LOWVELD
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LOWVELD WINNERS

Phephsile Maseko | 2016
Maseko has been working on the project for years and has completed research and secured funding. By using cooperatives run by women and youths to farm and sort the plants, her impact on rural development will be huge. "Part of the requirements for the funding was that we need to create more jobs." While she is rearing to go, Maseko believes there still exists some gaps in the project, especially in the process of commercialisation of the products in terms of manufacturing and branding. This is where being selected as the Bring Change Lowveld mentee will make all the difference, she believes.

Lizelle Grobler | 2017
This year’s Bring Change Lowveld winner, Ms Lizelle Grobler, will be empowered to, in turn, empower the community. As the winner of this coveted title, she will complete a mentorship program during which 10 of the Lowveld’s top entrepreneurs will empower her with pearls of wisdom. According to Grobler, these pearls will be strung together to benefit women and children who have suffered from abuse, the venture through which they seek to do this, is the Trinity Foundation. This nonprofit organisation (NPO) will be central to a women’s safe haven to be erected in the city.
In September last year, she was also awarded the 2016 SACBW Business Woman of the Year Award as emerging entrepreneur. She is also the owner of Iqiniso Forensics Investigations and well known in that industry for her involvement in the fight against rhino poaching.
Her vision for Trinity Foundation’s Nelspruit Haven has two phases. Firstly it will be a self sustainable business in the form of a women-oriental mall and phase two will be the safe haven where victims of abuse will be accommodated. “We will help them to find their way back to a normal, happy life, free of abuse,” she said. “The NPO will need initial funding to get it off the ground and sustain it. I trust that the mentoring process will open some doors to much needed advice and exposure,” she said.