At just 21 years of age, Thokozani Buthelezi carries the courage of someone who has lived far beyond his years. Born in the quiet town of Bronkhorstspruit in Pretoria and now rooted in the vibrant city of Durban, he is completing his final year in Taxation at the Durban University of Technology (DUT). Beyond the lecture halls and exam timetables, Buthelezi is also building something far greater, a business that turns waste into opportunity and hope into action.
When he heard the words “You have won the Student Entrepreneurship Programme (SEP)”, it was more than just a victory. It was a lifeline.
“As a final-year student preparing to lose funding and allowances, the win came at a moment when life felt uncertain. It gave me hope, a reminder that hard work pays off, and that my dream is worth fighting for,” he expressed.
His entrepreneurial journey began in 2023 while working with Enactus DUT, where Design Thinking opened his eyes to South Africa’s harsh reality: food insecurity on one side, and more than 10 million tons of agricultural waste discarded daily on the other. From that clash of problems came a powerful idea to transform agricultural waste into high-value mushroom feed and that spark became Myco-Feeds.
The early days were promising, funding arrived and production facility was built, but in 2024, disaster struck. A natural catastrophe destroyed their greenhouses, forcing the young company to halt operations. For many, that would have been the end of the story. For him, it became the beginning of a comeback.
In 2025, he rebuilt from the ground up or rather, from underground. He rented a parking base to restart production, pushing through the setbacks with quiet determination. His resilience paid off. Myco-Feeds grew again, stronger than before, and eventually secured a larger, permanent facility.
His achievements have not gone unnoticed. Buthelezi has stacked up an impressive list of awards:
• Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans (2025)
• JCI Creative Young Entrepreneur (2024)
• Hult Prize On-Campus Winner (2025)
• Ford Community Challenge – 2nd Place (2025)
• Harmony Gold Entrepreneurship for Employment and Food Security – 2nd Place (2025)
• Shortlisted for the UAE FoodTech Challenge and the Iris Project (representing South Africa)
• Student Entrepreneurship Programme Winner (2025)
Among all these competitions, he remembers the Iris Project as the toughest. Competing against established green-economy enterprises from across Africa was intimidating, but it also broadened his vision. “It pushed me to see how far innovation can go,” he reflects.
Perhaps the most profound lesson he has learned was this: “An idea is not a business. Only when you act on it does it become one.” For Buthelezi, entrepreneurship is about showing up daily, learning, adapting, and allowing the journey to shape you.
To the DUT community, his message is loud and hopeful: “DUT is not just an institution it’s a movement and take advantage of the opportunities. They are designed to prepare us to create employment, not wait for it.”
When he was asked about which DUT Living Value guides him most, his answer was integrity.
“Integrity builds leaders. It strengthens brands. It ensures that what you create serves people, not just profit. For me, integrity is more valuable than cash it sustains trust,” Buthelezi explained.
Buthelezi is more than a student and more than an entrepreneur. He is a reminder that greatness begins with one decision: believing that even from the smallest town, even with the smallest start, one can build something that feeds a nation.
Pictured: Thokozani Buthelezi, the founder of Myco-Feeds.
Photographer: S’bonelo Dlamini
Phiwayinkosi Sibiya
