Bonga Masoka, 33, is the founding director at Splash Coatings Africa, one of South Africa’s fastest-growing paint brands. It is a Johannesburg-based affordable premium paint manufacturing, retail and applications and services company. Its products are available from two stores in Soweto and Soshanguve, a warehouse in Midrand and online through Takealot. Bonga completed his BSc and built his company despite being raised by a single mother who sold food on the roadside and who died before she could build a home of her own. Therefore his motivation is to provide his family and the company’s employees with more choices in life, such as about where to live, the education of their children, healthcare and security. Bonga says: “Much of the potential in this country is lost as a result of it being narrowly defined and limited to resilience and overcoming hardships.” For this reason his company has an initiative called One Bucket Splashed Dreams, which is renovating grade one classrooms in Soweto. So far they have completed 25 classrooms and four schools. Another achievement is that Splash Coatings Africa has been nominated for the Top16 Youth Owned Brands Award in the manufacturing category.
BSc, University of Cape Town
We’ve been recognised and nominated for the Top16 Youth Owned Brands Award in the manufacturing category, with winners to be announced in June. This nomination, regardless of whether we win, has underscored the importance of being intentional and deliberate. I made an intentional and deliberate decision when I started the business seven years ago to build a brand that stretches beyond “just paint” to one that embodies the belief that everyone deserves to be in a home that allows them to dream in colour. Today, our clients range from owners of modest two-bedroom homes in Soweto to residents of R37 million estates in exclusive equestrian communities and landlords of R650 million commercial properties.
One mentor, in university, influenced me to see empowerment through the lenses of social entrepreneurship.