26 Mar 2018

Failing academically does not relegate one into oblivion, and as the saying goes, ‘where there is a will, there is a way.’’

 This is what happened to Mogomotsi Gaeganetswe, 32, of Mahalapye, who by stroke of luck came across a government poverty eradication programme and took advantage of it to create employment for himself and a few others who came his aide.

When he started his intention has always been to make luxury chairs out of old tyres. 

It is with sheer determination that he has been able to rise beyond his limitations, thanks to the poverty eradication programme introduced in 2010.

One can say it was a blessing in disguise when Mr Gaeganetswe failed his Cambridge Overseas School Certificate, otherwise he could have probably been stuck in a nine to five white collar job.

Speaking in an interview with BOPA on the sidelines of the two-day International Poverty Eradication Conference, Mr Gaeganetswe said he always had passion for working with tyres, turning them into beautiful and practical new product.

“These days old tires don’t necessarily have to go to the landfill when they are no longer useful.

You can colour them and make playing equipment for children, make flower pots, chairs and tables, or you can make tyre ottoman covered with fabric,” he added.

The man has the ability to see possibility in what others see as simply waste and perhaps that is something that motivated him and four of his other mates to start a group project named Mahalapye Tyre Convention, funded under the Poverty Eradication Programme.

Situated at Madiba Brigade, the company make a range of tyre furniture items through the use of old tyres and produces comfortable, durable and attractive products.

The products range from, but are not limited to chairs, tables, dustbins, flower pots, dog houses, benches and tyre tables.

“We manufacture different products using old tires and we have our own design team, so they are able to manufacture to our customers’ requirements,” he explained.

He explained that he approached the Social and Community Development Office in Mahalapye to sell his idea to establish a tyre conversion project and after processing all his documents, he was given a tyre converting machine, a compressor and painting machine and secured a space at Madiba Brigade to start his project, which now puts food on the table.

Mr Gaeganetswe has a creative eye, combined with the business acumen to turn waste into beautiful and practical new products that have a great back story and a positive environmental footprint.

“It has never been easy to become an entrepreneur and the day my Cambridge level results were published and I discovered that I have failed, I did not despair,” Mr Gaeganetswe said.

Looking on the bright side, he said his business was doing very well in the market because his products were in high demand, particularly from locals, who like tyre furniture.

“This is the reason why I have to make it a group project because I could not cope with this high demand,” he added.

Mr Gaeganetswe said it takes him a full day to manufacture one chair and a table, adding that sometimes he receives an order for two to three chairs per day.

Products differ in prices depending on the material.

 A tyre chair costs P350, tyre table P400, flower pots P150 each, dustbins P150 while dog houses cost P100.

He said his job was based on creativity and experience as he had never attended any training apart from learning from the internet on how to manufacture tyre products, adding that what is important is for him to ensure that he manufactures good products to satisfy his customers.

Mr Gaeganetswe said very soon he would be opening an account with one of the local banks because it is evident that the project was making some returns as well as to expand it into a fully-fledged business.

Like every other enterprise, Mr Gaeganetswe’s business has its own challenges, and one of his major challenges is that of marketing.

 However, he said one of the local hotels in Mahalapye had offered them space in front to use for marketing.

His future plans, he said, was to see their project becoming a big enterprise but cautioned that ‘Rome was not built in a day’.

His advice to upcoming entrepreneurs is that they should not despair if their projects were not doing well, adding that the shift by government from poverty alleviation to poverty reduction, a more robust approach of poverty eradication was a welcome development in the fight against extreme poverty.

“There is no iota of doubt that there has been a commendable effort by government in alleviating or reducing poverty,” he added. ENDS