Vusi is a seasoned software engineer and entrepreneur with over two decades of experience in technology, consulting, and a decade in executive leadership. Born in the small Mpumalanga village of Maganagobushwa, his entrepreneurial spirit surfaced early—selling milk at his home village, sweets in primary school, and airtime and electronics in high school. During high school he also earned an A+ certificate for computer repairs and learned software development at Gnosis Computer Campus in Ekurhuleni.
Immediately after high school, he built a school timetabling software and ventured into consulting. He notably imported and implemented tracking technology for government vehicles—a system still monitoring over 10,000 vehicles today. His consulting work spanned South Africa, including projects in KZN, The Free State, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga.
In 2018, as a director at Tirhani Group Holdings (TGH), Vusi managed the disposal of R100m in properties for the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (GDID) through online auctions—what was deemed unlikely to yield results at the time —yet, some properties sold for up to 31% higher than market value. Later, as executive director of the Centre for Enterprise-neurship (2018–2020), he led the revitalisation of the auction industry by launching the first industry-wide auction conference, co-developing a pioneering research paper with Plus94™, and aligning auction qualifications with SAQA standards.
In 2019, he became Chief Operations Officer at TGH, streamlining the group’s operations from 16 to 5 subsidiaries during the COVID-19 disruptions. In 2021, as executive director of Nyukani Education Centre, a subsidiary of TGH, he led a swift transition to e-learning, resulting in significant academic improvements—including a 10% overall performance boost and record-breaking Matric results, doubling distinctions and achieving a 96% pass rate from 83% in a province averaging 66%. The school later achieved a 100% Matric pass rate after Vusi’s departure, and earned accolades from TT100 and Da Vinci Business School. Vusi also contributed to a program with Isaac Bari, the world’s youngest professor, to make maths and science more accessible to South African children.
In 2023, Vusi took a sabbatical from his executive roles to embark on a 3,257km unassisted cycling pilgrimage from Musina to Cape Town, raising funds for 10,000 school shoes—so far collecting 3,500 pairs. He now consults as a project manager and business consultant, is pursuing a master’s in Applied Ethics at Wits University, and is bootstrapping an events ticketing platform, skybookings.com.
Throughout his journey, his wife Victoria and their children have been a constant source of support and inspiration, puncuated by his love of philosophy and music as an award-winning pianist.
WE ARE THE BRIDGE between why things are and how things get done. This is the bridge between philosophy and entrepreneurship.
My mission is to bring these seemingly disparate worlds together. Philosophers are inaccessible, buried in academic papers and impenetrable books. Yet, their ideas course through our deepest veins and quietly influence our identity.
Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, are constantly on the prowl for the next big idea. They shape the world as we know it, but can get caught up in the mindless pursuit of more. Entrepreneurs can become The Great Gatsby, the man with everything except what matters.
My mission is to draw on the depth of philosophy to envision the world as it ought to be, and to embody the spirit of entrepreneurship to render it as it could be. The principles of rigour, impact and Ubuntu are my guides.
These are the principles that undergird my business at skybookings.com and the advisory work I do for my clients.
I am the Philosopher Entrepreneur.
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