![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MIT-Image-2-1200x675-1-1024x576.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAnother story etched into his memory is of a former bursary recipient who returned, years later, with her own children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe told me, \u2018I am here because of NUM. I am raising my family on the back of the education you gave me.\u2019\u201d Phakedi pauses. \u201cYou don\u2019t forget moments like that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The legacy of MIT is also rooted in tragedy. The 1987 miners’ strike, followed by sweeping retrenchments, left many workers destitute. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NUM responded not just with protest but with solutions. They launched the Mineworkers Development Agency (MDA) to retrain and reintegrate former miners into new economic lives, farming, small business, trades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe realised,\u201d says Phakedi, \u201cthat our work couldn\u2019t end at the mine gate. We had to help our comrades start again. MIT funded that recovery process. It wasn\u2019t charity, it was solidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, that thinking still informs every programme MIT supports. It\u2019s about more than money. It\u2019s about dignity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the breadwinners of their families, mineworkers have always carried the hopes of multiple generations on their shoulders. Phakedi believes this is where MIT and MIC have quietly reshaped South African life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMany of our graduates are the first in their families to get a degree,\u201d he explains. \u201cAnd when they succeed, they uplift entire households.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He shares how some graduates have returned to fund scholarships of their own, while others serve on boards, in government, or as professionals in rural clinics and urban engineering firms. \u201cThese are the children of mineworkers,\u201d he says with pride. \u201cOur people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Phakedi is unequivocal, what has made MIT different is the integrity of its design. \u201cFrom the beginning, we separated political power from financial oversight. That\u2019s how you build a lasting institution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He warns that too many empowerment initiatives have failed because they lacked discipline, or were used for personal gain. \u201cIf you want transformation that lasts 30 years, it must be rooted in purpose, not personality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His admiration for the original architects of MIT is clear. \u201cThey were ahead of their time. They built something for generations they would never meet. That\u2019s what true leadership is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than just a trade unionist, Phakedi speaks as a social thinker. He challenges the modern tendency to box unions into narrow labour issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNUM has always been a revolutionary union,\u201d he says. \u201cWe don\u2019t just bargain for wages, we fight for education, for housing, for dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This broader vision of \u201csocial unionism\u201d underpins everything MIT supports. Whether it\u2019s small business development or training programmes at the Elijah Barayi Memorial Training Centre, the goal is to give mineworkers and their families tools to thrive in every sphere of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe want tomorrow\u2019s mine bosses to come from today\u2019s mineworkers\u2019 homes,\u201d Phakedi says. \u201cThat\u2019s transformation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As MIT and MIC look to the next 30 years, Phakedi is both cautious and hopeful. He sees threats such as complacency, leadership drift, political interference. But he also sees possibilities, expansion into new sectors, more scholarships, even global partnerships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe started with R3 million. Today, we\u2019re managing billions. But our job is not done. We must scale our impact. We must keep asking. How many more lives can we change?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a political moment where Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment is being questioned, and where trust in public institutions is fraying, the story of MIT stands as a quiet counterpoint. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is not a perfect story, but it is an honest one, rooted in vision, governance, and the enduring belief that ordinary workers can build extraordinary futures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Phakedi is clear-eyed about the stakes. \u201cOur people are still waiting for their share of democracy\u2019s promise. Through MIT, we\u2019ve shown it\u2019s possible to deliver that promise, brick by brick, bursary by bursary, family by family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And with that, he returns to his work, not just as a union leader, but as a custodian of a dream still unfolding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When Mpho Phakedi walks into a room, he brings with him the weight of history, not just his own, but that of an entire movement that dared to dream beyond the dust and danger of the mines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":848780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10459],"tags":[21482],"class_list":["post-848778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news","tag-mit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=848778"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":849575,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848778\/revisions\/849575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/848780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}