The Path of The Happy Warrior: Mapping Roads and Building Bridges with Thabiso

Bryan:

Raised in the rural hills of KwaZulu-Natal, in a village that only recently received running water and electricity, Thabiso Ciliza learned early that progress requires more than ambition—it demands resilience. 

Today, he runs Dunga Mzukulu Trading Enterprises, a construction company with multiple municipal and government contracts, but the story beneath the business is far more compelling. It is the story of a man who refuses to stay down, who treats failure as training, who cultivates peace as carefully as he builds bridges, and who believes that every entrepreneur must become a warrior, ideally, a happy one.

Bryan Welker and Stefan le Roux sat down with Thabiso Ciliza to discuss his rise from a rural KZN upbringing to leading major municipal projects, and how resilience, forgiveness, and a “happy warrior” mindset have become the foundation of his success.

The Good Business Journal: Thabiso, tell us about where you grew up, about your childhood.

Thabiso:
My childhood was interesting. And by that, I guess I mean challenging. I grew up in a rural village in KZN, the kind of place that only recently received electricity and water. School in those days meant cold-water washing and long walks. But I did well academically. My parents saw that and made the decision to invest in me.

In our area, the good schools were either Indian schools or white schools. They had the best curricula, but they were more expensive. I would have loved to go to a white school. My mother worked every extra job she could find in kitchens and various spaces to afford my education and get me into an Indian school. I focused on my academics and my sport, aiming for tertiary education. Despite the usual tricky teenage years, I made it into university.

Bryan: How did things develop after university?

Thabiso:
I started studying computer science but couldn’t finish due to financial reasons. My first job was as a barman in Johannesburg, and soon after starting the man I was working for recognised something in me. He said I shouldn’t be working for other people—I should be working for myself. He brought me into his business, but after a year, he told me to open my own company because he believed I knew what I was doing.

Bryan: That’s incredible. Instead of holding onto you for his own benefit, he pushed you forward. A real mentor.

Thabiso:
Yes, a mentor. And a very good man.

Stefan: Introduce us to your business. What are you working on now?

Thabiso:
I’m in construction. I currently have three major contracts with local municipalities. One is for building culvert bridges, another is for marking roads, new and existing, and the third is with Transnet for waste management.

Bryan: And your biggest challenge?

Thabiso:
Cash flow. Government contracts take a very long time to pay out, and cash flow is the hardest thing to manage.

Bryan: That’s crazy, right? How can a government expect you to run a business with delayed payments?

Thabiso:
It’s a perspective thing, I think. They’re on the other side of the desk. They don’t understand what it is to be in the wilderness.

Bryan: In America, our challenge with government is policy; in South Africa, it seems the challenges are dysfunction and corruption. It increases the difficulty exponentially.

Thabiso:
Correct. I’m having to liquidate some of my personal assets to keep the cash flow going right now.

Stefan: Tell us about some of your other ventures.

Thabiso:
I’ve had a butchery, and I also ran an Airbnb for a while.

I also opened a nail and beauty business for my wife, but unfortunately, we couldn’t make it work. It wasn’t breaking even. I told her we could keep investing for a year, but she didn’t want to continue losing money. On the day we closed it, she was so sad. She cried. I took her to lunch and ordered a celebratory bottle of wine—not to celebrate the closing of the business, but to celebrate everything we still had. I told her, “We will rise again. We always do.” 

Bryan: You truly embody the entrepreneurial spirit. You just keep getting back up. That’s what creates ultimate success.

Thabiso:
A warrior can never back down. You’ve just got to keep on fighting.

Bryan: You mentioned your wife. Can you tell us more about your family?

Thabiso:
Of course, I have two little girls, but let me tell you what their dreams are. They both want to work with me in my company. My eldest wants to be an engineer, and my youngest wants to be my accountant. 

But they also have friends whose parents work at their school, so they told me I should come and work at their school as well, so that we can spend more time together.

Bryan: That’s incredible. Not much can be more rewarding than your children wanting to follow in your footsteps. What advice would you give to a young Thabiso?

Thabiso:
Trust the voice inside you. Feed that voice. It becomes the warrior. It’s the voice that says, “I will do it.”

Bryan: What have your challenges taught you?

Thabiso:
Calm and acceptance.

Stefan: Can you expand on that for us?

Thabiso:
Without getting into too much detail, I almost died in an accident that resulted from the negligence of a friend. The incident was of a nature that many people thought I should press charges, but I decided that I wanted to protect my peace above all. I want to focus only on positivity. Things like having this conversation with you on a Friday, not chasing negativity. I practice forgiveness to protect my peace. I calmly accepted what happened, and nature will deal with the rest.

Bryan: That’s true. The law of unintended consequences always prevails. Your stance is noble.

Thabiso:
I tell my girls that in life we have two books—a left-hand book and a right-hand book. The left-hand book is filled with bad actions, bad decisions, and bad deeds. When that book is full, there is a reckoning. But the right-hand book, that book is filled with goodness and achievement. Fill that one, and you get to read and bask in your life.

Bryan: I love that. I want to fill only my right-hand book. I have a similar philosophy. I have three pillars that I prioritise: my health, my family, and my wealth. If something supports one of those pillars, I focus on it. If not, I let it go—and my life becomes a positive echo chamber.

Thabiso:
I echo that.

Stefan: How do you define success?

Thabiso:
For me, it’s not about the sports cars or the champagne. I’ll stand in any room and be myself. While others are drinking flashy things, I’m happy to have my beer. I don’t need to prove my worth. That comes from calm and acceptance. If you really know who you are, you never feel the need to prove yourself. That to me is success.

Bryan: Two key qualities of a leader are humility and empathy, and you display both.

Thabiso:
Thank you, Bryan. I receive that.

Stefan: I’ve heard you’re an avid golfer. How does the game of golf contribute to your life?

Thabiso:
For a while, the stress of business affected my mental health. I struggled with anxiety and panic attacks. But when I took up golf, everything changed. The anxiety disappeared, I mean, gone. Golf has been life-changing for me. It teaches you to look only at what is in front of you.

Bryan: I agree. Golf teaches that it’s always about the next shot. It doesn’t matter if you shanked the one before. Every shot is a new shot.

Thabiso:
And it humbles you. You can have the best round of your life and think you’re a legend, and the next morning you can’t hit a ball.

Bryan: 

Thabiso’s story is not one of perfect conditions or easy wins; it is a story of choosing strength over circumstance, calm over chaos, and purpose over fear. 

If South Africa is to rise, it will be on the backs of men and women like him—the happy warriors who keep building, keep believing, and keep stepping forward even when the road is unpaved.

Every week, The GBJ editorial team sits down with some of South Africa’s best. With a tenacity and spirit that can create success out of nothing more than a glimmer of hope, we believe South African businesses deserve a platform to tell their stories. 

Born from WDR Aspen, The GBJ wants to ask you: how are you telling your story? Reach out and let us help you with your voice.