Unbeknownst to her, the ten years spent seeking permanent employment following her untimely retrenchment from Transnet, would provide Faizer Raymond with the fundamental lessons anyone with planet-sized ambitions must learn. The moment she understood the significance of stepping out of one’s comfort zone in pursuit of loftier ideals was the moment her tutelage came to an end and she was ready to embark on her life’s most challenging and potentially most rewarding venture yet, in entrepreneurship. The next chapter of her career began in 2014 which saw Faizer founding a company of her own, Kira Business Enterprise offering end-to-end solutions, including management, and advisory of the procurement life cycle; from tender management to contract management; provision of materials handling equipment & plant hire and warehousing or logistics services. Despite working in the Procurement and Supply chain division of Transnet, which was not aligned with her qualifications, Faizer found a deep love for the discipline and has continued in this field ever since and finally, after experiencing the hardships of the barriers of access to education, she revealed (in conversation) the satisfaction she feels being a woman who has risen above trials and tribulations to finance her own studies. Faizer endeavours to obtain a Masters degree in Procurement and Supply Chain Management through Salford University, based in the United Kingdom.

Having come face to face with the adversities experienced by women in the corporate world, disproportionate in comparison to those of their male counterparts, Faizer decided to study Woman and the Law through UNISA. The more time she spent working in Transnet’s Group Tendering & Policy department, the more her knowledge about gender inequalities grew, leaving these injustices consuming her thoughts, the chief among them being the evident gender pay gap, with women earning less than their male equals. In tandem with her passion for women’s development and transformation Faizer is enthralled when assisting women, and men alike, to resolve gender-based issues. Anything from settling court related issues to drafting legal documentation bring an exuberant sense of fulfilment to her.

Always with women’s empowerment in mind Faizer’s keen business acumen allowed her to identify a gap in the male dominated mining industry. Her strategy to bridge that gap was to first to surround herself with skilled talent, then endow her company with the appropriate tools and equipment. The aim is to provide cost effective and sustainable solutions to black-owned, women-led businesses in the local mining communities, who require material handling equipment and plant hire services, a relatively simple approach to a perplexingly complex problem, but there are still some challenges for Faizer, as with any other business, challenges will always arise. A number of barriers and obstacles have knocked Faizer along the way yet even so, Faizer remains confident in her vision and says with deep conviction that she will not give up, expressing that “giving up is never an option”. She continues to have hope that the people surrounding her, with the capability to support others, will join her in the mission to bring black women to the top of the mining industry.

Although growth remains relatively slow at Kira Business Enterprise, Faizer is grateful for the Siyakhula programme, who she became a beneficiary of in 2021, but the sun does come out again after the rain, a short-term contract awarded to Faizer by Exxaro Resources provides her with hope and a steppingstone to reaching her ultimate goals. With Zaakira as her motivation to get up every day and continue the battle of ‘women in the field’, she leaves other beneficiaries a message of hope, saying, “Even if you fall and bruise yourself; stand up, shake it off and continue marching forward, even if it’s with a limp. Strong women shall not fall forever, keep on with your baby steps.

Tel: +27 83 495 0810
Email: kirabizness@gmail.com
Website: n/a
Address: 66 protea Street Kensington South Johannesburg

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