By: Tebogo Mokwena
Bongani Dlamini fell in love with numbers while he was a young boy in Limpopo, where he was entrusted at every sports event to keep people’s purses. He believes that it was his honesty that gained the trust of his teammates back then, and now it works for his clients at his business, Bonglez Accountants and Tax Consultants. An accountant since 2007, Dlamini completed his Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Johannesburg in the same year.
He told Vutivi News that he worked for small businesses, ABSA, the insurance industry, and eTV. It was during his last job that he decided to start his own business in 2014. The business’ growing success prompted him to leave his job in 2017 and focus entirely on his new enterprise. There are currently four branches in Gauteng, with the main office in Johannesburg. Bonglez employs nine people and provides practical training for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges in Gauteng.
The company also provides services such as auditing, accounting, financial statement management, tax services, payrolls, registering BBEEE certificates, and registering with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC). Dlamini said that his love of numbers and his honesty has kept him anchored through the years. He also attributes his growing success to investing in quality software for his company.
“We applied for a National Youth Development Agency grant and they purchased office equipment to the value of R50,000,” he said. “I then took my severance package and some of my wife’s money and bought technology for the office, including software.” He said that even though black SMME owners sometimes did not pay, he believed that the quality of the software he was using played a great part in the success of his company. “I was even able to open three branches during the Covid-19 lockdown,” he pointed out.
Dlamini said that he also hosted webinars where he taught people about topics related to taxes and bookkeeping. “I used to do it for free when people walked into the office, but now those who join pay a fee because of its demand,” he said. “When I see another SMME succeed because of good finances, I believe that my work is done because since I was a child, I have loved numbers and strove to give an honest account about finances.”Dlamini plans on opening more branches as he was reaching out to TVET colleges in Limpopo. “At the moment we are planning on opening four more branches in Limpopo,” he said.
