How Mannee de Wet swapped pilot dreams for fitness success as Planet Fitness co-founder

Rafiq Wagiet
20 October 2025 | 19:21Founded in 1995, a 25-year old De Wet opened his first gym in Benoni, with a simple aim of services the local community.
Mannee de Wet is the man behind one of the country’s most recognisable gym brands, Planet Fitness.
He's the Managing Director and co-founder of Planet Fitness, one of South Africa's most well-established chain of health clubs offering gym facilities, group classes, and training support.
But De Wet's dream of becoming a pilot never materialised, forcing him to head down a completely different career path than he had initially envisaged for himself.
Founded in 1995 in South Africa, a 25-year-old De Wet opened his first gym in Benoni, with a simple aim of services the local community.
But Planet Fitness has since grown to more than 50 clubs across provinces including Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and North West.
"Our first club started with no money. We went into a dojo that had the karate on the one side, and the gym on the other side, and we approached him and said how much do you make in the gym. he gave us a number, and we said we'll pay you that in rent, and that was really our first club," says De Wet.
De Wet says his drive and ambition to be successful played a major role in the businessman he's become over the last 30 years.
"I was 25-years old, and just through ambition and experience that we had, we started this business. It was really for me in the beginning focusing on the local community, and interacting and making it a community gym," adds De Wet.
Listen to the interview in the audio player below.
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