Refilwe’s story on… combating energy poverty with purpose and passion

Refilwe’s early childhood experiences deeply influenced the mission she would eventually pursue. Witnessing domestic abuse, she saw her mother’s painful dilemma: stay in a dangerous home or leave with no way to support her children. When her mother finally left, Refilwe saw firsthand the devastating impact of poverty and the struggles women face when they lack self-empowerment and personal development. This lit a fire in her to dedicate her life to empowering women, fostering personal growth, and creating opportunities that break the cycle of poverty and vulnerability.

“When women are empowered they can make the right decisions for themselves. When they are empowered - they empower even more women. This is the ripple effect of empowerment. Women always go back to creating impact in their communities. THIS is how you empower a nation!”

Refilwe had always viewed entrepreneurship as a powerful way to drive change. Despite her professional journey beginning as an employee, when her time in the mining sector came to an unexpected end following the Marikana massacre, she embraced entrepreneurship as a new route to meaningful impact creation. From her first business in the PPE space, Refilwe went on to gain hands-on experience building a portfolio of complementary businesses, from safety training to branding to an array of other ventures. Through practical experience and formal business education, she honed her entrepreneurial skills, establishing a unique position in the founder landscape with her strong focus on strengthening business value propositions through enhanced value chains.

As her entrepreneurial journey matured, South Africa was experiencing its peak in load shedding, prompting Refilwe to question who was stepping up to advocate for the marginalized communities most affected by the ongoing energy crisis. Energy poverty is a serious issue with far-reaching consequences that hinder economic development and affect the personal health and well-being of underserved communities: from tragic deaths caused by toddlers mistaking paraffin stored in drinking bottles for consumption, to women vulnerable to sexual assault when collecting firewood (referred to as ‘firewood rape’), health risks like respiratory diseases from inhouse air pollution smoke inhalation while tending fires for cooking, and the countless hours spent on these tasks that take away from important activities such as schoolwork.  “Hakem” meaning ‘advocate’ in Turkish, became the answer. Hakem Energies, Refilwe’s brainchild, emerged with strategic energy solutions that are comprehensive, holistic, and founded on a simple, radical belief: that energy should empower, not exclude. 

“Energy poverty is not a political conversation, it's a lived experience. I was part of the struggle growing up. My grandmother sold vetkoek to help my mom take care of us. Waking up at 3am to collect wood, add cow dung or whatever we could find to catch fire. And on the days it rained, no fire meant no business.”

Within South Africa's Just Energy Transition (JET), Refilwe has Haken Energy poised to focus on eradicating energy poverty by making LPG accessible and affordable to marginalised communities. LPG is clean-burning, safe, affordable, and immediately scalable. It reduces indoor air pollution, lowers reliance on unsafe fuels, and provides families with fast, reliable cooking - without adding pressure to our overstretched electricity grid. Through innovative and creative solutions - such as pay-as-you-can-afford programs, establishing LPG hubs within these communities, and creating jobs by training and certifying LPG fillers - Hakem Energies brings new skills and opportunities directly to those who need them most. With women at the forefront of energy use in cooking within these communities, how could they not be central to driving this transition? This principle has become a guiding force behind Refilwe’s mission, as her business leads the charge in advancing a just and inclusive energy transition in this sector of society.

“I believe the people who experience and truly understand the problem, should be the ones advocating for change. We simply cannot transition communities if women in the communities are not active participants of the JET business, they are integral to our value chain.”

The vision for Hakem Energies may have started with LPG but it doesn't stop there as Refilwe positions the business as an energy catalyst for the marginalised communities she aims to serve. From LPG for cooking, to solar solutions for lighting needs, opportunity in the energy space is abundant. Hakem Energies is quickly becoming a movement led by the very women who might otherwise have faced the same lack of self-empowerment and personal development that Refilwe witnessed growing up.

Refilwe has clearly mapped out her key focus areas: people, planet, and place. She challenges the outdated idea of social entrepreneurship as charity, proving that impactful businesses can be both profitable and sustainable. A founder with an incredibly determined spirit, unwavering resilience, steadfast faith, and a touch of bold audacity, she encapsulates the perfect mix of attributes required to achieve a feat like this. 

Refilwe's journey has taught her three key lessons: to embrace vulnerability as a strength, to stay grounded in humility, and to harness collaboration to amplify success - reflecting her deep connection to traditional African values that prioritize community, collective well-being, and togetherness over individualism. Her story is one of transforming hardship into a catalyst for change and her company, Hakem Energies, stands as a proud example of a sustainable, profitable movement that is empowering a nation, one life, one family, one community at a time.

www.dna.co.za

“The business of connecting”.