Thobile Dhlangamandhla is the founder and Managing Director of Bathobile Bookkeeping Services, a cloud-based digital financial management and accounting firm based in eMalahleni, Mpumalanga, dedicated to helping small businesses and township entrepreneurs improve their financial management and build sustainable businesses.

This episode unpacks:

- Building stronger financial foundations for small businesses
- Why accurate bookkeeping and financial records matter for business growth
- Using digital tools to simplify financial management for township entrepreneurs
- The importance of financial literacy, compliance and cash flow management
- Developing the Siyakhula Bookkeeping App to help entrepreneurs track their finances digitally
- Turning financial knowledge into practical tools that entrepreneurs can apply in their businesses

In partnership with Nedbank Small Business Services, this episode highlights how financial knowledge, digital innovation and practical support can help entrepreneurs make better decisions, strengthen their businesses and unlock opportunities for growth.

Join Nedbank, South Africa's best SME bank and build your business with confidence.

Available on YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

#KasiBusinessPodcast #FinancialLiteracy #Bookkeeping #SmallBusiness #NedbankSmallBusiness #JoinUsForTEA

Guest Bio:

Thobile Dhlangamandhla is a dedicated financial management and bookkeeping professional with a strong focus on empowering individuals and small businesses, particularly township SMMEs, through practical financial education and digital solutions.

Through Bathobile Bookkeeping Services and the development of the Siyakhula Bookkeeping App, Thobile is helping entrepreneurs move from manual financial tracking towards accessible digital tools that support better financial management, compliance and business sustainability.

Her work also extends to skills development, financial wellness programmes, compliance readiness and practical training designed to bridge the gap between financial knowledge and real-world application.

About the podcast:

Kasi Business Podcast is powered by TEA. A weekly business podcast that seeks to unlock opportunities and practical resource tools to start and grow your business. We also profile corporate leaders, legendary black business leaders, industry practitioners and entrepreneurs. The podcast is hosted by Bulelani Balabala, an award-winning entrepreneur, business speaker and author. This podcast is aimed at unlocking opportunities and practical skills for micro-enterprises, startups and small businesses while sharing insight with professionals and policymakers.

For guest enquiries and partnerships:
[email protected]
011 572 1033

#TownshipEntrepreneur
#TownshipEconomy
#SmallBusiness

Keletso Lekwakwe is the co-founder of PasswordKid, one of Africa's leading child safety technology companies, dedicated to improving learner safety through innovative digital solutions for schools and parents.

This episode unpacks:

• Building a technology business that solves real challenges in education
• Using innovation to improve child safety in schools
• Scaling an ICT startup in South Africa
• Why entrepreneurs should focus on solving meaningful problems

In partnership with Nedbank Small Business Services, this episode highlights how entrepreneurs can build businesses that create both commercial success and social impact through innovation.

Join Nedbank, South Africa's best SME bank and build your business with confidence.

#KasiBusinessPodcast #NedbankSmallBusiness #JoinUsForTEA

Guest Bio:

Keletso Lekwakwe is the co-founder of PasswordKid (Pty) Ltd, one of Africa's most trusted providers of advanced child safety technologies. With more than five years of experience in innovation and entrepreneurship, he has built a business focused on using technology to create safer learning environments for children across South Africa.

Keletso holds a Bachelor of Science Honours in Information Technology from Richfield Graduate Institute of Technology and has extensive experience within the ICT industry. Through PasswordKid, he is demonstrating how technology-driven solutions can solve real societal challenges while building a scalable African business.

About the podcast:

Kasi Business Podcast is powered by TEA. A weekly business podcast that seeks to unlock opportunities and practical resource tools to start and grow your business. We also profile corporate leaders, legendary black business leaders, industry practitioners and entrepreneurs. The podcast is hosted by Bulelani Balabala, an award-winning entrepreneur, business speaker and author. This podcast is aimed at unlocking opportunities and practical skills for micro-enterprises, startups and small businesses while sharing insight with professionals and policymakers.

For guest enquiries and partnerships:

[email protected]

011 572 1033

#TownshipEntrepreneur #TownshipEconomy #Innovation #Technology #SmallBusiness

Zethu Nyali is the founder and CEO of Zee Organics, an award-winning South African company that creates organic hair and skincare products to address issues like alopecia, dermatitis and acne.Filmed after the TEA Summit & Awards 2025, this episode unpacks:

• Manufacturing wellness products using hemp and indigenous herbs
• Balancing tradition with commercial scalability
• The importance of trusted financial partners for SMEs

In partnership with Nedbank Small Business Services, this episode highlights how small businesses can grow with the right tools, funding and advisory support.Join Nedbank, South Africa’s best SME bank and build your business with confidence.Available on YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts.#SmallBusinessLegend #AfricanWellness #NedbankSmallBusiness #TEAGuest Bio:Zethu Nyali is the founder and CEO of Zee Organics, an award-winning South African company that creates organic hair and skincare products to address issues like alopecia, dermatitis, and acne. She started the company in 2021 with only R500, using her expertise as a formulation specialist to develop effective products. Nyali is recognized for her entrepreneurship and commitment to empowering others. Founder and CEO: Zethu Nyali is the founder and CEO of Zee Organics, a company that manufactures supplements, vitamins, and organic hair and skincare products.

Business origin: She started the business in 2021 with a R500 investment. The company name is inspired by her own name.

Products: The company develops organic haircare and skincare products to treat conditions like alopecia, dermatitis, eczema, and acne. Expertise: Nyali is a formulation specialist who developed the product range herself.

Recognition: She has won multiple awards, including the Umlazi KZN Pitch Winner award in 2022 and the Youth Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2024, for her work in building her brand.

Mission: Zee Organics aims to heal, create confidence, and empower people, with a mission to demonstrate that excellence can come from township economies.

About the podcast:

Kasi Business Podcast is powered by TEA. A weekly business podcast that seeks to unlocking opportunities and practical resource tools to start and grow your business. We also profile corporate leaders, legendary black business leaders, industry practitioners and entrepreneurs. The podcast is hosted by Bulelani Balabala who is an awarded entrepreneur, business speaker and author. This podcast is aimed at unlocking opportunities and practical skills for micro-enterprises, start up, small businesses while sharing insight with professionals and policy makers.

For guest enquiries and partnerships, get in touch with us:

E: [email protected]

T: 011 572 1033

#TownshipEntrepreneur #Kasi #Township

Overview:

Lebohang Skhosana, founder of Toca Essentials, takes us into the world of African herbal wellness, where indigenous knowledge, sustainability and entrepreneurship intersect.

Filmed after the TEA Summit & Awards 2025, this episode unpacks:

• Manufacturing wellness products using hemp and indigenous herbs

• Balancing tradition with commercial scalability

• The importance of trusted financial partners for SMEs

In partnership with Nedbank Small Business Services, this episode highlights how small businesses can grow with the right tools, funding and advisory support.

Join Nedbank, South Africa’s best SME bank and build your business with confidence.

Available on YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

#SmallBusinessLegend #AfricanWellness #NedbankSmallBusiness #TEA

Guest Bio:

Ms. Lebo Skhosana is the visionary founder of Toca Essentials, an agro-processing company rooted in the wisdom of African indigenous herbs. Inspired by her great grandmother’s legacy of sustainable living, Lebohang established Toca Essentials in 2021 to bring the power of traditional African herbalism to the world. Through innovative wellness and cosmetic products, she’s on a mission to promote holistic well-being and environmental stewardship.

Toca Essentials isn’t just a business, it’s a movement towards sustainability and a deeper connection with nature.

About the podcast:

Kasi Business Podcast is powered by TEA. A weekly business podcast that seeks to unlocking opportunities and practical resource tools to start and grow your business. We also profile corporate leaders, legendary black business leaders, industry practitioners and entrepreneurs. The podcast is hosted by Bulelani Balabala who is an awarded entrepreneur, business speaker and author. This podcast is aimed at unlocking opportunities and practical skills for micro-enterprises, start up, small businesses while sharing insight with professionals and policy makers.

For guest enquiries and partnerships, get in touch with us:

E: [email protected]

T: 011 572 1033

Overview:Makatu Tshivhula, founder of The Light Candle, shares how a Soweto-based candle business grew into a trusted supplier for leading corporate brands.

Recorded at the TEA Summit & Awards 2025, this episode covers:• Building a premium product brand• Securing and servicing corporate clients• Scaling creative businesses from township markets

In partnership with Nedbank Small Business Services, this conversation reinforces the role of strong banking and advisory support in helping SMEs grow sustainably.

Join Nedbank, South Africa’s best SME bank and take your business to the next level.Subscribe for more Small Business Legend stories.

Also available on Apple Podcasts.

#SmallBusinessLegend #AfricanWellness #NedbankSmallBusiness #TEA

Guest Bio:

Makatu Tshivhula is a young South African entrepreneur and the founder and owner of The Light Candles, a successful candle manufacturing company based in Soweto. He started his business using manual molds and later scaled up production with funding from a silent partner. His business has grown stronger over the years, becoming known as "Africa's First Black Youth-Owned Candle Manufacturing Factory" by some sources.

The business operates from a shop in Pimville, Soweto.The company produces a range of candles, including household, scented, and pillar candles, known for their quality and long burn time (11-12 hours). His candles are popular among churches, traditional healers, event organizers and the general community, especially during periods of load shedding in South Africa.

A key part of Tshivhula's mission is to tackle youth unemployment in South Africa by equipping young people with skills and creating job opportunities as he expands his business.

Through the Small Business Legend Campaign, TEA and Nedbank Small Business Services continue to champion entrepreneurs who are ready to scale.

Join Nedbank, South Africa’s best SME bank.

Zamani Letjane's journey began in 1980 as an HR Practitioner at a private construction company. He later joined the Local Authority’s HR department, where he served for 10 years and became a Trustee of the Local Government Pension Fund, responsible for identifying sites for shopping centres. His 20+ years of experience as a Trustee inspired the launch of Akani Properties in 2005, a 100% black-owned property development and management company.

In 1999, he founded Akani Retirement Fund Administrators which has grown the Municipal Employees Pension Fund (MEPF) from R1.4 billion to over R27 billion in assets. Notable projects include the R950 million Radisson Hotel and Convention Centre in Kempton Park, launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2020, and a new hotel and convention centre in Middleburg, Mpumalanga. Zamani is a true pioneer in property and retirement fund management.

About the podcast:

Kasi Business Podcast is powered by TEA. A weekly business podcast that seeks to unlocking opportunities and practical resource tools to start and grow your business. We also profile corporate leaders, legendary black business leaders, industry practitioners and entrepreneurs. The podcast is hosted by Bulelani Balabala who is an awarded entrepreneur, business speaker and author. This podcast is aimed at unlocking opportunities and practical skills for micro-enterprises, start up, small businesses while sharing insight with professionals and policy makers.

For guest enquiries and partnerships, get in touch with us:

E: [email protected]

T: 011 572 1033

Zibusiso Mkhwanazi is an award-winning entrepreneur, author, and Executive Chairman of M+N, CEO of Avatar X and widely recognised as the co-founder of Avatar, one of Africa’s leading black-owned integrated marketing and advertising agencies. His journey from humble beginnings to industry trailblazer is a testament to vision, resilience, and a deep commitment to unlocking African creativity for the world.Mkhwanazi began his entrepreneurial path by investing R2,000 from his mother into the stock market, growing it into R14,000, seed capital that funded his first business, Csonke, a web development company. After merging with a competitor to form Krazyboyz, he helped build one of South Africa’s top five digital agencies. He later partnered with Veli Ngubane to launch Avatar, a through-the-line agency that has redefined the marketing landscape through innovation and inclusive leadership.Under his leadership, Avatar has achieved numerous industry firsts:• Selected by Absa as the first black-owned lead agency for a top 10 brand in Africa• Appointed by the South African Presidency to lead national communications during the COVID-19 pandemic• Expanded to service nine African markets through Absa and Isuzu• Became the first African global agency for a global brand through its partnership with TECNO MobileIn 2024, Avatar won the Small Biz, Big Impact Ministerial Award at the Presidential MSME & Cooperatives Awards. That same year, Mkhwanazi was nominated by MarkLives for Agency Business Leader 2025 and celebrated as an Africa Rising Star. His leadership continues to position Avatar among the top five independent agencies in Africa, with over 200 employees and a turnover exceeding half a billion rand annually.Mkhwanazi is also the author of Business by Grace, a hybrid memoir and entrepreneurial manual. The book achieved #1 and #2 bestseller status at selected Exclusive Books stores, offering insight into his philosophy of faith-driven leadership and sustainable business growth.His accolades include being named a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, a finalist for the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Awards, and receiving an entrepreneurial excellence award presented by Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams.Beyond business, Zibusiso is a dedicated philanthropist and mentor. He founded the Mkhwanazi Foundation, which empowers emerging entrepreneurs through skills development and mentorship, and established David’s League, a Christian-based mentorship programme cultivating values-driven leadership. He also served as a trustee of NEET, a non-profit that has funded over 4,200 scholarships for underprivileged ICT students.Mkhwanazi’s impact lies not only in the brands he’s built, but in the lives he continues to uplift, championing inclusion, creativity, and African excellence on a global stage.About the podcast: Kasi Business Podcast is powered by TEA. A weekly business podcast that seeks to unlocking opportunities and practical resource tools to start and grow your business. We also profile corporate leaders, legendary black business leaders, industry practitioners and entrepreneurs. The podcast is hosted by Bulelani Balabala who is an awarded entrepreneur, business speaker and author. This podcast is aimed at unlocking opportunities and practical skills for micro-enterprises, start up, small businesses while sharing insight with professionals and policy makers. For guest enquiries and partnerships, get in touch with us: E: [email protected] T: 011 572 1033

Dr. Steven Zwane is a distinguished academic, executive, and social entrepreneur with over two decades of cross-sector leadership experience spanning financial services, education, non-profit, and consulting. He currently serves as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS). Steven is the 2025 Social Impact Leader of the Year, recognised by the Future Leaders Forum for his unwavering commitment to community upliftment, entrepreneurship education, and inclusive leadership. A Nelson Mandela Scholar (2006), he holds a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) and MBA from Durham University (UK), and a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Zululand.A passionate advocate for entrepreneurship, strategy, and operations management, Dr. Zwane is the co-author: of Rising from the Township – Inspiring Stories of South African Entrepreneurs (2024)—a powerful book informed by his doctoral research, written to close the entrepreneurial role model gap and celebrate the resilience of township-born innovators; and Business By Grace, Zibusiso Mkhwanazi’s Entrepreneurial memoir on how he built a world changing advertising business with R2000 (2025). He is also the Founder and former Chairperson of the Youth Leadership & Entrepreneurship Development (YLED) NPO, which since 2004 has impacted over 20,000 Grade 11 learners through a flagship Saturday school model focused on life skills, mentorship, and entrepreneurial development.About the podcast: Kasi Business Podcast is powered by TEA. A weekly business podcast that seeks to unlocking opportunities and practical resource tools to start and grow your business. We also profile corporate leaders, legendary black business leaders, industry practitioners and entrepreneurs. The podcast is hosted by Bulelani Balabala who is an awarded entrepreneur, business speaker and author. This podcast is aimed at unlocking opportunities and practical skills for micro-enterprises, start up, small businesses while sharing insight with professionals and policy makers. For guest enquiries and partnerships, get in touch with us: E: [email protected] T: 011 572 1033

Dr Thami Mazwai is the founder of Mtiya Dynamics(MD), an enterprise and supplier development company. MD specialises in the design of small business development solutions. He is research associate at the Nelson Mandela University (NMU). He conceptualised, edited and in 2024 produced the book “The Journey of the Soweto Entrepreneurs since 1905”. This was an overview on the evolution of entrepreneurship in Soweto. The activist and former journalist expanded his craft of journalism to more than keeping society abreast of the happenings of the Apartheid era but furthered his craft and molded it into becoming a formidable instrument for the liberation struggle and the empowerment of Black people to participate in the post-Apartheid economy of South Africa.He is currently involved in efforts to stimulate the economies of townships, villages and informal settlements to assist in the eradication of poverty, unemployment and inequality. His interest in township economies started when he was still with the Sowetan newspaper where he started the business pages, the first newspaper aimed at the black community to do so. Morphing from journalist to researcher, he is driven by his passion for transformation that lessens poverty, unemployment and inequality (PUI).About the podcast: Kasi Business Podcast is powered by TEA. A weekly business podcast that seeks to unlocking opportunities and practical resource tools to start and grow your business. We also profile corporate leaders, legendary black business leaders, industry practitioners and entrepreneurs. The podcast is hosted by Bulelani Balabala who is an awarded entrepreneur, business speaker and author. This podcast is aimed at unlocking opportunities and practical skills for micro-enterprises, start up, small businesses while sharing insight with professionals and policy makers. For guest enquiries and partnerships, get in touch with us: E: [email protected] T: 011 572 1033

Tumelo Chaka is a commercial strategist and entrepreneurial dealmaker known for turning opportunities into high-value outcomes for stakeholders. With deep experience in Financial Services, Retail and Executive Education, he currently leads FNB’s Entry Wallet segment, focusing on South Africans earning up to R36,000 annually.Previously at Nedbank, he headed Commercialisation for Emerging Payments and led Sales Strategy for Forex and Investments. Tumelo has carved a niche in creating innovative products for informal and emerging markets.Renowned as a visionary with expertise in international business, strategic investments, and market expansion, he has worked on deal structuring and advisory in China and contributed to global sales strategies.He is a thought leader in fintech, retail banking, and business education, and is often invited to speak and write on these subjects. Tumelo is pursuing a Ph.D. in Marketing at UCT (focused on decision-making in low-income FMCG consumers) and a master's in digital business at Wits.His speaking style is authentic and engaging, rooted in personal experience and strategic insight.Speaking Topics:1. Policy Direction & Implementation2. Socioeconomic Development3. Corporate Governance & Ethics4. Active CitizenshipTumelo Chaka Social Media: Instagram: iamdrtumelochakaFacebook: tumelo chakaAbout the podcast: Kasi Business Podcast is powered by TEA. A weekly business podcast that seeks to unlocking opportunities and practical resource tools to start and grow your business. We also profile corporate leaders, legendary black business leaders, industry practitioners and entrepreneurs. The podcast is hosted by Bulelani Balabala who is an awarded entrepreneur, business speaker and author. This podcast is aimed at unlocking opportunities and practical skills for micro-enterprises, start up, small businesses while sharing insight with professionals and policy makers.For guest enquiries and partnerships, get in touch with us:E: [email protected] T: 011 572 1033