Dawn breaks long before the first bags of tile adhesive leave the Grasp Adhesives factory.
But for its founder and chief executive officer, Zamafiso Mngomezulu, the day begins long before production starts. It begins with prayer, followed by preparing her three-year-old daughter for school before checking customer deliveries and ensuring her team has everything they need for another day of manufacturing.
It is a routine built on faith, discipline and gratitude, qualities that have carried her through one of the most remarkable entrepreneurial journeys.
Today, Grasp Adhesives is an award-winning business. For Mngomezulu, however, its success has never been measured only by production targets or sales. It is the fulfilment of a dream shaped by resilience and the support of women who believed in her vision.
Raised in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, she began her career in administration before pursuing music after relocating to Durban. She later studied Media and Communications and Public Relations while helping in her family’s transport business, where she gained an appreciation of logistics and operations.
The turning point came in 2017 when she joined a tile adhesive company as a receptionist. Refusing to remain behind a desk, she learnt everything she could about logistics, distribution, production, warehousing and product formulation.
“I wanted to understand the entire business because one day I wanted to build my own brand,” Mngomezulu said.
In 2019 she founded Grasp Adhesives. Soon afterwards, the COVID-19 pandemic almost destroyed the young business. With savings depleted and stock exhausted, she feared the dream was over.
Hope arrived in the form of another woman. Traffic officer Thabisile Tshabalala believed so strongly in Mngomezulu’s vision that she secured a R300 000 loan and invested it in the business.
“Very few people are prepared to do something like that for someone they hardly know. I will always be grateful because her faith in me gave me the opportunity to soldier on,” Mngomezulu said.
While Tshabalala helped save the business, Lerato Mosala helped transform it.
“Mosala brought structure and a different way of thinking. She introduced systems, strengthened our brand and helped us grow our distribution within three months,” Mngomezulu said.
After devastating floods disrupted her supply chain, Mngomezulu established her own manufacturing facility. Funding support from Ithala Bank enabled Grasp Adhesives to acquire specialised equipment, increase production capacity and create employment.
Today, the company employs 14 people, eight of whom are women.
“I wanted to prove that women belong in this industry and that resilience, vision and determination, not gender, define success,” she said.
Her advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is simple: “Start where you are, with what you have. Don’t wait for perfect conditions because they rarely exist. Keep learning, remain patient and never stop believing in your vision.” – www.vukuzenzele.gov.za
