Assistant Finance Executive, Motus Retail and Rental │ Founder, Ga-Mphahlele Home-Coming
Moeletji is a non-typical finance professional, and SAICA CA2025 incorporating philanthropy, social responsibility and environmental stewardship into its competencies, makes it an overall affirmation of the path she is carving for herself. She currently occupies the role of assistant finance executive in Motus Retail and Rental Division. She is also a founder of Ga-Mphahlele Home-Coming, a non-profit organisation that seeks to eradicate poverty in rural communities.
Being born in a remote village called Lekurung prompted her to start Project 25 when she turned 25. She adopted 25 school learners in a rural school and offered them tools that will ensure that they get a quality education and allow them to dream beyond their current circumstances. Through this project, they were able to renovate a classroom and turn it into what would be the community’s first-ever library. They also built flush toilets for the school, which was using pit toilets.
When COVID-19 hit us, they pivoted our education-based initiatives to respond to food security concerns within rural communities. They supplied over 2 000 food parcels to vulnerable families in over 30 villages and over 15 schools and collaborated with local farmers and spaza shops to boost the rural economy. With sustainability and impact as their core values and being an organisation that is heavily donor reliant, they were cognisant of donor fatigue, and this prompted them to pivot from giving food parcels to working on a long-term approach to food security in rural communities. They started farming projects with beneficiaries by providing them with seedlings, equipment and water storage facilities. Vulnerable families are now able to farm in their own backyards and sell the excess to the community and local supermarkets.
Their organisation has over 30 volunteers, all are unemployed youth. They work with these volunteers to create a sustainable means of income for themselves by assisting them with start-up funds for businesses they have started in order to curb unemployment.
These initiatives have led to accolades for Moeletji, including the Inside Education Top 100 Shining Stars, Mail and Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans and Sunday World Unsung Heroes.
In Moeletji’s words: ‘We thought we are solving a systemic poverty crisis, but actually we are fixing an accessibility and representation problem. Our mission was never to create because things already exist − ours is to expose our people to what is out there.’
