Soweto – South African mining entrepreneur Daphne Mashile-Nkosi has opened a multimillion-rand community centre in Soweto, honouring her late mother and expanding her family’s philanthropic work in disadvantaged communities.
The Linah Mashile Multi-Purpose Centre, situated in Naledi Extension II, was funded by the Stanley and Daphne Nkosi Foundation, established by Mashile-Nkosi and her late husband, Stanley Nkosi.
According to Billionaires.Africa, the facility officially opened on October 30, a day before what would have been her mother’s 96th birthday. Construction took two years and 29 days to complete.
The centre houses a church, multifunctional hall, industrial kitchen, business hub, counselling rooms and a theatre. It will accommodate different congregations while offering educational programmes, digital skills training, entrepreneurship workshops and a soup kitchen.
Prominent community leader
Reporting by Weekly SA Mirror further highlighted plans to use the facility to support elderly residents, provide emotional counselling and create opportunities for young people through arts and cultural activities.
Construction head Patrick Mokwena acknowledged Mashile-Nkosi’s role in bringing the project to fruition.
“I have had the privilege of leading a hardworking, resilient team of bricklayers,” he said, according to Billionaires.Africa.
Project manager Welcome Mashinini also highlighted the responsibility involved in delivering the development, saying: “Each decision had implications for the programme, costs, quality and the people who would eventually use the building.”
The centre is named after Linah Mashile, who was a prominent community leader in Naledi. She campaigned for the establishment of the local clinic, ran a soup kitchen and supported elderly residents and young people in the community. She died on October 21, 2022, aged 91.
Major manganese mining
The new development adds to the foundation’s existing philanthropic initiatives, which include the Zakithi Nkosi Paediatric Haematology Clinic at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, built in memory of Mashile-Nkosi’s daughter, as well as housing projects, libraries and educational bursaries.
Mashile-Nkosi is the founder and executive chairperson of Kalagadi Manganese, which operates a major manganese mining and processing project near Hotazel in the Northern Cape.
Her business career has also attracted recognition, with Tshwane University of Technology awarding her an honorary doctorate in 2026.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
