Nondumiso Sibiya is tackling illegal dumping

Nondumiso Sibiya is the co-founder of Boombadotmobi, the Uber for waste collectors that aims to alleviate illegal dumping. Born and bred in Diepsloot, Gauteng, she enjoys interacting with the wide variety of people that visit the area. After school, she took a gap year to volunteer and to take a course at bible school. She started studying to become a teacher at Wits but dropped out soon after starting due to a lack of interested in the field. She returned to volunteering, motivating children to look beyond their immediate circumstances before venturing into the entrepreneurial world. An entrepreneur at heart, she has always spotted opportunities for making money, however, when she was introduced to the business center in Diepsloot she ventured properly into entrepreneurship.

Born out of the problem of illegal dumping, Boombadotmobi builds on the concept of a Boomba or dung beetle which reuses waste. They ensure that the garden refuse and building rubble collected by their truck drivers is transported to designated facilities and not dumped illegally by providing photographic evidence to their clients that waste has been properly disposed of. On top of that, they use the collected building rubble and help from the local community to rehabilitate roads that are falling into disrepair and which the municipality is not fixing.

Photo by Mpumelo Macu

The project faces a number of challenges including automation, the lack of an app, ensuring that truck drivers have phones capable of sending pictures of the waste disposal and ensuring truck drivers arrive at the specified times. Marketing and a higher price due to their unique offering are also hurdles that they must overcome. The goal is to expand the project throughout the greater Johannesburg North and help turn it into a no illegal dumping zone.

Photo by Mpumelo Macu

Nondumiso feels great waking up in the morning knowing that her work is making a difference in her community as well as helping people without jobs. She gains joy from knowing that her project reduces illegal dumping, helps rehabilitate roads and provides employment to people in the community. She gains energy from helping people and even when things aren’t going well one day, she knows things will be better because she has infused someone else with hope that day.

Hoping to learn a lot at the Amaphiko academy, Nondumiso believes that entrepreneurship is a continuous journey of learning. She is also looking forward to the mentoring process and meeting people that can show her a different way of approaching her business in order for it to stay relevant, sustainable and helpful to its customers.