KRAZYBOYZ chairman walks away with Grand ICT Award

Mkhwanazi is the youngest recipient of the Top ICT individual award in Africa. Previous overall winners include Thoko Mokgosi-Mwantembe, CEO of HP South Africa, Dr Etienne Sinatambou, former Mauritian ICT Minister, and Sizwe Nxasana, former Telkom CEO.

“This award is evidence that the advertising and ICT industries are moving closer together at a rapid rate. KRAZYBOYZ, one of Africa's leading digital advertising agencies, is strategically placed to take our clients' brands to the next level using ICT media such as the Internet, email, mobile phones and digital signage.”

It has been a long and bumpy ride for Mkhwanazi, who began by running his business in his bedroom at 17 years old with his partner, Neo Motlhabane, and today he is receiving prestigious recognition. He acknowledges the contribution and hard work of KRAZYBOYZ staff and founding directors André de Villiers, Gustave Truter and Dean Wentzel.

“The real taste of the pudding for me is how many jobs this award will help create, how much growth it is to going to contribute to KRAZYBOYZ, how many other entrepreneurs it is going to create and how many professionals is it going to inspire to do more for disadvantaged communities. I'm now on a journey to building an African agency network in order to fulfil my vision to impact meaningful change to young disadvantaged people's lives by educating them about what I have learnt and what other entrepreneurs and business professionals have learnt.”

The awards recognise organisations and individuals that are making an exceptional contribution towards bridging the digital divide and contributing to the development of the African ICT sector and economy.

The 10th ICT Achievers Awards ceremony, coordinated by ForgeAhead, was attended by former President Thabo Mbeki, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his role in developing the ICT sector; Minister of Communications Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, and various ICT ministers from other African countries, including Ghana, Zimbabwe and Mauritius. The event was also attended by business and public sector leaders and young entrepreneurs and was broadcast on SABC international.

Mkhwanazi's has recently relinquished his executive role at KRAZYBOYZ and his future plans include him opening the Mkhwanazi Academy for Christian Entrepreneurship (MACE) in 2009. Mkhwanazi: “The school seeks to impact meaningful change to South African disadvantaged communities by developing and supporting future generations of entrepreneurs in a Christian based business program.”

The school will focus on entrepreneurship and will bring together 18- to 40-year-old entrepreneurs from South African townships for an innovative six-month program designed to prepare each student for a lifetime of leadership to take their businesses to the next level.

The school, a non-profit institution, will be located in Vosloorus, South Africa.