Mrs. Constance Hloniphile Shobede is a South African visionary, business mogul and entrepreneur, focusing in the education sector in which she has founded three Early Childhood Development (ECD) Centre’s that have created over 60 job opportunities. She is the founder of Gamalakhe Shobede ECD Centre, Isilomosamazungu ECD & primary school and Shalom ECD Centre located in Illovu, Mkhazini and Umlazi respectively.
At age 52, she officially retired from the Department of Education, where she worked as an Educator for over 25 years, to pursue her passion through affording the vast knowledge gained to structure high performing and evolving ECD centers, developing young children while fulfilling her dreams as a community spearhead. She plays a pro-active role as Project Manager overseeing all operations of her ECD centers and ensuring all day-to-day obligations are met.
The first ECD center built was Gamalakhe Shobede ECD Centre, named after her late husband Mr. Patrick Gamalakhe Shobede who was a school principal at Ntsabalele CP school, a motivational speaker, an Evangelist, and intellectual powerhouse.
The second ECD center assembled was Isilomosamazungu ECD & primary school, named after her childhood nickname “Slomo Zungu”, which translates to a peoples’ favorite and well appreciated individual. This school started operating in 2020 as just an ECD Centre, but vastly progressed into a primary school due to high demand in the community.
Last assembled ECD center was Shalom ECD center, driven from the church attended by her family and neighbors in the Umlazi community, Apostolic Faith Mission Shalom Branch. To her, the realization of young children in the area receiving a well developing and evolving center for the community at large simply made perfect sense.
Mrs. Shobede, mother of two sons and three daughters, is a renowned community leader who is respected in many frontiers and vastly invited to speak in congregations as a motivational speaker, an entrepreneur, rising woman in business and many other self-elevating roles. A religious woman of virtue and a strong believer of excellence, she lives by the verse “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
