ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT BEGINS AT HOME – A Durban distributor steps up to help local business

Women supporting women 

Johannesburg, April 2022 – The hardest hit businesses during COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa were small, medium and Micro-enterprises (SMMEs). This is according to a late 2020 study by financial services company, Finfind. Enterprise development and aid is needed more than ever before, following the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. And local businesses are stepping in to offer assistance. One such example is the newly forged partnership between high-pressure pumping equipment manufacturer and distributor, Hawk Pumps, and KZN-based corporate and domestic cleaning company, Equipped Cleaning Services.

“One of our biggest challenges in our business was funding to invest in the industrial cleaning equipment we needed,” says Nonhlanhla Buthelezi, Co-Founder of Equipped Cleaning Services. Hawk really came to our rescue when they provided us with a vacuum cleaner and a steam-multi-purpose cleaner, which we use every day.”

In addition to providing Equipped Cleaning Services with the equipment they needed, Hawk Pumps also supplied uniforms for the staff and a paid weekly cleaning contract at the Hawk Pumps Head Office in Durban. Equipped Cleaning Services Co-Founder Thandeka Vilawe adds, “Our goal is to grow our business and hopefully provide more opportunities for people in our community who need work. Our new equipment and uniforms have really made a difference in moving us forward.”

Buthelezi continues, “We are now investigating new marketing avenues and have already started promoting our business on social media. Melanie (Melanie Mokawem, Hawk Pumps CEO) is helping us investigate new marketing avenues and we are very hopeful about the future.”

Melanie Mokawem comments, “Small businesses are the backbone of the South African economy. But so many of them face obstacles – especially in the last two years. Female-led businesses in particular, are met with a lot of resistance in a male-dominated world. We are happy to provide help for motivated entrepreneurs like Nonhlanhla and Thandeka, whose work ethics and dedication are so inspiring. We hope that other businesses in South Africa will lead by example and help our local entrepreneurs reinvigorate the small business economy.”

Vilawe concludes, “It means so much that successful businesses are contributing towards building companies like ours. Our biggest hope is that we can keep it going by providing employment opportunities wherever we can. We are getting many more customers already and we are confident that we will continue to grow. This path was seemingly impossible at times, but we did not lose hope. We will continue to work hard on our business and try our best always, with support for each other, drive and willingness to learn.”

Equipped Cleaning Services continues to gain new customers and contracts cleaning homes, offices, churches, halls, schools, restaurants, clinics and various other businesses in Umlazi KZN and surrounds, a beacon of hope for the small business economy and a success story with more to come.

Issued By: The Lime Envelope
On Behalf Of: Hawk
For Media Information: Bronwyn Levy
Telephone: 076 078 1723
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

About Hawk
Hawk is a manufacturing company that primarily creates industrial high-pressure pumping and cleaning equipment. They also manufacture spraying solutions, including industrial nozzles. One of Hawk’s biggest strengths is that they have the capacity to manufacture, and custom design machines tailored to specific customer needs.

Hawk serves a wide range of customers from virtually every industrial sector, including processing plants, factories, workshops, contract cleaners, drain and sewer cleaners, car, truck and bus washers, mines, agricultural and more.