu, well-known as Magxabashe, left the teaching profession six years ago. She then joined the construction industry. This was because she realized that she had to be independent from a government salary and rely on herself.

Now she boasts of having won several contracts from the provincial Transport Department.

She says when she established her company known as Magxabashe Cleaning & Construction in 1999 she thought her work would only come from eThekwini Municipality after she had got a tender from that local government.

"When I was informed about the Department of Transport’s programme, Vukuzakhe, I then decided to specialize on road construction. My first tender for a R207 000-worth project was a re-graveling of a road at Mafuze in Pietermaritzburg," she said.

Now she is busy with two projects at KwaNxamalala and Nhlazuka. The projects have offered her R306 000 and R311 000 respectively. She is happy working with the Department of Transport.

She commented: "Here is a Department where you see their vision and policies put into practice. I was very impressed by the way they help emerging contractors. To show that they care about the quality of the final product, the Department sends consultants who supervise your work and advise you accordingly when you go wrong. The Department also organizes lectures on how to buy relevant material so that we don’t overspend and that we uphold sound business management standards."

The mother of two – a girl and a boy - Mrs Zungue whose immediate dream is own her own road construction equipment in order to maximize her profits, added: "Workers also get skills and certificates and they end up being self-supervisory. As a result, they get better opportunities of employment at anytime."

"It is impossible to mention all the benefits we have had from working with the KZN Department of Transport, but it is enough to say that the ten years of democracy in South Africa have brought prosperity to us," she concludes.

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