From KZN teacher to more than 200 funeral parlour branches, including one in UK

Icebolethu Group founder and CEO, Dr Nomfundo Mcoyi-Zondo. Picture: Facebook/Nomfundo Mcoyi As South Africa celebrates Women’s Day,Dr Nomfundo Mcoyi-Zondo‘s journey from a primary school teacher in KwaZulu-Natal to one of the country’s most influential businesswomen highlights the power of determination and entrepreneurship. After teaching at Inanda Zwakele Primary School from 1996 to 2009, she founded the Icebolethu Group, growing it into a leading funeral services company with more than 200 branches across South Africa and an international presence in the United Kingdom.

She also made history as the first woman to be elected president of the South African Funeral Practitioners Association (SAFPA). The 51-year-old Mcoyi-Zondo toldEast Coast Radiothat the group prioritises its employees and ensures they receive benefits to help them cope with the high cost of living. “We offer proper benefits for our people pension fund, no matter what level you’re in, what category you’re in.

We give free lunch every day to our staff to ensure productivity. The economy is not good, and honestly, even if we are paying what we need to be paying, it’s still not enough. “Everything is going up: diesel, petrol, everything.

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We need to reach out for our staff and make sure we do the right thing for them. We assist where we can.” She established the funeral parlour in December 2009 after leaving her teaching job. At the time, she said she was starting a funeral parlour, not thinking it would be what it is today.

Mcoyi-Zondo also touched on being appointed the first woman to be the president of SAFPA, describing it as “humbling”. SAFPA is a national membership body representing and empowering funeral directors and parlour owners across the country. It advocates for industry standards, regulatory compliance, and professional growth, while speaking as an expert voice on sector challenges like unregistered parlours.

She is described as a woman in a male-dominated space, as many funeral services companies in the country are founded and led by men. “I saw transformation in our industry because when I came in 2009, there were very few females,” said Mcoyi-Zondo.

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