Pedalling to logistics success

When young entrepreneur Sizwe Nzima read about the challenge facing hospitals around the country in delivering chronic medication to township patients, he saw a logistics opportunity and made it happen. He set up Iyeza Express, a Khayelitsha business that delivers chronic medication to patients in and around the township using bicycles. He currently employs four people and aims to grow this substantially within the next two years. Nzima, who was recently listed in the Forbes magazine Top 30 Under 30 entrepreneurs, began his business journey during the six months he spent as part of the Pick n Pay owner’s academy. It was during one of the lectures that his business idea hit him. The fact that Nzima was also tasked with fetching chronic medication for his two grandparents (who raised him while his mother worked in Johannesburg) also played a role in helping him come up with a solution for the people of one of South Africa’s fastest growing townships. Iyeza Express currently services more than 250 patients in the Khayelitsha area charging them a minimum of R10 per delivery. Thanks to the support of Metropolitan Health, the company will soon have electric bicycles. “This means we can go on for longer without getting tired,” said Nzima. “We are also looking at expanding the business to service new markets that have never been serviced in Khayelitsha. For example, pizza delivery in Sea Point is a normal thing, but in Khayelitsha no pizza delivery service exists. We will be looking into expanding into this area. However, at the moment we are focused on health access because that is the niche, that is the problem we face in South Africa.” CAPTION Siyavuya Mlungu hands Sizwe’s grandmother some of the medicine he delivers to patients around Khayelitsha as Sizwe Nzima and Masibonge Petse look on.