... and celebrate the company's success Ray Smuts PETER-PAUL Ngwenya returned to prison of his own volition the other day, not to reflect on the grim realities of the past but rather to share in the remarkable success of the first "true black empowerment" freight organisation in the land, Sebenza Forwarding and Shipping Consultancy. As he stepped from the Robben Island ferry Autshumato after the 25 minute voyage from Cape Town, the quiet-spoken c.e.o. of Makana Investments - of which Sebenza forms part - recalled that had he served his full 15-year terrorism sentence, release would only have come about seven days earlier, on September 26 to be exact. Instead, he Ôwalked' on April 16 1991 having served just under seven years, the result of negotiations by Nelson Mandela and the Nationalist Government of the time to free all political prisoners. Following the formation by former political prisoners of the Makana Trust whose goals include providing a platform for positive self-actualisation of its members, came the commercial arm Makana Investments. Today, Makana Investments is involved in media - it owns four radio stations - telecommunications, logistics and the financial sectors, standing for what Ngwenya terms "true black" empowerment and providing a network of influential stakeholders while at the same time identifying talent in the previously disadvantaged groups. Sebenza, in which Makana Investments holds a 51% stake, management 4% and Bidvest 45%, is clearly Ngwenya's Ôbaby' as he proudly states: "It has been the most successful of all the companies we have established." Invited to the ÔRobben Island Day' which included a visit to Ngwenya's former Cell 20 in Block B, were current and potential clients involved in clearing and forwarding including Telkom, Eskom, ATE, SAB, and Siemens. Testimony by satisfied customers came from SAB for whom Sebenza handled the largest consignment of glass bottles yet to come in from Saudi Arabia - 1 472, 40-foot, containers. Abbot Laboratories South Africa, involved in highly perishable medicaments, testfied that Sebenza had achieved a 98% success rate in deliveries to end-users throughout the country over a period of three years. One of Sebenza's success stories has been that of its Pretoria branch specialising in the arms industry, Denel among others.
