27 September 2002
	SA'S BEST ENTREPRENEURS Best Entrepreneurs IT'S PEOPLE THAT MAKE THE DIFFERENCE

If you need people to offload a ship full of rice in Cape Town, truck drivers in remote African regions or an engineer to run an oil rig in Brazil, Corporate Contracting Services (CCS) can get the job done for you. The concept, labour brokering, is simple, the logistics complex. "This year we will fill about 34 000 temporary positions ranging from labourers to highly skilled professionals," says group CEO Wayne Stainforth. Johannesburg-born Stainforth (33) was forced to abandon his legal studies to assist in the then small family business founded by his mother in 1986. Since he took over the running of CCS in 1994, growth has been rapid. Over the past two years, its revenue has grown 186% and profit before interest and tax by 300%. Defying the sceptics State-owned technology company Arivia.kom is on its way to its goal of becoming SA's dominant technology company and ultimately the dominant player in Africa. And that is largely thanks to CEO Zeth Malele, who has successfully handled the challenge of welding together the technology subsidiaries of state-owned companies Denel, Transnet and Eskom. This year Arivia.Kom has beaten entrenched industry players to win contracts worth R640m. Profits take off with change In the six years that Kananelo Makhetha has been at the helm of BTI Connex Travel, he has changed more than the fortunes of the travel management company. He is credited with being instrumental in changing the face of SA's travel and tourism industry. Makhetha has transformed Connex Travel into one of SA's leading black-empowerment travel companies. Since its sale by Transnet in 1999, BTI Connex's profits have surged 350%.