By Mandla Mpangase
Nomboniso Zuma’s journey from the corporate world to building a growing automotive business is a story of determination, opportunity and what becomes possible when women step into industries where they have historically been underrepresented.
Leaving the security of a corporate career to build a business is never an easy decision. For Zuma, it was a leap of faith that has taken her from the corporate world to the helm of a growing automotive enterprise employing 23 people.
Today, as Chief Executive Officer of Fez Simplicity, Zuma has her sights firmly set on the next step: building a leading seating engineering and interior design company and ultimately becoming a Tier 1 supplier.
Her story is precisely the kind of story TASEZ wants to tell this Women’s Month.
Through its She is TASEZ campaign, the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone (TASEZ) is celebrating the women whose ambition, expertise and determination are helping shape its success – and showing young women that there is a place for them in South Africa’s automotive and manufacturing industries.
For Zuma, the journey began while she was still working in the corporate sector, when she joined her mother in building the family business.
“It’s been quite a journey, but it’s also been rewarding as an entrepreneur. It’s never easy, but you have to have the grit for it, and if you’re determined, you will reach the places that you want to go to,” she says.
The decision to leave corporate employment required persuasion, but Zuma had recognised something bigger: an opportunity for women in the automotive industry.
“I saw that there is an opportunity within Fez Simplicity. There’s a big opportunity for women within the automotive industry to tap into this industry and see the business grow,” she says.
That opportunity has grown considerably.
Fez Simplicity began as a fitment centre. When customers needed upholstery and seat covers, the company saw a gap in the market and decided to bring the service in-house. What started as a small studio in a garage with two women has grown into a business employing 23 men and women.
It is a telling example of entrepreneurship in action: identify a need, take a risk, invest in an idea and create something that did not exist before.
But growth in the automotive sector comes with its own demands.
Breaking into a market dominated by established suppliers requires persistence. Meeting automotive quality standards requires investment in machinery, skills and internationally recognised certifications. For Fez Simplicity, funding, access to quality materials and ISO 9000 accreditation have been important milestones on its journey towards supplying major original equipment manufacturers.
This is where the role of TASEZ became significant.
Zuma first encountered TASEZ at an exhibition, where she was introduced to programmes designed to help small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) operating in the automotive industry. That relationship opened access to exhibitions, business support and assistance in strengthening the company’s internal systems and compliance.
For Zuma, the value of that support has been about more than a single intervention.
It has been about access – access to opportunities, networks, exposure and the broader automotive ecosystem.
“They said, ‘We are here to support you. We want to see you grow and succeed, and we’re here to be your partners,’” she says.
That partnership is an important part of the She is TASEZ story.
The campaign is not simply about celebrating women who already occupy senior positions. It is about recognising the journeys that brought them there, the businesses they are building, the people they employ and the doors they are opening for others.
Zuma’s story is particularly powerful because it demonstrates what women can contribute when they enter sectors such as automotive manufacturing and engineering – sectors that have traditionally been seen as male-dominated.
It also demonstrates why enterprise and supplier development matters.
A growing SMME is not just a business on a balance sheet. It can become an employer, a supplier, a skills developer and, ultimately, a participant in increasingly sophisticated industrial value chains.
Fez Simplicity now has dedicated upholstery and seating production teams alongside its fitment centre and is looking beyond its current market. Its ambitions extend into locomotive and marine applications, while its ultimate goal is to become a leading seating engineering company and a Tier 1 supplier.
That ambition is at the heart of She is TASEZ.
Because the women being celebrated this Women’s Month are not simply beneficiaries of economic opportunity – they are creating it.
They are employing people, building businesses, solving problems, entering technical fields, making decisions. And they are demonstrating to the next generation that automotive manufacturing, engineering, and technology are not industries in which women have to ask whether they belong.
They belong because they are already there.
Zuma’s story also carries a message for the young woman who may be considering entrepreneurship but is unsure whether she has what it takes.
Her answer is simple: grit and determination matter.
And so does having people and institutions willing to support the journey.
She is TASEZ is about making those journeys visible.
Throughout Women’s Month, TASEZ will tell the stories of the women driving its success – women whose experiences can inspire the next generation to pursue careers, businesses and leadership roles in STEM , manufacturing and the automotive sector.
Nomboniso Zuma is one of those women.
She left the corporate world. She saw an opportunity. She took the risk. She expanded a business.
And she is not finished yet.
“I have big plans and bigger ambitions for Fez Simplicity to become a leading company in South Africa and a Tier 1 company,” she says.
With women like Zuma taking their place in the automotive value chain, the future of South Africa’s industrial economy looks considerably bigger too.
She is an entrepreneur; a manufacturer; an employer; an automotive leader. She is Fez Simplicity.
She is TASEZ.
(You can also meet Nomboniso Zuma on our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqgj5pK3zF4)