02 Nov 2015

Gone are the days when women were used to being relegated to the farms or made to do kitchen chores for their families, while their male counterparts were the sole providers. Today in an economically challenging world both parties have taken it into their consideration to bring income into their families and women have gone all the way to do jobs that were historically known to be for the masculine. 

In an interview with BOPA recently, the finance manager of Tashata Bricks Ms Tapiwa Malabola stated that their business that is located at Tati Siding new stands industrial and specialises in moulding bricks, paving slabs, boulders, kerbstones and sells gravel, sand and concrete is a brain child of three women who came together with the urge to make a difference in their lives.

Ms Malabola stated that the company was formed by herself, Ms Dorcus Gobela, the marketing manager and Ms Bonno Mokokomani who is the production manager and the trio came together in 2012 and approached the Department of Gender Affairs to seek for funds in order to open and operate a brickyard, and it was only last year that they were funded to the tune of P224 366 and like they say the rest is history.

Furthermore she outlined that although the business is still new, the future looks bright since they have strategies to outshine their competitors. She said they produce high quality bricks which are molded with cement, sand and quarry dust to make them more durable. 

Ms Malabola stressed that they are passionate about their business and they are hands-on since they can operate the moulding machine, mix and gauge mortar to produce 6 inch, 4 ½ inch and stock bricks that go for P6.90, P5.90, and P1.85 respectively.

Furthermore the 31 year old production manager Ms Mokokomani praised the government for initiatives such as Youth Development Fund, poverty eradication programme and Department of Gender Affairs, stressing that with passion, good market research and sound proposals Batswana can benefit from those initiatives. She however urged youth to group up and utilise government programmes stressing that the latter can create employment for them and other youth.      

Moreover Ms Mokokomani was quick to point out that although the government has good initiatives there is still shortage of land where beneficiaries can operate from, stressing that they are currently paying P1500 for rental; the money that she said if they owned their land they could have injected into other parts of the business. She also stressed that departments that fund them should also visit their business to evaluate them so that they can share with them their shortfalls.

As if that is not enough the marketing manager Ms Gobela stressed that as a single parent it is through the brickyard that she can send her children to school and also put food on the table. 

She said they are currently the only women who operate a brickyard in Tati Siding and they have already won the first prize at the 3^rd Northern Women Exposition that was held in Francistown this year. 

Furthermore she stressed that although their job is labour intensive they have started the business with the assistance of two employees and today they have employed six more men. 

She further decried lack of transport stressing that they lose a lot of money, hiring transport that delivers their products but she said their company is aiming high and would like to compete with big companies in the future. Ends