Exciting times lie ahead under the leadership of the vibrant Siphokazi
Exciting times lie ahead under the leadership of the vibrant Siphokazi
By Thato Phalole – 04 November 2021
ENACTUS VUT President: Siphokazi Dlamini
The future of entrepreneurship is certainly guaranteed under the leadership of Siphokazi Dlamini. Born and bred in the East Rand, she had always been a multi-faceted student who was eager to do extra-curricular activities to enrich and improve herself. Fast forward, she is currently the President of the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) ENACTUS organisation. ENACTUS is an organisation that brings students together through entrepreneurship. The name is a combination of the words ENTREPRENEURIAL, ACTION and ‘US’. Enactus is a registered NPC that was established in South Africa in 2001 as an international non-profit organisation. Enactus VUT on the other hand, is a team, composed of over 30 active members, 7 members of executive, 2 BAB members, 2 FAs and a total of 2 current active team projects.
This female visionary is a 3rd year VUT student, studying towards a Diploma in Public Relations Management. This remarkable young lady was introduced to the organisation by her 1st year Public Relations Lecturer, Mr. Felix Mwadiwa. He identified her after a presentation in class and felt that the organisation would groom her to blossom in the right direction. “I will forever be grateful to Mr Mwadiwa for igniting a flame that I was not aware was burning inside me. It’s been 2 fruitful years of acquiring and imparting knowledge” she says.
She has always loved the impact that outreach programmes have had onto society and Enactus molded her into a more practical person. She also acknowledges how her leadership skills have gone up a notch. “I love how students can come into the organisation with only the will to learn and impact communities; but leave the organisation with skills and business enterprises of their own. Watching their business grow from start to their end goal is really so fulfilling.” she enthusiastically says.
Clorganic and Instika are some of the successful projects she led this year. Clorganic is an energy sector-based project where coal is manufactured and distributed by the team. Instika, on the other hand, is an agriculturally based project that is composed of 16 farms that Enactus VUT has adopted. The purpose of this project is to provide consulting and distribution services to their farmers.
As President of ENACTUS, she aims to inspire change and alter the narrative that most people have of the organisation. “People feel Enactus is a very serious and uptight organisation and when you examine my personality, being very upbeat, vibrant and glossy, this should give people an impression that we are not as serious and robust as we are made out to be. We just get the job done. I want more students to be aware of the organisation because of some of the benefits that come with it. The main reason I joined this organisation is to impact communities at large, not just in the Vaal, but extensively to other provinces. I would also like to remind the Enactus team members that each of them is special and they all have something unique that they bring to the table. At Enactus VUT we live for the communities that we serve, always” says Siphokazi.
Her vision is to restore ENACTUS VUT and indeed exciting times lie ahead, as a lot is yet to be unleashed.
