Being raised by a single parent who struggled to put food on the table inspired a Limpopo-born businessman to become a beacon of hope for his family.

Today Rampete Rangata is an award-winning entrepreneur‚ who has won plaudits from government for his work.

Rangata‚ who owns Ramkol Construction and Projects‚ says his mother was forced to hold the knife at the sharp edge when his father died in 2001.

“My father was sick for a long time with lung cancer and in 2001 he died. My mother had to look after me and my four siblings. Sometimes it was difficult for her to buy a simple thing such as bread. Times were tough‚” said Rangata.

Rangata said the hardships shaped the person he became.

“We struggled and‚ because of that‚ I knew that I had to focus on important things. There was no time to play. Luckily I grew up in church and that helped because sometimes they would give me lunch money and help us at home‚” Rangata said.

At times‚ his mother turned to loan sharks to pay for their tertiary education.

“My mother could not afford to take us to school. In order to pay for our registration fees and other small expenses‚ she would borrow money from loan sharks. She wanted us to get our qualifications and we could do whatever we wanted afterwards‚” he said.

Rangata said he can manage the finances of his business well because he used to administer projects.

“It’s not always the contractor’s fault that some projects fail. It can be from the client also. Some service providers tend to fail to execute their task mainly because of delays in payments‚ which can bring the company to its knees. A lack of proper planning‚ discipline‚ passion and dedication can also affect your business‚” said Rangata.

Rangata said that he got tired of the nine-to-five grind when he was a government intern‚ then quit to register his business in 2010.

In order to start his business‚ Rangata took out an overdraft facility of R300‚000‚ which only covered operational issues and some of the required tools. But it was not sufficient‚ and he got help from a supplier in Polokwane‚ Dada’s World of Hardware.

His project managed to build 110 four-roomed houses in the Blouberg Local Municipality under the Capricorn District Municipality three months ahead of its deadline in the 2016/2017 financial year.

Rangata was among business people in the construction sector who were honoured by Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu at the annual Govan Mbeki Awards last week. He won the emerging youth contractor award.

The ceremony also included two lifetime achievement awards handed to anti-apartheid activist and the last living leader of the 1956 women’s march‚ Sophia De Bruyn‚ and the late treason trialist Ahmed Kathrada.