Volume 51 Issue 11 - November 2013 : Feature

If one conceptualises a business idea, chances are you will find someone already working on it in Mogoditshane. The type and size of each business are even varied; from major players in the retail sector, Chinese owned shops, hawkers and vendors, to imported cars that now smother prime land along the village`s major roads.

Those have, however, not stopped players such as spare parts operators, furniture shops, welding workshops from squeezing themselves in every nook and cranny to also lure patrons visiting the established players.  If you have not been to Mogoditshane, this picture may give you an idea of what the place looks like.

You may want to start your journey from Tangisani Gabriel`s roadside business. She sells hotdogs in the open. It is a venture that requires patience as business can be very slow. Gabriel got retrenched not too long ago but decided she would not wallow in self-pity.

So she came to this place. Her hotdogs go for P12 each, and she goes home with a big smile on a good day. She has a vision to graduate from small scale to something bigger. Her major challenge, she says, are customers who buy on credit and later refuse to pay.

A stone`s throw away from Gabriel, three young men ply an altogether different trade.  They sell second hand tyres, rims and fix tyre punctures. Their designated spokesperson, Thato Mogatlwe, says business is very tough.

Luck seldom strikes as a full day`s work can at times yield nothing. They have all the equipment to make a quick work of tyre fixing but lack the requisite skills to market the business.  Talking to the young men, you are left with no doubt that these are real businessmen.

They are as shrewd as they come. Just try to buy a second hand tyre from them, and you can rest assured the negotiated price - despite their feigned protestations - is something they would be very happy with. That, by the way, would be what your budget allows.

Moving further along the road is a company trading by the name Calvin Technologies (Pty) Ltd. They specialise in the sale of liquefied petroleum (LP) gas to the public. According to the administrative secretary, Kelebogile Ditshuge, it is a profitable business that has even managed to expand by opening branches along the Mogoditshane/Gabane road and one in Mmopane.

They have also won tenders to supply the sub-council as well as schools such as Mogoditshane JSS, Tlogatloga JSS and Marang JSS. As for the public, their major customers are resellers, customers who buy to collect or delivery.

 “Our major supplier is Easy Gas in Phakalane,” she notes. With a staff complement of seven at its Mogoditshane branch (two administrative assistants, two loaders and three drivers), they are doing their bit for employment creation in the village.

Competition is stiff as there are many operators in the village but the nature of the business makes it self-sustaining because of repeat customers in need of refills.

Their major challenges are customers who angrily accuse them of cheating by under filling their cylinders, an accusation she feels is unfair. That is just three businesses among hundreds of businesses in Mogoditshane. 

Add to this mix nightclubs and bars that come to life at dusk, attracting a motley of revellers.
All these many activities make the peri-urban area a better place, says Kgosi  Afred Dihutso of Mogoditshane. It is this entrepreneurial temperament of his subjects that fosters social harmony as it decreases levels of petty crimes such as theft, house breaking and shoplifting which were initially a daily occurrence, he says

“I wholeheartedly support this budding spirit of self reliance and entrepreneurship amongst my people,” says Kgosi Dihutso. And if ‘entrepreneurship` were a word specifically fashioned for Mogoditshane, you would not need to go too far from the kgotla to understand its meaning.  Just around the main kgotla you will find homesteads crammed with detached houses up for rent by what Kgosi Dihutso calls absentee landlords.

The rooms are serving the incessant demand for cheap accommodation. It is a niche market that does not pretend to compete with the high end residences in places such as Gaborone and Phakalane. However, Kgosi Dihutso would be a lot happier if the landlords actually lived in Mogoditshane and ploughed back their profit into developing the village further.

As things stand, they take all their profits to their villages as they only use their plots as money making schemes. Kgosi Dihutso is especially unhappy with owners who have rented out their residential plots for business without the consent of the council.

It is usually deeper in the village, that you find flourishing industries for every form of handicraft.  There are welders who specialise in every steel product – from gates to windows to cattle brands; and there are mechanics of all types of vehicles – including your latest Mercedes Benz or Range Rover.

That is, if you should decide you are tired of your car dealer and want to try a mechanic from this sprawling suburb. And should you want to try the mechanic from Mogoditshane, you must be informed in time that the mechanic`s “warehouse” is likely to be surrounded by a number of multi-residential units  populated by an incongruent lot from all over the world.

The line between a residential dwelling and an industrial area in Mogoditshane tends to become blurred, and you may want to really be sure that the place you are told is the “warehouse “is really the warehouse.

Kgosi Dihutso is not amused by this. After plot owners who illegally rent out their property to “business” people, he believes the council should take the blame for failing to enforce its bye-laws. He has the right to be angry, after-all he is the one who has to mediate in that myriad of disagreements when these unlawful deals fall through.

In as much as he believes business is good for his village, he whishes there was a proper industrial zone where all the businesses could operate without disrupting and polluting the village. Chief among his worries are garages that operate from homes where oil and other fuels are spilled on the ground, polluting the yards, and everything around and under them.

The nasty side of the many businesses aside, their very existence makes for a persuasive suggestion that Mogoditshane is turning into a proper business hub. There is no doubt that with proper support from local government structures many of these businesses, especially those owned by young people could flourish and drive the economy of the country. Ends

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