30 August 2026
North West entrepreneur Tebogo Mosito is expanding the footprint of her mining engineering business beyond South Africa after building an enterprise that has created more than 135 jobs and developed partnerships in the mining, manufacturing and skills-development sectors.
Mosito is Director of Ditsogo Engineering, a Rustenburg-based company specialising in the manufacture of underground rolling stock, steel fabrication, mechanical repairs, and mining and engineering services.
Her route into engineering was not conventional. Mosito studied Human Resource Management at the University of the Witwatersrand but struggled to secure employment after graduating. She turned to entrepreneurship in 2008, operating several businesses before establishing the Ditsogo Group in 2012.
Her decision to enter mining was influenced by the limited participation of women in the industry’s core engineering, manufacturing and production activities, as well as the sector’s potential to generate employment and sustainable economic opportunities.
A significant breakthrough came through Impala Platinum, which became one of the company’s first major clients.
“My first major client was Impala Platinum, which identified gaps in my company’s technical capabilities but provided an opportunity for Ditsogo to participate in an enterprise supplier development programme,” Mosito said.
She said the programme assisted Ditsogo with regulatory compliance and capability development, helping the business grow and create employment opportunities for young people in surrounding communities.
Since its establishment, Ditsogo Group has created more than 135 jobs and currently deploys teams to different sites for maintenance and installation projects.
The company also works with North West-based Orbit FET College to provide workplace opportunities for students. Mosito said Ditsogo plans to establish a dedicated training division aimed at developing unemployed young people and aspiring artisans.
The company’s growth strategy has increasingly extended beyond South Africa.
Through export-development initiatives, trade missions and exhibitions, Ditsogo has showcased its products and services internationally, including in Germany and China.
Mosito said participation in the Partnering in Business with Germany Programme exposed the company to German manufacturing facilities, business-to-business engagements, technical practices and export-development opportunities.
Following its participation in the programme in 2024, Ditsogo signed an agreement with a German original equipment manufacturer.
“The partnership is enabling us to explore opportunities to supply chemical anchors, bolts and other mining-related equipment,” Mosito said.
The company is now pursuing opportunities elsewhere on the continent and working with local partners in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia, Zambia and Botswana. Mosito attributed some of this market access to participation in trade missions and exhibitions facilitated by South Africa’s Department of Trade, Industry and Competition.
Ditsogo is also exploring opportunities in underground mining support as it seeks greater participation across the mining value chain.
The company’s development has attracted industry recognition. Ditsogo Group received the Presidential Small and Medium Enterprise Award for Women in Engineering in 2022, while Mosito was recognised as an Emerging Export Leader in 2025 through the Partnering in Business with Germany Awards.
“For me, it shows my resilience in the industry,” Mosito said. “When people see the awards, they know behind the award there was hard work because we did not just win them. They looked at our financials, the growth, and the impact that we are doing to the community.”
Despite the company’s progress, Mosito said women-owned businesses continue to encounter obstacles ranging from regulatory requirements and red tape to limited market access, funding constraints and the cost of compliance.
She believes access to information, commercial networks and economic opportunities can help more women build sustainable enterprises.
For Mosito, Women’s Month should therefore extend beyond recognition and celebration.
“It is about fighting for opportunities and inclusion and making sure that we benefit from the economic opportunities that are available,” she said.
As a mother of four, Mosito said her children also motivate her ambition to help create an environment in which the next generation of women has greater freedom to pursue economic opportunities.
“Women empowerment means women having financial freedom and the power to choose where they want to be,” she said. “Because if you are not empowered, you remain where somebody chooses for you to be.”
Her message to aspiring women entrepreneurs is to believe in themselves, remain resilient, continue learning and take advantage of opportunities that can expand their capabilities and networks.
Mosito also called on government departments and private-sector companies to pay women-owned businesses within 30 days, arguing that delayed payments can undermine the sustainability of smaller enterprises.
From an unemployed Human Resource Management graduate to the director of a mining engineering company pursuing opportunities across several African markets, Mosito’s trajectory illustrates how enterprise development, technical capability, market access and strategic partnerships can translate entrepreneurial ambition into jobs and industrial participation.
