Loyiso Pieterse

I’m Loyiso Eugene Pieterse, and I come from a small village in the desert of Richmond, Northern Cape. Growing up in a place where the wind carries desert dust across long, quiet roads taught me to work with what I have and to care for the people beside me. I studied Occupational Health & Safety at the Pinotage Youth Development Academy in Stellenbosch. That is where Dr. Nico told me, “Big opportunities are waiting for you; you just have to go for it and grab them with both hands.” Those words lit a path. Today I run Konke Bin Cleaning & Recycling in Belmont Park, Kraaifontein. We wash and sanitise household bins, help keep streets clean and dignified, and create jobs. We serve around 50 clients and have created work for teammates who were homeless and can now pay for accommodation at a community shelter. Konke is also creative at heart. We run a small studio for young poets, artists, and writers who cannot afford upfront studio fees. We host training sessions before recording, so confidence grows alongside craft. We bring different disciplines together to make one collaborative masterpiece, and we organise fundraising events so artists can earn while they create. In 2025 I was selected among the Top 10 young entrepreneurs in the Western Cape. Our next goal is to secure a bakkie so we can reach more suburbs, take on bigger contracts, and create more jobs both in bin-cleaning crews and in our studio programming. My work is proof that dignity, community care, and entrepreneurship can grow together.