Thembokuhle Shongwe became a self-made millionaire at the age of 21.

To make ends meet, Shongwe sold vetkoek at Nongweleza high school, his dream of pursuing a tertiary education a far reach. 

He secretly harboured an entrepreneurial dream even when he later worked as a waiter at Nandos in Durban. One fateful day, Shongwe’s luck changed when he encountered a successful trader, Jabulani “Cashflow” Ngcobo. 

Ngcobo introduced Shongwe to forex trading where he would eventually make his first million. “He had come into the restaurant. I was working at Nando’s. He was well dressed and you could tell that he was living a good life. It was then that I told myself that I wanted to be like that,” Shongwe admits.

Ngcobo mentored Shongwe to become a trader. Eventually, Shongwe would trade in his apron for a tuxedo. 

Yet, the self-made millionaire says that the transition from serving tables to becoming a full-time trader was not easy. “From having a 9-5 job to almost sitting in front of the laptop almost the whole day, I was used to only having the amount of money that was paid to me on a monthly basis, to suddenly having the possibility of making that same amount of money within a matter of days was amazing to me,” He adds. 

Shongwe says that it was not easy to trade forex at the beginning but with a strategy, he started to get the hang of it. When asked what advice he would give to aspiring traders, he says that beginner traders should firstly gather reliable information on a particular company before jumping ship.  

Shongwe has kept his business interests diverse and he plans to venture into the media space soon. He says that he hopes youth will learn about wealth and how to sustain it. 

“I’m from a normal lower-middle class family. I didn’t have any wealthy parents or uncles. If I can do it, Everyone and anyone can do it. I know that this will encourage our youth to believe that they can do the same,” says Shongwe.