He Is The Change He Wants To See

Earl Mondhlane is changing the lives of unemployed youth through his IT company

- Doreen Mokgolo

THERE's a saying, “Be the change you want to see in the world”, and that's exactly what a 34-year-old man from Atteridgeville in Tshwane is doing. When many people in Mzansi complain about the shortage of jobs, Earl Mondhlane is working hard to put an end to this by providing opportunities for young people through his information technology (IT) company.

He is the founder of Netmarks Technologies, a company that employs over 100 young people from townships across the country. The IT technician says that it has always been his dream to develop the lives of young people in his community.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS 

Earl says that his dream was born when he was 14 years old, selling sweets at school and ice cream after church services.

“My parents didn’t believe in giving us pocket money for school. We had to work hard to earn it. I decided to start my small business to earn some cash. I believed that these were the services that were needed at both venues and that I could make a quick profit with the small amount I had,” he says.

“Instead of spending all the money I made, I decided to save it towards buying myself a computer. I loved computers from a very young age and because my parents could not afford to buy me one, I promised myself that I was going to work hard to buy it myself. I learned how to operate it through friends whom I visited frequently to play computer games.”