Before 1994, the South African business landscape was totally different from what it currently is. “Things were tough for any black person who really wanted to make a difference”. These are the reflections of Sango Ntsaluba, Chairman of NMT Capital, a South African investment holding company. “I just got so frustrated with the realisation that no matter how hard I worked to improve myself, I wasn’t going to get anywhere.”
In his younger years as an auditor, Ntsaluba soon realised that he was spending most of his time and energy in a firm where he wasn’t being recognised for who he was, and where the surface of his full potential was barely being scratched. “So I decided to try it on my own”. Thus SizweNtsalubaGobodo, an auditing firm, was born.
“I was unshakeable in terms of the ultimate objective,” Ntsaluba says. For him, obstacles were simply a detour, but nothing was going to stop him from getting where he needed to go. After years at SizweNtsalubaGobodo, Ntsaluba ventured into a stint in the public sector. Thereafter, NMT Capital, an investment holding company, was established. Ntsaluba fondly refers to the company as “one of the best things that has happened”.
Although he now speaks from a place of relatively vast experience, Ntsaluba is quick to admit that the reality of most entrepreneurs, regardless of how much soft knowledge they have, lack hard experience when they enter the business world. This was very much the case for him in his earlier years. “One of the key ingredients for entrepreneurship is building relationships. When we started, we had no business relationships, and we had to start paying attention to that.” This is where entrepreneurs can begin racking up their experience.
Apart from gaining experience, business relationships remain a valuable source of mentorship. “When I was younger, I thought that mentorship was a waste of time,” Ntsaluba says.
“I thought I knew it all, but now that I’m older, I think getting a mentor is one of the most crucial things to do.”
Even if mentorship isn’t formalised, Ntsaluba believes that having a group of people to bounce ideas off of is an excellent idea. “They’ve seen it better, they’ve seen it more times than you, and chances are, they can open you up to different perspectives.”
Having grown exponentially both in a personal and an entrepreneurial capacity, one might think that Ntsaluba is well on his way to slowing down. To him, however, the future looks ripe with opportunity. “I’m intrigued by the power of what a human being can do; the more you challenge yourself, the more you are able to do things you didn’t think you were able to do the previous day,”
he says. “Never mind what I’ve done, I can do so much more.”
While some might be shy to admit that making money is one of their main objectives, Ntsaluba says that there is no shame in wanting to make more money, as long as that profit is ethical. “Businesses without a conscience cannot really last,” he says. “Whether in relation to the environment or the community and so forth.”
A business with a conscience is one that not only takes, but gives. In Ntsaluba’s case, it involves setting aside time and resources for the betterment of communities in need. Coming from a rural area himself,
Company: NMT Capital
Founded: 2002
Age: 58