The Cycling Medicine Man

Sizwe Nzima, from Khayelitsha township in Cape Town, has won a Forbes Magazine award for being one of Africa's top young entrepreneurs. The youngster started a new business which is now helping to solve problems faced by people needing to collect medicine from public health facilities. Instead of sick and elderly people having to stand in queues for hours in overcrowded centres, Nzima's Iyeza Express collects chronic medication and delivers them by bicycle to the Khayelitsha residents in their homes.

Collecting medication from a clinic or a hospital dispensary in a South African township is by no means easy. The cost of transport to and from the facility including the hours spent in queues, paying for childcare and loss of pay for missing work are only some of the problems faced by those who collect their medication. The elderly and infirm face a terrible nightmare as they are often physically unfit and find it almost impossible to travel the distances required.

After reading an article about the clinics struggling to cope with patients queuing for hours to collect their medication, he recognized a need and came up with an idea to create a business which could assist the elderly and the infirm as well as those who are too weak to travel or too ill to stand and wait for hours.

“The service encourages people to go to work and stay healthy as they aren't tempted to stop taking their life- saving medication because they have run out,” he says. “What I'm doing is helping to improve people’s quality of life and life expectancy.”

He knew there was a  non-profit charity organisations that collect medicine for bed-ridden and elderly people, but there wasn't a similar service for working people. “I thought to myself that I must do something and that surely there must be a need for a service that would streamline the process,” he explains. “I realised it will also take the load off public health facility workers which would in turn allow them to be able to help others who are in desperate need of attention."

“I used to collect medication for my grandma for three years and experienced first-hand what happens, but it isn't only elderly people who are affected. The majority of people who queue for their medicine are able-bodied and waste time that could have been spent at work. These are people who would happily pay for affordable delivery of their medicine, allowing them to save their sick leave – if they get any – for days when they are really ill,” he says.

Sizwe together with his two helpers are social entrepreneurs at heart, and their goals are finding solutions to the problems in their community, and in doing so make a contribution to improving the economy. “We are all about social change and we are coming up with business ideas that can change society, help our community and uplift the economy,” he says. “Business isn't just about making money, but also about bringing about positive change.”

Less overcrowding, better health, more jobs

Not only does his business save his clients time and money but he is now creating much needed employment for young people who know their way around the network of streets in Khayelitsha. Using bicycle's to transport the medication they are able to keep the service affordable and environment-friendly. Sizwe launched the pilot in May this year and the business has now been up and running for only a few months but the response from the local residents has been very positive. Clients pay a small fee of R10 per collection and at the moment there are about 40 clients but he is positive this number will increase as he builds trust within the community. He hopes to take the service to other parts of Cape Town next year but his vision is to expand his business nationally. “For me, this is a national problem and it needs a national solution. The sky is the limit,” he says.

Sizwe was one of 24 finalists selected from over 200 applications, and one of six chosen to receive seed funding from Forbes. “I couldn't believe it. My business was only starting out; while others were going for at least two years already,” he says. Young people have what it takes to be change makers in South Africa and throughout the world by developing economically viable business solutions that can bring about a positive change in society. “Young people should be the innovators. Every young person needs to decide how they are going to use their power for good,” he says.

He believes that young people have what it takes to be change makers in South Africa and the world, by developing economically viable business solutions that can also bring about positive change in society.

Sizwe and his helpers are also involved in setting up other projects - a recycling business and an initiative to educate people about gangsterism. “Making money is good, but you have to give something back. This is also what they taught us at the Academy,” he says.

“I believe young people have the power to change the world, if the youth can understand this, they will stop focusing on things like drugs and crime. We can change the world, make it safer and improve our economy in this way.”

Sources: BBC Worldwide News & New Generation Africa