Newcastle,KwaZulu-Natal
South Africa’s youth unemployment rate, at 45.5% (among those aged between 18 and 34) is worryingly high, even in the context of widespread unemployment across the African continent. While South African statistics have shown that holding a tertiary degree or diploma increases young people’s chance of finding employment compared with their less educated peers, there are fewer opportunities available than their are graduates.
In 2022, a young man with big dreams from Newcastle, decided not to allow unemployment statistics to bring him down. Instead, through hard work and determination Sibusiso Xaba, then just 16, from humble beginnings, started his own company called Resilient Hustlers which specializes in construction, logistics and property maintenance
Speaking to SpotlightOnNewcastle, Xaba who turns 19 in August this year said that his parents purchased his first lawnmower on his behalf.
“I did not have any means of getting a lawnmower at the time so my parents purchased one for me to mow the lawn at home . Next thing, our neighbor asked me to mow their lawn for them at an affordable price. Me being 16, I was over the moon with the opportunity to make my own money. From there I started approaching and helping my neighbors mow their lawn, happy as ever. I remember coming back home from mowing lawn and my dad would tell me, son I’m glad you realize that money is earned, it doesn’t fall from the sky. Since 2022 I kept pursuing entrepreneurship while balancing it with my studies,” said Xaba.
In mid 2024 one of Xaba’s lawn care clients requested for him to remove carpet for them after he had tendered to their garden.
“I remember it so vividly, I sat there not even knowing how I would do it but told told my client that I would be able to do it for them. My heart was pounding at the time. As soon as I got home, I contacted my other entrepreneur friends and one them said to me that he knew how to do the job. Funny story: I was doing a logistics project a few months prior to the scenario and a prospect approached me requesting us to plaster his house. I called the same friend since I thought he may have knowledge on plastering. He said he does so I referred the client to him and he did an amazing job. Later on as we met at school he explained to me how he watched a YouTube video on plastering right before completing the task. I’ve never laughed so hard that year. He also taught me how to remove the carpet for my lawn care client and after we did an amazing job the client literally said that he was willing to give us the entire project because we had done a very good job. (she also requested us to install tiles for her). So I agreed, again, my heart pounding as I had absolutely no clue how to install tiles. I go back home and asked my network who do they know that can put in tiles and contacted someone who could, we then worked together on the project and it was completed successfully. That gave birth to Resilient Hustler’s Carpet removal and tile installation services. From there more prospects recognized the beautiful transformations and the business then took off,” explained Xaba.
In 2024 the young businessman also launched Resilient Hustler’s Logistics and Construction services,by mistake, according to him.
“One evening I was walking around my neighborhood looking for potential lawn care prospects and stumbled upon a new resident who just moved in and renovated his home. he had rubble on his property and an idea just hit me. I knew a friend who owned a H100 at home since his dad did logistics for a living. I approached the person and pitched him a proposal on how having a beautiful yard would feel, as his yard had a lot of potential. He appointed me to clear out the rubble and we exchanged contact details. I contacted my friend who had the H100 truck at home and we completed the project successfully. After that project I looked back and thought, heyyyy that project paid!. I’m still in my matric year in high school and I completed a small project that paid twice as much as the lawn care business. That’s how I launched the logistics and construction business. I did my second and third projects in that industry and they both paid a bit more than double my first rubble removal project. I was 18 getting paid my first thousands through construction and logistics so I’ve held on to it ever since,” he said.
Xaba said that he is ever so grateful for the people that he has around him.
” I remember sitting in my matric class listening to my friend speak about how he’s about to close a mine deal by just finding a project and outsourcing the trucks, he also showed me the contract he had with him. He had an estimation of +- 200k pm in profit after finishing high school. That completely flipped the switch in me, it made me feel like what am I doing with my life. I must say that is the best feeling I’ve ever experienced as it inspires growth. I was sitting next to him as someone who barely generates +- R250 per yard that I mow lawn for. Prior to that in the month of December 2023 my close friend generated 1k from just cutting hair, and that feeling of what am I doing with my life struck me again. To this day I still have contacts in my network that keep me inspired and I’m highly grateful for having them in my life,” he said.
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