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Meet freelancer turned multi-million rand water business owner

Meet freelancer turned multi-million rand water business owner

March 26, 2025

When Luthando Mchiza, a Durban native, left his job in 2015,little did he know that his future held the promise of a thriving business in geotechnical services. The founder of Perfect Drilling, Luthando, 33, now reflects on a journey that started with minimal resources and culminated in a flourishing enterprise with an asset base of over R7 million.

“The idea for Perfect Drilling came when I stopped working in 2015, but I didn’t have the resources until during COVID-19 in2021,” Luthando explains. During the pandemic, the business began by subcontracting to gather the necessary machinery. A year later, they were able to acquire all the equipment needed to enhance both the turnaround time and quality of their services.

Before venturing into his business, Mchiza was engaged in various freelancing projects for the Department of Education. His background in construction, having studied Construction Management at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, laid a solid foundation for the business. His partners, a civil engineer and an IT specialist, brought complementary skills that have been instrumental in the company’s growth.

Participation in the Nedbank Pitch & Polish competition proved to be a pivotal moment for Perfect Drilling. “Their coaching helped us identify our market and explore other spaces we could get into,” Luthando notes. This guidance was crucial in positioning the company within the competitive landscape of geotechnical services.

Starting the business was not without its challenges. “We began with little resources and start-up capital, but my partners and I made it work,” Luthando recalls. Despite these obstacles, the company has grown significantly, now employing 12 people. Among the highlights of their journey is the rapid expansion of their asset base to over R7 million within just three years of operation.

Luthando’s advice to budding entrepreneurs is simple yet profound: “Start with the little that you have. Once you secure that one contract, ensure the quality is the best so you can attract more clients. “His emphasis on quality over quantity has been a cornerstone of Perfect Drilling’s success.

Perfect Drilling operates with a mission to address the fundamental need for water in communities. The company collaborates with both government and private sectors to provide borehole drilling, water-quality testing, and water purification and filtration systems to homes, farms, and schools in previously disadvantaged villages.

When asked about the financial viability of his industry, Luthando affirms, “Yes, the returns are quite good, but there are also a lot of overhead costs involved.” Despite the financial challenges, the rewards have been substantial, reflecting the high demand for their services.

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Florence Duval

Florence Duval is a seasoned strategist with over 25 years of experience leading sustainability, stakeholder engagement and social impact initiatives across public and private sectors. 

As CEO and founder of IN TOUCH, she guides cross-sectoral teams to deliver high-impact advisory solutions that strengthen institutions, enable public-private partnerships and secure both the legal and social licence to operate. Her expertise spans compliance, community development, issue management and sponsorship development – always anchored in sustainable development principles. 

A former mining executive and committed social activist, Florence is known for her ability to build meaningful partnerships, navigate complex regulatory environments and drive transformative impact through purpose-driven leadership

Monique Chinnah

Monique is a curious, serial questioner who wants to take the mystique out of business and finance to make it practical and relevant to entrepreneurs. ‘Why?’, ‘Why not?’ and ‘How can we help, for real?’ are her favourite questions.

She is the Senior Manager of Segment Design and Development in Retail Relationship Banking at Nedbank, and she is responsible for ensuring that small businesses are fully supported through Banking and Beyond® solutions and most particularly as the product owner of the SimplyBiz® platform. Monique believes that keeping business strategy simple, real and practically implementable is fundamental to success. She also believes in the power of fun. If you don’t like what you’re doing, don’t do it!

Monique draws on her own entrepreneurial journeys and extensive management roles in various industries to ensure that solutions are conceptualised and delivered with small-business owners’ needs in mind.

She believes in life-long learning and being a sponge through immersions in over 300 000 businesses, various tertiary and educational programmes, and she is a YouTube and social-media hustler. In 2012 she was awarded a scholarship through Goldman Sachs UK to attend the 10 000 Women entrepreneurial programme through the Gordon Institute of Business Science, and she has been recognised with several Top Achiever Awards in Nedbank.

Allon Raiz

Allon Raiz is regarded both locally and globally as a pioneer and maverick in the business-incubation industry. He is the founder and CEO of Raizcorp which, according to The Economist, is the only genuine incubator in Africa and which currently supports over 500 businesses.

A two-times PhD dropout, Allon is the best-selling author of three entrepreneurial books. He hosted the first national radio show on entrepreneurship in South Africa in 2004; wrote and hosted the first South African prime-time entrepreneurship reality television show; and created and published an entrepreneurial cartoon strip. Allon is currently hosting his 15th season of the popular The Big Small Business Show on Business Day TV.

Allon is a co-founder of the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation South Africa and Rural Roots, and is on the advisory and judging boards of numerous local and international NGOs and entrepreneurial awards. His passion for and focus on the development of entrepreneurs attracted the attention of the World Economic Forum (WEF) which, in 2008, recognised Allon as a Young Global Leader.

As an accomplished international speaker, Allon was invited to speak at the 2011 WEF Annual Meeting held in Davos, Switzerland. In 2011, he became a member of the WEF’s Global Agenda Council on Fostering Entrepreneurship, making him one of 15 recognised global experts in the field. More recently, he became a member of the WEF’s Global Future Council.

In 2013, Allon received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the Oliver Transformation and Empowerment Awards. The following year, he became the country winner, regional winner and continental winner of the Titan Award for Building Nations.

Between 2014 and 2016, Allon guest lectured at Oxford University where he was recognised as the Oxford University Saïd Business School’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence.

In 2015, Allon received an invitation from the White House, on behalf of President Barack Obama, to speak at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit held in Kenya.

Nonkqubela Maliza

Nonkqubela Maliza is the director of Corporate and Government Affairs at Volkswagen Group Africa. She has held the position since 2006 and also chairs the VW Community Trust and VWSA BEE Initiatives Trust. 

Prior to this, Nonkqubela was a senior executive at Metallon Corporation, a pan-African mining and financial services company with operations in South Africa and Zimbabwe. She also served as a chief director at the Department of Trade and Industry and has strong experience in the financial services sector. 

Nonkqubela holds an MBA from the University of Cape Town, a BA Honours in Economics from Rhodes University and a BA in Psychology and Economics from Rhodes University.