The Joe Sibanyoni Foundation was launched at a glittering ceremony at the Menlyn Time Square in Tshwane on Friday night.
The foundation is the brainchild of renowned taxi boss Mr Joe Sibanyoni, who is currently the Executive President of the South African Local and Long-Distance Taxi and Bus Organisation.
Amongst the guests were SANTACO president Mr Abner Tsebe, Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, MALLDTA chairman Mr Steerman Monageng and different taxi association chairman and members.
Mr Sibanyoni started his career in the taxi industry as a taxi driver almost 40 years ago in 1985 in the dusty streets of Kwaggafontein in the Mpumalanga Province.
In 1995 he managed to buy his own taxi vehicle.
Mr Sibanyoni has been involved in the leadership circles of various taxi associations like the South African Black Taxi Association (SABTA) in 1995, then SALTA and SANTACO.
Today Sibanyoni’s business interests include minibus taxis, trucks, property, mining, IT and construction.
He has three wives and fourteen children and is a staunch member of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC).
The following people were introduced as non-executive board members of the Joe Sibanyoni Foundation (JSF):
1.Alfred Mbatha (Logistics)
2.Samuel Mathiba (Head of Intelligence)
3.Thabo Mtshweni (Marketing)
4. Chairperson of Non-Executives Velinah Shabangu.
Executive Board Members of Joe Sibanyoni Foundation are as follows:
1.Zintle Ngcobo (Deputy Secretary),
2.Thomas Masase (Secretary),
3.Johannes Mpambela (Treasurer)
4.Marks Mokheni (Deputy Chairperson)
5.Patrick Murape (Chairperson).
“The launch of the foundation is very special to me because it is the culmination of the journey of my life and all that I have gone through,” said Joe Sibanyoni, who is the founder and president of the Joe Sibanyoni Foundation.
Mr Sibanyoni admitted upfront that he has lived a life of privilege and is grateful about it and he believes that God blesses people like him so that they in turn can be a blessing to other people.
“The Joe Sibanyoni Foundation is a vehicle that will be used to uplift the people and communities around me,” said Mr Sibanyoni.
“I have realised from a young age that my wish to become a better person doesn’t rest solely in the hands of the government and I have learned the true value of hard work and self-reliance from my father, who was a taxi owner himself and I recognise the fact that there is a need for transformation not only within our immediate communities, but also throughout the country,” he said.
“Joe Sibanyoni Foundation (JSF) is also meant to have an impact beyond the borders of South Africa and in this regard, we have brought here to this ceremony the Miss Teen South Africa 2022, who is also the current Miss Teen Universal finalist and JSF is an asset to Kwaggafontein in Mpumalanga, to South Africa and to the world at large because we have a global vision,” he said.
Mr Sibanyoni vowed to address the issue of unemployed graduates, and said the JSF will be the catalyst and the change it envisions itself to be.
Quoting the late USA President JF Kennedy from his 1962 inauguration speech, Sibanyoni said the following:
“Ask not what the country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
He said Kennedy’s words were a clarion call to people is not lazy but work hard, but at the same time not to be selfish.
“If you want to walk fast walk alone, if you want to walk far, take your brothers and sisters along,” said Sibanyoni as he expressed his trust in the board of the Joe Sibanyoni Foundation to help him achieve the aspirations of the Foundation.
He announced that he will invest R1 billions of his money to the Joe Sibanyoni Foundation and that his family is one of the richest families in South Africa due to its investments in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)
Mr Sibanyoni said JSF would focus on high impact projects which create jobs and invest in education.
He said if one gives education to a woman who in the long run establishes her own business and employs ten people, then one shall have impacted positively on the lives of 11 people and their families as well as their dependants.
Mr Sibanyoni says he has been advised by actuaries and economists that the R1 billion he is investing in his foundation will in the long run have a R40 billion impact on the country’s economy.
“I want to see people’s lives changing, I want to see JSF making a difference at schools, communities and also helping up-and-coming entrepreneurs, and we have already built a house for a destitute family in Soshanguve as part of our duties to serve the South African community,” he said.
He said he was happy with the nickname Joe Ferrari and that he was a God-fearing man.
He then quoted the following words from the book of John in the Holy Bible:
“I came with nothing in this world, so why don’t I give and share.”
He said he was following in the footsteps of the late statesman Nelson Mandela and the Motsepe family in their generosity towards South Africans.
The following attachment is a speech by Mr Joe Sibanyoni.