WHAT began as a single taxi has become one of the most dynamic woman-owned businesses in South Africa’s transport sector, according to the Eastern Cape Development Corporation.
Violet Thotoane Lupuwana is the founder and managing director of Chumile Transport Services, a fast-growing transport and logistics company with a fleet of more than 60 vehicles and an annual turnover of approximately R50 million.
Her journey into entrepreneurship started long before she entered the industry. Growing up in a village where her grandparents traded at local markets, she learned the value of commerce at an early age. She later trained and worked as an industrial engineer at companies like Cadbury and Volkswagen, but her true calling lay in empowering people and creating opportunities.
“Even in corporate, I realised I was more passionate about training, developing and uplifting others,” she says.
That passion now underpins her business philosophy. Chumile Transport Services operates across three divisions. The first is staff transport and shuttles for corporates, universities, schools, and hotels. Then there is travel and tourism logistics, including airport transfers, tours, and cruise liner transport. A third division is trucking and logistics, which involves transporting manganese, beverages and other goods across South Africa.
Her client list spans Nelson Mandela University, schools across the Eastern Cape, corporate clients, hospitality groups, and international travel agencies. In logistics, she has even replaced global players.
But for Lupuwana, the true measure of success lies beyond contracts and turnover. “We employ more than 60 people directly, but our impact goes further. Every car wash, mechanic, and small supplier linked to our fleet is part of the jobs we sustain. For me, empowerment means creating opportunities that outlive a payslip,” says Lupuwana.
She is intentional about empowering women and young people, hiring interns, graduates, and individuals from non-traditional backgrounds. One woman who started as a taxi rank administrator under her guidance now runs three businesses of her own.
Her achievements have not gone unnoticed. In 2023, she was recognised as one of Africa’s Top 100 Most Influential Women in Supply Chain by the African Women in Supply Chain Association.
Lupuwana also credits the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) for helping her business grow. Through branding support, trade missions, and market exposure, the ECDC enabled her to secure international opportunities in Nigeria, Ghana, Namibia and Kenya.
“Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) was part of the ECDC’s Exporter Development Programme designed to address barriers faced by local companies before entering the export market, especially those with a potential to export but lack support to expand their market footprint. As part of the exporter development programme, companies are taken through trade theory, export requirements, legalities, liabilities, export terms and how to be competitive in international markets.
“The ECDC also takes them through its export promotion programme and exposes them to international markets through trade exhibitions. The company has been assisted by the ECDC to participate in national pavilions organised by the Corporation and by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition. In addition, Chumile Transport has been assisted by the ECDC to participate in international trade missions to promote their business and to secure orders,” says ECDC Trade and Investment Promotion specialist Colleen Siwisa.
Looking ahead, Lupuwana is focused on expanding both her trucking and travel divisions beyond the Eastern Cape. She is also positioning Chumile to play a bigger role in the tourism value chain as a fully-fledged travel agency.
Her vision is bold, “This industry belongs to women too. It is time we take up that space. My dream is not just to compete, but to dominate”.
