Bonga completed matric at Hilton College and studied B A (Law) at University of KwaZulu Natal. He went on to complete the Advanced Programme in Purchasing Management at Unisa while working in various roles for Sappi Ltd. While still with Sappi, he completed the Associate in Management (AIM) Programme full time at the Graduate School of Business of the University of Cape Town.
He worked for Engen Petroleum, initially at the Refinery, then later at the Regional Offices in Westville. Bonga became a Certified Purchasing Manager (CPM) by meeting the requirements of the Institute of Purchasing and Supply South Africa (IPSA) in November 2002. He also served as the Vice Chairperson of the Institute of Purchasing and Supply, Southern Africa (IPSA) KZN from 2007 – 2009, when the Charted Institute of Procurement and Supply Southern Africa (CIPS) was launched and took over from IPSA. In 2012, CIPS awarded him an MCIPS (Full Member of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply). He was also on the Exco of the National Association of BBBEE Consultants (NABC) from 2008 – 2010.
During his time at Engen, he completed an MBA at UKZN in 2006 and has held various management roles in Contract Management, Procurement, and Sales & Marketing. Prior to Engen and Sappi Ltd, Bonga worked in various roles at Hulett Aluminium (now Hulamin) and First National Bank.
In 2015, American based APICS (The Association for Supply Chain Management) conferred upon him the designation of Certified Supply Chain Professional.
His formal training includes Strategy; Management Consulting; Project Management; Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Consulting; World Class Procurement; Supply Chain Management; Quality Systems Auditing; Total Productive Manufacturing; Contract Law/Legal Writing; Service Level Agreements; SAP Materials Management; Import and Export; Strategic Sourcing; Commodity Management; High Performance Sales; Finance; Competition Law.
His Directorships include Strelitzia Projects, BSN, Expandasign, Clanfin Africa, AgriKZN Projects and Mandate Strategic Solutions and Strelitzia Projects.