05 Jul 2018

President Mokgweetsi Masisi sat calmly next to his wife, First Lady Ms Neo Masisi at the stylish and leafy Table50Two Restaurant on the 28th floor of the iTowers South in the Gaborone Central Business District skyline.

He had just officially launched Gaborone’s boutique hotel 50Two and now watched in disbelief as an auctioneer collected a whooping P11 000 for his navy blue tie.

The sale of President Masisi’s tie preceded an exclusive fundraiser art auction during the night. The reserve price of the tie was P100 but the highest bidder called out P11 000.

Theo Emanuel, an Indian investor and developer of Louie Ville in Gaborone, walked away with the prestigious possession after fending off his opponent and well known businessman Mr Manhar Mooney, one of the directors of Overseas Development Enterprise (ODE) owners of Room50Two.

“I was very keen to have this tie from the President and I’m so happy that he put it up for auction. I thought that I should bid for it against Mr Mooney, who happens to be my older brother, I still thought I should continue bidding . I shouldn’t let the tie go and I am fortunate to have it. I’m going to frame it and get the President to hopefully sign it and then keep it on my wall like an artwork,” said an elated Emanuel in an interview after the auction sale.

He said he hoped the tie would go down to his next generations and maybe go on sale at some point in life and the proceeds be donated to charity.

The auction started on a high note with Ditshupo Mogapi’s kudu horns painting collecting P41 000. Reginald Bakwena’s traditional hut was sold at P21 000 from a reserve price of P15 000.

In the silent auction, Sedireng Mothibatsela’s breathtaking piece collected P42 000, while Cgoma Simon’s framed acrylic collected P45 000.

Room50Two sourced the artworks that grace its rooms and reception lobby in a unique fashion.

Through a process of special invites to well-established, reputable local artists to present their portfolios, they were able to shortlist and commission 13 local artists to create artwork in keeping with quality and prestige of the home these artworks would grace. The 14 stunning original artworks were all sold on auction.

Management said it felt it was important to serve their Corporate Social Responsibility mandate by auctioning the original artwork to raise money for charity, with part of the auction proceeds going back to the artists. ENDS