Woman On A Mission

Chartered accountant REFILWE MATENCHE, 32, quit crunching numbers for a big firm, to start her own businesses.

- Felicia Molefe

Business runs in Refilwe Matenche’s blood. In high school she sold sweets, amakipkip (popcorn), and photographed other kids and got paid for it. At varsity she made clothing, which she sold on campus and today this mother of one lists several businesses she’s started. Her current position is as co-founder of the African Woman Movement, a networking group Refilwe says she’s been building with all the knowledge acquired through each of the businesses she’s ventured into.

“I’m pleased that I can impart knowledge to other aspiring businesswomen,” she says, adding how it all started with a WhatsApp group. “It was the four of us sharing our business frustrations. We spoke about day-to-day struggles and achievements. Within two months we had 175 women chatting about their highs and lows.”

At the time of initiating the network, Refilwe also ran the Unicorn school shuttle service, not long after the birth of her daughter, Khazimula, in 2015. “When I became a mother, I saw a need for emergency school transport. You know that call that comes through about your child not feeling well at school and you have to come fetch them? The question is, who’ll fetch the child when you are busy? My company was set up to address that need and a luxury van was purchased, since the whole concept was to cater for CEO and directors’ kids,” she says, adding the service also provided first aid where required.