In a historic move Canyon Coal has appointed two 100% black-youth-owned companies, Vula Oil and Energrade to supply its mines with diesel in an effort to further integrate black-owned businesses into the company’s operations across the mining value chain.

Company Backgrounds

Energrade was founded in 2017 and is a 100% black youth and women-owned company. The founders were (and possibly still are) the youngest holders of a wholesale petroleum license in South Africa. Energrade COO Lethabo Nkoana (25) and Energrade CEO Khomotso Madiba (26) obtained the license when they were aged 21 and 22, respectively. Khomotso explains that she met Lethabo at university and he joined her in making her dream and passion of developing a business in the oil and gas industry.

Vula Oil Chairman Khanya Solani (41), who is a qualified chartered accountant, says that the company was established in 2013 and is a BBBEE Level 1 company that was founded by young South African entrepreneurs. In addition to Khanya, the company’s management includes CEO Magcinaviwe ‘Mike’ Tyulu, Operations Director Vuyani Chavunduka, Data Scientist Tadia Siwisa and Sales and Marketing Director Monwabisi Va. “Vula Oil has a wide range of customers from state-owned entities to the taxi industry, to the mining industry, fast-moving consumable goods (FMCG) customers and facilities management companies. Our customer base is therefore predominantly commercial and retail customers with some business done with wholesale customers,” explains Khanya.

Building Partnerships

“It’s very important to acknowledge that Canyon Coal, which is a subsidiary of investment company Menar, strongly believes in the upliftment of small businesses and recognises the importance that a small business plays in the economy,” Khomotso points out.

Khomotso is grateful to Menar Managing Director Vuslat Bayoglu for advocating that small, black-owned companies be integrated into the company’s mining value chain. “Vuslat is the epitome of an exceptional leader and one that advocates for large organisations to give smaller businesses opportunities in order to make the vital and necessary changes to shift the economy in the right direction,” she emphasises. 

She says that the one word that captures her company’s relationship with Canyon Coal is “Growth”.  Khomotso says that coming from a background of having sporadic sales, where a pandemic almost forced the company to shut its doors, their partnership with Canyon Coal has provided Energrade with a steady stream of work, which has brought stability to the organisation. “We believe that the belief Canyon Coal has shown in us will communicate to the market that, we are a trustworthy supplier that is worthy to work with large organisations and this will do nothing but unlock more opportunity for growth for us,” she enthuses.

Echoing Khomotso’s sentiments, Khanya highlights that Vula Oil’s relationship to supply diesel to Canyon Coal presents it with a huge opportunity to demonstrate the company’s capabilities to other potential business-to-business customers and suppliers.

Vula Oil would like to thank the leadership of Canyon Coal in taking a leap of faith and trusting the company with such an important component of its operations.The awarding of these contracts underscores Canyon Coal's commitment to increasing the number of black-, women-, and youth-owned businesses which supply the company's operations with goods and/or services. Canyon Coal has created a supportive and collaborative culture to nurture and ultimately grow these businesses.