Lefa Le Phelang’s founder, Janene Veldman, was born and raised in Eldorado Park – a township where poverty is woven into daily life, not just income levels. It’s a place where the burden of inequality often clouds dreams and shrinks ambition. But for Janene, that experience shaped more than just her perspective – it defined her purpose.
Today, Lefa Le Phelang stands as a 100% Black female-owned enterprise – and a symbol of what becomes possible when transformation isn’t just a concept, but a commitment.
One story in particular captures what this mission looks like in action.
Bertha Remley was a young woman with quiet determination and untapped potential. “She stood out – not because of where she came from, but because of where she was determined to go,” says Janene.
Janene saw something in Bertha that too often gets overlooked in under-resourced communities: promise. She enrolled her in the Occupationally Directed Education and Training Development Practices (ODETDP) learnership to help lay the foundation for a career in education and training.
Bertha excelled. After graduating, she joined Lefa Le Phelang’s internship programme for hands-on experience. Today, she’s pursuing her second qualification in Community Development, with a heart set on uplifting Eldorado Park – the very community she calls home.
Bertha is not just a success story – she’s a ripple. A living example of how one empowered person can ignite transformation across generations.
In communities like Eldorado Park, poverty isn’t just a lack of income. It erodes confidence, distorts self-worth and limits possibility. According to Stats SA, 46.1% of South African youth (ages 15–34) were unemployed in Q1 2025. That’s nearly half a generation growing up feeling like opportunity is out of reach.
👉 Source: https://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=18398
This is exactly what B-BBEE is meant to solve – not through handouts, but through real pathways: mentorship, access, skills transfer, and sustainable investment.
But when transformation funds are misdirected – when they’re thrown at problems without context or support – they become nothing more than expensive checkboxes. As Janene puts it: “If someone is drowning, you don’t toss them a manual and walk away. You teach them to swim. That’s empowerment.”
At Lefa Le Phelang, we help businesses do better.
We guide them to channel their B-BBEE efforts into strategies that build something lasting – and the result is more than compliance. It’s lives transformed. Communities strengthened. A living legacy in motion. “We don’t need to rescue communities. We need to empower them. And that means seeing B-BBEE not as charity, but as strategy.”