Noluthando Mnguni: Rooted in Rural, Built for the World

“Her childhood dream was to be a flight attendant. Instead, she built a business that is bringing luxury to rural South Africa and putting KwaZulu-Natal on the map for a new generation of travellers.“

Noluthando spent most of her youth in boarding school, far from the rolling hills of Umzimkhulu in KwaZulu-Natal. It was there that she learnt something that would later define her entire career. How to build a world for yourself wherever you are planted.

As a young girl, her dream was simple: become a flight attendant and see the world. What she did not anticipate was that the world would eventually come to her.

Sweets, Hustle and a Marketing Diploma

In high school, she was already selling sweets to her dormitory mates and classmates, a modest start that grew into something far more serious during her years studying for her Diploma in Marketing at the IMM Graduate School of Marketing. In 2019, she was chosen for a fully funded business management programme by the Department of Economic Development at the UKZN Graduate School of Business and Leadership.

Noluthando always drew inspiration from women like Basetsane Khumalo, Carol Bouwers and Khanyi Dlomo. These are women who shaped her vision of what was possible. Women who commanded rooms, built brands and never apologised for their ambition. But it was something far more personal that pushed her into business. She could not find a job. Unemployment was not a dead end. It was a door.

Her first venture was a fast food business, one her parents did not believe would succeed. They were not alone in their scepticism. But Noluthando had already learned not to wait for permission.

Building Mankho: A Name With Roots

In 2015, Mankho Group of Companies began trading. The name itself tells the story. A combination of her mother’s first name and her father’s first name, stitched together into a brand that carries the weight of both. Her father, a taxi boss, had already shown her that business built from the ground up was possible. She just needed to find her own road.

Today, Mankho Group spans events management, travel solutions, transport and rentals. A diversified business born not from a boardroom strategy but from a woman who kept saying yes to opportunity.

Luxury Where You Least Expect It

Noluthando has always been passionate about travel. In 2024, she established Mankho Travel Solutions. Her vision has been to offer affordable travel with no hassles, especially for people in rural areas. She believes the tourism sector is very much untapped, particularly in rural areas.

We have hosted groups from as far as Portugal, who came to my village on community development work. They were drawn to the raw, authentic beauty of rural South Africa that no five-star hotel in a metro city can replicate.

Noluthando Mnguni

Noluthando is also a community builder. One of her biggest events to date, Women of Worth in Hats ‘n Heels, is a gathering built around the theme of women empowerment, uplifting of skills and networking. This particular event stands as a testament to what she believes events should do. Not just entertain, but transform.

The road has not been without difficulty. Late-paying clients, unpaid invoices and overall business overheads remain some of her most persistent frustrations. Like every entrepreneur who lived through 2020, COVID hit hard. But Noluthando pivoted quickly, partnering with funeral parlours to provide tent and chair hiring during the pandemic. This is where her business built most of its capital. It was a decision that kept Mankho Group not just alive but profitable during one of the most devastating periods the industry has ever seen.

Rewriting the Travel Narrative

Noluthando has her eyes firmly set on travel as Mankho’s next frontier. The group already offers inbound travel packages, with international offerings to destinations like Zanzibar and Tanzania in the pipeline. She has built relationships as far afield as Mauritius and Kenya, where doors are already opening. But her most passionate argument is closer to home.

South Africa, she insists, must start prioritising domestic travel. It is not just a lifestyle conversation but an economic one. Domestic tourism contributes directly to GDP, yet the industry continues to funnel attention and resources toward international visitors while everyday South Africans remain underserved.

Having travelled across all nine provinces, she believes the Eastern Cape is sitting on a wealth of hidden gems the country has barely begun to explore. Zululand and Mpumalanga are gaining momentum with travellers who are increasingly vocal about one thing: Cape Town is overrated. Rural tourism is not a niche. It is a booming market hiding in plain sight.

Empowering the Next Generation

In 2017, Noluthando established what was then called Bright Future Leaders, an NPO aimed at equipping youth and women in her community with tools to build their own futures. She renamed it in 2021 to the Noluthando Mnguni Foundation (NMF), which has since evolved into a broader empowerment vehicle, one that reflects how much she herself has grown.

She speaks candidly about the structural barriers she faces as a woman in business. Patriarchy, lack of collateral and limited access to funding are not abstract policy conversations for her. They are the daily reality of trying to scale a business without the same access to capital that male counterparts take for granted.

Yet she has created jobs. Real jobs. In a community where unemployment is not a statistic but a lived experience, that matters more than any accolade.

The Road Ahead

Noluthando Mnguni is working remotely, running a warehouse from home and planning to open two satellite offices. Her short-term goal is clear: become the best events and travel agency coming out of rural South Africa, led by a woman. Her long-term ambition is equally direct. She is seeking a strategic partnership with corporate or government entities that can provide long-term contracts and access to financial capital to take Mankho to the next level.

She is not waiting to be discovered. She creates opportunities for herself.

To the young women in rural communities who see themselves in her story, her message is simple: never let your background stop you from dreaming big.

Umzimkhulu raised a girl who sold sweets in high school. That girl is building an empire.