What if the waste filling our streets could become part of the solution to unemployment, housing and environmental degradation?
That question sits at the heart of Zimkitha Duze’s work.
The founder and CEO of Uuka EcoBricks, Duze is building a cleantech business that transforms plastic and glass waste into sustainable building materials. Her journey began after leaving the University of Cape Town because of financial constraints and returning home to Kimberley, where she encountered two problems that seemed unrelated: high unemployment and streets filled with plastic and glass waste.
She saw an opportunity in the intersection.
Rather than treating waste as something to be discarded, Duze began exploring how it could become a resource for building products while creating economic opportunities in communities that are often overlooked.
Her vision for Uuka EcoBricks extends beyond producing sustainable construction materials. She wants to demonstrate how circular-economy businesses can tackle environmental challenges while creating jobs and contributing to more affordable, sustainable infrastructure.
The ambition is significant. Over the next five years, Duze hopes to see Uuka EcoBricks expand its products into homes, schools, community facilities and infrastructure projects across South Africa, with the longer-term goal of entering other African markets. She also wants the business to create employment opportunities for young people and women through waste collection, processing and manufacturing.
That growth is being built deliberately. Duze is pursuing a BCom in Financial Management through the University of South Africa while developing the business through product testing, production improvements, certification, strategic partnerships and funding opportunities.
Her entrepreneurial journey has already attracted recognition, including the Reside Summit Construction Product of the Year Award 2026, recognition as a runner-up and Impact Award winner in the Visa She’s Next programme and inclusion in the Motsepe Foundation Golden Circle 2025.
Duze is also intentional about the leader she is becoming. She is cultivating courage, humility and authenticity while strengthening her emotional intelligence, learning to listen more deeply, embrace feedback and lead through uncertainty. She wants to build a culture where innovation and accountability can coexist, while creating opportunities for other young women from communities like her own.
One of her most important lessons is simple: you do not need to have everything figured out before you begin.
Her own story is proof. Leaving university because of financial constraints could have marked the end of one path. Instead, returning home gave her a different perspective on the challenges around her – and eventually the foundation for a business designed to address them.
Duze is showing what can happen when entrepreneurship begins with a problem that communities understand intimately and turns that problem into an opportunity for innovation.
Zimkitha Duze is a Future 54 Honouree in the Director Woman Future 54 Class of 2026, recognising women shaping Africa through leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship and meaningful impact.
