GREENFIELD’S STORY

FROM PIZZA DELIVERY TO MOLECULAR DIAGNOSTICS

Meet Mphumzi Lwana. Mphumzi, also known as Greenfield, is a young, 25-year-old man living in the Eastern Cape in South Africa.

South Africa's official unemployment rate in August 2019, was at a staggering 29% (the unofficial rate is believed to be closer to 55%). The Eastern Cape is considered the poorest province in South Africa in terms of GDP. So how did Greenfield rise above the negative sentiment in our country? He encountered Scully Scooters.

Scully Scooters, founded in 2012, believes that everyone should be taking a much closer look at what impact CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Initiatives are having in the community. These initiatives should put many more thousands of South African youth into income producing opportunities. They have proved it possible themselves by putting over 1600 people into jobs.

They have the largest database of trained and certified scooter, motorcycle and TukTuk (SMTs) riders in South Africa and have delivered solutions across multiple industries. They feel that there is a misconception that SMT riders are limited to careers in the fast food industry however there is an opportunity to partner with a wide variety of Corporates to address company transport/mobility needs.

This is exactly what the leading Molecular Diagnostic manufacturer, Cepheid, had in mind when they approached Scully Scooters. Cepheid truly believe that a business needs to be concerned with more than just profit. They identified Scully Scooters as a CSR partner who would have a meaningful and tangible impact on achieving their goal while uplifting the South African community. Cepheid continually tries to find innovative, better ways to improve patient outcomes by enabling access to molecular diagnostic testing everywhere. Supporting a widely-disseminated instrument foot print can be challenging across a diverse geography.

In South Africa that coverage is 1,22 million km².

The story comes together when Cepheid approached Scully Scooters to explore using motorcycles and trained riders to reach customers in ‘hard-to-reach’ areas in the Eastern Cape. At the time, Greenfield was delivering Pizza in the Eastern Cape.

Greenfield then came across Scully Scooters who were scouting Port Elizabeth to find and match potential riders to opportunities. Greenfield said to himself, “Mphumzi, it is time for you to move from the bottom level to new, higher dimensions.” He threw all his energy into snatching up one of these opportunities.

Greenfield says; “You will hear people calling you “Velaphi”; when locals see a delivery person on a Bike”; a Velaphi is a classic character in a Mzansi sitcom about the escapades of a scooter messenger working for an advertising agency. Sometimes it is used for fun and other times it’s used to insult.

But Greenfield is a clever man and when he saw a delivery bike, he saw a business, he saw a bread-winner and he saw Velaphi as a new character coming to life. One that was responsible, one that has pride and one that could make a good living. That’s what motivated him to do his Code A, Motorcycle license in the first place.

He started out by delivering Pizza to different communities in Bisho, Sweet Waters, Zwelitsha and King Williams Town. Through providing exceptional service, the community knows him well.

He describes his experience after meeting Scully Scooters as follows: “I was first contacted telephonically and interviewed, I had my first Google Hangout meeting, technology that I had never used before, and I met the Scully Scooters Project Manager. I showed up on time, I made sure I kept in contact with the Johannesburg office, I made sure I understood what was involved and I asked questions. I wanted the opportunity with Cepheid really badly. I could not believe it when I was told that the opportunity was mine if I wanted it. When Lynne, the founder, also known as Scully, called me personally, I told her, this is the job I’ve been preparing for all my life. I had never had the opportunity to use my skills as a Computer Technician, which is what I studied, but this was going to be an even better opportunity.

Not only that but I was going to be on an airplane for the first time in my life. I was nervous and excited all at the same time. I was flown to Johannesburg to do the Cepheid Technical training and the Scully Scooters ethos and advanced rider training. Here I learned the words I live and Ride by: “100% accountability. No excuses. No accidents.

I now deliver services as a field technician doing basic preventative maintenance on Cepheid’s molecular diagnostic testing instruments, the GeneXpert, and when I’m not doing those jobs I ride delivering pharmaceuticals for GoGlo”

Greenfield further says, “In my Pizza delivery job I used to work from 9am-9pm but now it’s a matter of arriving at the site and do my job in 35-45 minutes and leave for the next one. Amazing!!! Guess what? My working hours are business hours and my salary has more than doubled.

The only other thing I want to say to the unemployed youth out there is, being a Velaphi in this modern life gives you an engine of opportunity to generate money. Now I buy the pizza instead of delivering it. People must get their Code A license and contact Scully Scooters”