11 May 2016

 It took several years in jail for Messrs Mompati Raditedu and Mpho Mabe to realise that crime does not pay.

When they were released, the two young men of Kang and Hukuntsi were determined to change their lives by using the skills they acquired in prison. 

They established upholstery enterprise and a dress-making venture in Kang dubbed Fabula’s Upholstery and Dressmaking.

The Youth Development Fund (YDF) funded the business with P98 000 in 2014.

In a quest to expand their business operations, they merged their business with Macha Glass Works. 

Their business specialises in repairing and manufacturing couches. They also make school bags, furniture and car seats.

Mr Ezekiel Lekutlane, whom they brought in to assist with sales and marketing activities, said they had been using the primary form of promotion such as word of mouth. 

However, he admitted that this was not enough, hence pulling all stops to increase their marketing undertakings. 

Mr Lekutlane said they were also orchestrating a promotion called couch display and fashion show where they would showcase their products. 

However, the business was not without challenges. One of their concerns was that some Batswana preferred buying products cheaply in instalments. 

“Some of our relatives don’t pay us, we make them furniture and repair their stuff and after that they disappear into thin air with the money and that is a blow to our business’’, Mr Raditedu said. 

He appeals to the government to help them procure machines to enable the business to successfully. 

“Government should extend a helping hand in the marketing aspect by creating a platform where youth business could converge to showcase their products’’, he added.Nevertheless Mr Raditedu explained that they were determined to turn their business into large scale production. 

“People now trust us with their things; they really see we have changed, all our thanks go to God. He gave us a second chance and we are using it to the fullest.” Mr Raditedu said. 

He explained that their dream was to open branches across the country and create employment opportunities for many unemployed youth.

“God gave us talents and we should not bury them, we are a living testimony that life after prison is not the end, but just the beginning.  Each person determines his or her destination,” he said.

Mr Macha said he was worried about youth who strolled around the mall doing nothing. 

“Youth should learn to use their hands to create jobs for themselves,” he recommended. 

He advises that they should take advantage of upholstery since it is easy and still in its infancy in Botswana.

He said he wanted to encourage the youth to refrain from criminal activities and take education with exceptional seriousness, stressing that prison was not a good and healthy place to grow in as it depressed and alienated somebody. ENDS