City celebrates collaborative entrepreneurship with EETP Collaboration Awards
07 April 2025
Fifty-two graduates from the City of Cape Town’s Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) Entrepreneurship Trainee Programme (EETP) took part in a three-month voluntary business collaboration pilot, which culminated in a moving awards ceremony last week. The event honoured the most promising, innovative and impactful partnerships formed during the programme.
Hosted by the City’s Corporate EPWP Office and supported by the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI), the pilot encouraged graduates to team up, pool their resources and test new joint business ventures. Entrepreneurs explored a wide range of opportunities, including market expansion, corporate social investment, value chain synergy and sustainability-driven business models.
‘This collaboration pilot was more than just a project – it was a bold step in building an ecosystem of inclusive entrepreneurship in Cape Town. These entrepreneurs showed us what’s possible when partnerships are driven by purpose, innovation and shared growth,’ said Alderman Grant Twigg, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Waste Management.
The overall winners of the pilot, chosen based on their business model pitches, were:
• Jonathan Salies and Pinel Motswagole – for their concept focused on high-end pet wear and accessories.
• Luntu Manjiya and Unathi Mnani – for developing a women’s business network.
• Alungile Nonyongo, Natalie Hurling and Sisamkele Ndudula – for their work in health and wellness.
To support their continued growth, the winning teams have been awarded entry into the City of Cape Town’s High Impact Supplier Development Programme for 2025. Valued at R12 500 per SMME, the programme equips entrepreneurs with essential supply chain management strategies, financial tools and operational skills to become suppliers of choice in both the public and private sectors.
Category winners included:
• Most Innovative Collaboration – Health and wellness entrepreneurs, Alungile Nonyongo, Natalie Hurling and Sisamkele Ndudula.
• Most Income Potential and Most Potential to Generate Employment – Zulpha Hartley and Rustim Afriefdien for their business offering SETA-funded learner placements and support for physically-challenged individuals.
• Most Likely to Succeed – Layla Barnes and Tashreeq Isaacs for their print, design and media services venture.
• Most Environmentally Aware – Amanda Roberts, Jacqueline Damens and Dina Gertse for their education and recycling initiative supporting schools through CSI partnerships.
• SDG Recognition Award – Sivise Magqazolo and Khaya Burwana for an enterprise that combines farming, agriculture and education to drive social impact.
• Most Potential to Export – Luntu Manjiya and Unathi Mnani for the Women’s Business Network.
• Most Potential to Scale Up – Sivise Magqazolo and Khaya Burwana, again recognised for their growth-ready agriculture and education concept.
‘The Entrepreneurship Trainee Programme has laid the foundation for new ways of thinking about public employment and enterprise development and has yielded valuable learning, both for the City and for the implementation partner. This proves that public employment, when designed with purpose, can be a powerful catalyst for growth and jobs,’ added Alderman Twigg.
The EETP continues to evolve, placing entrepreneurship, dignity and opportunity at the centre of economic inclusion in Cape Town.
End
Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
