Collen Pillar Sibuyi
[ President and Chairman; Collen Pillar Holdings (Pty) limited ]
Autobiography
I was born in 1974 at a village of Athol in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality and completed my basic education at Humulani Primary School and Magigwana High School. I furthered my studies and completed a Bachelor Degree in Human Resources Management at Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) in Johannesburg which is now called University of Johannesburg (UJ). This is where I had set up my HR consulting business plan before I was a graduate. The entrepreneurial spirit was inside me as I was growing up and I remember when I was 14 years old, growing and selling live chickens until an Owl decided to pitch up at night and gain access and feast itself, and all my life stock was gone. Here I was approximately R2000.00 richer and woke up to discover that I was so poor over night. Out of all the good and bad stories I can tell you, this one I must that it has taught me something valuable until today.
In 2005 I founded Collen Pillar Holdings (Pty) Ltd as a consulting business which for some unknown reasons I decided to name it after myself, things were straight forward then as operations were in line with my career in human resources. Oh what a hustling, today I have few rands in my pocket and the next day nothing. Dedication and hard work pays indeed, I began to see opportunities in other industries such as aviation, travel and tourism, hospitality, health care services, automotives and the list goes on. Since then, today I own and run a group Investment Company within these industries.
With over 20 companies in operation in South Africa including Collen Pillar Automotive, Collen Pillar Holdings has expanded into many other fields. I must say I am very proud of the work of Collen Pillar Brand, our not-for-profit Education Fund and Trust, which continues to focus on educational approaches to individuals from previously disadvantaged communities.