From Nkuri to international business mogul
Rural girl made good Letty Ngobeni talks about her fairytale story
Benson Ntlemo
It is not easy to rise from humble beginnings at Nkuri Village to be an internationally recognized businesswoman but Integrico CEO Letty Ngobeni has done just that.
She has defied the odds stacked against her on her road to success and emerged victorious.
In the interview with the village Voice, Ngobeni talked about her rise from nothing to somebody.
“I was not born with a silver spoon in the mouth, “said Ngobeni the managing director of Integrico and Mndhavazi.
“I know how to eat porridge with gugulumi (water mixed with salt as relish) and I know how to be laughed at because I did not have decent clothes and shoes, but I thank God I have succeeded against the odd, “she said.
She is presently one of the most powerful women and South Africa and also the world after she was recently profiled by Forbes Africa.
She has also won many awards.
Her company Integrico cc, formerly known as Nwa-Nkomeni Trading cc, deals with construction and building maintenance, cleaning services as well as grass cutting.
It is one of the most envied companies in the country with respected clients such as MTN, Broll, Redifine, SABC, Ekurhuleni municipality, City of Tshwane, Municca Technologies, and Merseta amongst many others.
Integrico is a holding company for Mndhavazi Trading cc which specializes amongst others in canteen, catering services events and a butchery.
Her story is of fairytale proportions.
As a child, she was born in abject, poverty, the intense type that dehumanizes but she has emerged unscathed.
“As a child I did not afford a pair of shoes, sometimes we went to bed hungry as my father was working in Johannesburg and hardly sent anything home, “she said.
She remembers many things about her youth including walking barefoot in hot days when the surface would not permit one to walk on it.
There is also a time when she did not have money to pay for her examinations but one school teacher volunteered to pay for her and she was able to sit for the final exams.
Despite the odds she went on to become a teacher for 19 years and later an entrepreneur.
Now she is a world renowned entrepreneur.
To add to her success she runs OBC butchery in Valorous a grocery store in Midrand and she is also going to open a culinary school this year.
She is the deeply religious woman, a prayer warrior.
She is the wife of retired head of the department of education in Gauteng Boy Ngobeni, who is popularly known as Boy Mshangan, from Xihoko Village in the Greater Tzaneen Local Municipality in Mopani.
As to reveal her secret, she says she owes her success to tithing in God and her family as she has Ngobeni’s support.
”As a Christian, I rely on tithing and also giving to the poor. This protects me in my business because business is never easy, you fight battles every day and if you have God by your side you are bound to succeed, “she said.
She is also known to donate to so many worthy causes.
She is without doubt a rural woman who made good and whose story many would do well to emulate.
She is definitely poised to scale more dizzy heights in the tough world of business.
