CAPE TOWN — 17 August 2026 — For entrepreneurs, winning an award can provide recognition. But for three Western Cape business owners, the Bambelela Business Awards have become something more powerful — a catalyst for expansion, job creation, stronger operations and greater community impact.
For Rashaad Sambaba, Veliswa Tiya and Liesl Fysh, financial support from the awards helped turn business ambitions into tangible investments, demonstrating how targeted enterprise development can create effects that extend well beyond the individual entrepreneur.
Meaning “hold on”, Bambelela embodies the resilience, determination and ambition of entrepreneurs who continue pursuing their goals despite the challenges of building a business.
The initiative by the Hollywood Foundation goes beyond celebrating entrepreneurial achievement. It provides funding, business development opportunities and a platform for entrepreneurs to strengthen and scale businesses that have the potential to create employment and contribute to economic growth in the Western Cape.
Turning funding into growth
For Sambaba, founder of the Adult Education Institute (AEI), the R40,000 he received at last year’s awards arrived at a crucial point in the company’s development.
AEI provides accessible long-distance learning opportunities for adults, and Sambaba says the business had deliberately followed a debt-free, organic growth model.
However, expanding an independent private education institution requires continual investment.
“Winning a Bambelela Award provided a crucial injection of growth capital right when we were expanding our operational capacity.”
The funding was directed towards upgrading AEI’s online Learning Management System (LMS), improving the printing of physical study packs and strengthening its courier logistics network.
Those investments enabled the organisation to improve how it delivers course materials to distance learners across the country.
“It turned potential operational bottlenecks into smooth, rapid expansion,” says Sambaba.
For him, the experience is proof that the right intervention at the right time can change the trajectory of a growing business.
“If you are an entrepreneur with a clear vision, a track record of hard work, and a commitment to your community, entering the Bambelela Business Awards can completely change the trajectory of your business.”
Building a brand and creating employment
For Veliswa Tiya, founder of Rich Aunties Aesthetics, the award helped turn a brand vision into something tangible.
The business manufactures fragrances, luxury candles and home accessories, with Tiya using the funding to strengthen both the company’s presentation and its operations.
“Winning the award enabled me to bring to life the brand I had envisioned; it gave me confidence to represent the brand in terms of what it looked like aesthetically.”
The investment also allowed Tiya to employ two part-time staff members, creating opportunities that had previously been beyond the company’s reach.
But the impact of the programme was not limited to the financial prize.
Tiya says the organisers also provided valuable support, while the experience of participating in the awards inspired her to consider supporting other entrepreneurs in the future.
“The awards themselves also lit a spark in me to support other entrepreneurs at some point.”
Her experience illustrates one of the potentially important ripple effects of enterprise development: when entrepreneurs receive support to grow, they can subsequently create opportunities for others.
Strengthening a wellness business
For Liesl Fysh, founder of Body Basics, the Bambelela support helped strengthen the infrastructure behind an established wellness business.
The massage therapy and wellness company served 300 cancer patients at Groote Schuur Hospital last year, while also working with corporate and individual clients.
Fysh used the funding to improve several areas of the business, including its inventory monitoring system and client registry.
The company also invested in staff uniforms and improved the quality of the professional products it uses.
For Fysh, however, the value of Bambelela extended beyond the financial award.
The pitch-training component helped her sharpen the way she presented her business and communicate its story more effectively.
“We needed an opportunity to be seen, to be heard and the pitch training provided helped us to polish our story not only for the judges present but for anyone else in future.”
She believes businesses that need support should consider applying.
“We certainly would encourage businesses who need help to apply to the Bambelela Business Awards.”
When business growth benefits communities
The experiences of the three entrepreneurs highlight an important aspect of enterprise development: supporting a business can have a multiplier effect.
As businesses strengthen their operations, they can create employment, improve services, develop supply chains and invest back into their communities.
AEI provides an example of that wider impact.
Beyond its employment contribution, the organisation has funded bursaries enabling young women from disadvantaged backgrounds to obtain professional qualifications.
It also recently gifted 100 fully sponsored accredited computer courses to South African women as part of its Women’s Month initiatives, aimed at improving digital literacy.
Rich Aunties Aesthetics has created part-time employment, while Body Basics continues to provide wellness services to a wide range of clients, including cancer patients.
Together, the businesses demonstrate that entrepreneurial growth is not simply about increasing turnover. It can also mean creating opportunities, expanding access to services and building stronger communities.
A platform for the next generation of entrepreneurs
The three businesses represent only a fraction of the entrepreneurs whose journeys have been supported through the Bambelela Business Awards.
The 2026 programme is now inviting qualifying Western Cape entrepreneurs to put their businesses forward.
Applications close on 31 August 2026 at 23:59, with the awards scheduled to take place in September.
Shortlisted entrepreneurs will participate in a two-day programme featuring an exhibition, seminar and business pitches, before presenting to an independent panel of judges.
Winners will share in more than R1 million in funding.
Who can apply?
Businesses must meet the following requirements:
- Be 100% Black-owned;
- Be registered and operating in the Western Cape;
- Be either a formal or informal registered business;
- Have been operational for at least 12 months; and
- Submit a business profile or company description.
More than a cheque
The stories of Sambaba, Tiya and Fysh point to a broader lesson about what meaningful enterprise development can achieve.
Capital can help a business purchase equipment, improve technology, strengthen systems or employ additional staff. But when financial support is combined with training, exposure and business development, its impact can become considerably greater.
For AEI, the funding helped unlock operational capacity.
For Rich Aunties Aesthetics, it helped transform a brand vision while creating employment.
For Body Basics, it strengthened the systems and professionalism supporting an organisation delivering services to hundreds of patients and clients.
Their journeys show that entrepreneurs do not necessarily need to be given a fully formed business. Often, they need an opportunity, the right support and the resources to execute the vision they already have.
That is where Bambelela’s meaning becomes particularly relevant.
Hold on. Keep building. Keep learning. Keep growing.
For Western Cape entrepreneurs preparing to enter the 2026 awards, the opportunity is not simply to win funding. It is to gain the platform, exposure and support that could help turn the next stage of their business journey into something much bigger.
