Timon & Pumba, but cooler

Muzi Gamede and Mpumelelo Ndimande may have gotten their nicknames from a funny duo but what they have to offer is no laughing matter.

As the Motheo Group grows, so has the different areas of business it has diversified into. Motheo Telecoms is one of those businesses. Long before Motheo Telecoms was a reality, a friendship and business relationship was budding between Muzi and Mpumi. “We met at work where we were working on building fibre networks. It was still a brand new industry then and we decided that we wanted to create a stake for ourselves in the industry, so we decided to start our own company,” says Mpumi. The pair started their business, operating from the boots of their cars and after some time on their own, they needed some assistance. Muzi knew Dr Thandi and in 2014, he reached out to her to make a pitch. “We told her about our business and what we needed, and she organised for us to pitch to the Motheo board. Mr Potter scrutinised our plans and evaluated the opportunity. Eventually, they gave us a R100 000 credit line,” he says. For two years Muzi and Mpumi were mentored and guided by the Motheo founders. “We pitched to Mr Potter for two years and he never grew impatient with us. He would go through our proposals, point out what we needed to change and still be willing to meet over and over until we got it right,” Muzi explains. Towards the end of 2016, the board agreed to team up with Muzi and Mpumi, and Motheo Telecoms was born. The company has already signed on some impressive clients, including Metro Fibre, Huawei and Vodacom. The projected growth for Motheo Telecoms is exciting and with the support of Dr Thandi, Tim Potter and Chris Cudmore, Muzi and Mpumi have no doubt that the future is a bright one. “We have a blueprint of the kinds of leaders we want to grow into because of the leaders at Motheo,” Mpumi concludes. Watch our blog for more updates on Motheo Telecoms.