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Hope springs in Diepsloot through Rhiza Babuyile

Johannesburg – Initially in 2005, Rhiza Babuyile started out as a project to reintegrate former prison inmates into society through skills training. “That was the main objective for a number of years, up until 2012,” says founder Alef Meulenberg.

The organisers of the project decided to take things a step further to prevent social problems in the first place by creating a holistic community development project. Rhiza Babuyile now consists of four programmes to uplift the Gauteng communities of Orange Farm and Diepsloot.

“We want to make a sustainable difference in communities,” says Meulenberg. “We want to ensure that in five years, people will be able to take care of themselves.” This means beneficiaries will be able to pay for their own education and healthcare, because they would have then obtained a job and can earn an income, he explains.

Rhiza Babuyile is a non-profit company, and the South African sister organisation to Rhiza International. It is a fully-owned subsidiary of the Babuyile Community Development Trust. “We started small in the 2000s with no staff. We started employing people in 2012 and we have grown to 30 full time staff members,” says Meulenberg. They are looking to expand to between 35 and 40 in 2017.

Youth development

The organisation runs a youth development programme. This is for people who have matriculated, and those who have not, and include those aged between 18 and 35. Youth receive skills training in IT and “professional design skills”, explains Meulenberg. This will ensure that they are employable after completing the programme. About 60% of students get jobs within the first 12 months.

The training centre in Diepsloot is known as Project Hope and is run by Moses Kamau. Students come for training for five to six months, he explains. There is a once-off commitment fee of R100. Some graduates have become facilitators at the centre.


Students at Project Hope skills training centre in Diepsloot. (Photo: Lameez Omarjee)

Enterprise development

However, there are not enough jobs in the market, so an enterprise development programme exists. It consists of business hubs that promote entrepreneurship as an alternative source of income. The business hubs in township communities serve as incubators and open work spaces for existing entrepreneurs.

The first business hub was launched on 13 November 2015 and is called the JOZi Business Hub, located in Diepsloot. “We help young people start their own businesses,” says Meulenberg. One of the ways is to commercialise solutions to social problems. The incubation hub serves those who have no previous business experience, explains Tyronica Oliobi, manager of the JOZi Business Hub.

Specific training to benefit these entrepreneurs is done in association with the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), the Gauteng Economic Propellor (GEP) and Unisa. The incubation fee is R150 per month.

Sometimes workshops which are run are also opened to the public and not just the incubates, explains Oliobi. There are 15 businesses currently using the incubation hub. They plan to have two intakes of 15 each next year, essentially supporting 30 businesses.

The business hub has helped 100 people in the past year and 99% of them are from the surrounding community in Diepsloot, says Oliobi.

The hub not only assists in training but helps formalise businesses. Micro-funding is made available through Dutch organisation Orange Corners. “This is not a grant. It is payable over a number of years, at no interest,” she explains.

One of the incubatees is the business Purple Page Services, which provides cleaning and shopping services. They underwent training in business and finance and how to run sustainably and provides quality service to clients, according to Segonto Sebetwa and Lindiwe Ngambu who are two of the three entrepreneurs who run it. 

Open for other entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs who aren’t in the incubation programme, are charged a fee of R250 to use the work spaces provided, which includes a desk, a personal computer, internet, telephone and storage space, explains Oliobi. 

One particular business collects used cooking oil, which is sold to recyclers who turn it into biodiesel, says Meulenberg. Another group of entrepreneurs, known as Diepsloot Kasi Hive build and develop mobile applications. One mobile application allows members of the communities to book their appointments at clinics.

Sipho Ngobeni, one of the entrepreneurs running Diepsloot Kasi Hive, says that developers from Wits University partnered with them to develop the app.


The entrepreneurs behind Diepsloot Kasi Hive working at the JOZi Business Hub in Diepsloot. Pictured from left Refilwe Mokomane, Hazel Mahlaba, Lesiba Setumu and Sipho Ngubeni. (Photo: Lameez Omarjee)

Early childhood development

The organisation also runs an early childhood development programme, where township pre-schools are adopted and formalised. Malesa pre-school in Diepsloot is one of the schools which has been adopted.

“We have all these tracks, such as education, skills and enterprise development, but we realise people need primary healthcare.

"They need to be healthy to go to school and get education and to run their businesses," says Meulenberg.

Mobile clinic

For this reason a mobile clinic was established. It operates in both Diepsloot and Orange Farm.

A lot of girls come to the clinic for family planning. Children come to the clinic for immunisation and treatments. Through the mobile clinic, an average of 40 to 50 children are tended to, says Sister Thandi, who works at the clinic in Diepsloot.


The mobile clinic in Diepsloot was set up to alleviate the pressure at the government clinic. Sister Lydia and Sister Thandi, pictured here, wait for more patients to arrive following a busy morning. (Photo: Lameez Omarjee). 

Minimal fees are charged because if people pay for the training and healthcare they are receiving, then they will value it, explains Meulenberg.

Healthcare comes at a R20 admin fee. “The quality is good. If it is not good, they tell us. We provide a good service and it needs to be valued,” he says.

Goals for the future include expanding into the rest of South Africa, like Cape Town.

Find out more about Babuyile Community Development and how you can get involved.

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