27 Aug 2019

In many African countries bus ranks are used as  public markets and where other informal business transactions are conducted.

The Gaborone bus rank is no exception. 

It is a busy place where people from all walks of life are found from serious business people and hardened conmen. 

From vendors selling their products all over the place, to taxi drivers shouting at the top of their voices to attract customers, and people from all walks of life criss-crossing the area on their different businesses, the rank is a beehive of activities.

Different strategies are employed such as using music, eye-catching displays of mechandise or shouting words that will catch the curtomers’ attention.

"Bagolo ale nole? P3.00 cool time, body temperature control ,o tshwenngwa ke dikhonse, moriri wa gaupana, direthe tse di omeletseng, dikakana, motshweetshwee, magotsane , ke go tshwaretse tharabolo. Sekoloto se teng botsadi, ha bus e emella wa duela"

These are some of the expressions one will hear. 

Life at the bus rank is very fast, and only the scheming and the switched on can withstand and survive the intense competition there. 

Not every Jack and Jill can survive at the Gaborone bus rank.

At the bus rank customers do not even have to ask for directions or where to buy goodies for their journey, because the ushers and bus vendors are always on the lookout for potential customers, and they direct anyone where they want to go.

For Mr Keneetswe Nareetsile, a 33-year-old from Takatokwane, who has been a bus vendor for five years says, bus rank is a place of business where he sells his goods in their varieties.

It is where he makes his living. He wakes up at 5AM every day from his rented house in Gaborone west to run his business for bus rank regulars and travelers.

Popularly known as ‘Salesman’ in the bus rank, he says the day to day money he gets he provides for his family and also pay rent.

Mr Nareetsile further said for one to outsmart the competition and lure customers to his products he has to be creative enough by using humor to make an environment conducive for customers to buy.

His mechandise includes power banks and headsets, which  sells mostly to long distance customers.

“Business peaks during month end or mid-month as most people will be travelling home, because I can take home as much as P500 a day, but such amounts do not come easy, as there is continuous jostling for customers” he said.

Mr Nareetsile highlights that customer service is very important because sometimes they meet difficult customers, and which requires him to listen to every customer’s complaints and make sure they are assisted accordingly.

Despite all that they face some challenges as some customers undermine their line of work but that does not discourage them as they are determined to withstand all to fend for themselves.

Ms Galaletsang Bampoloki a regular vendor from Thamaga dangling boxes of sweets and water says she has been in the business for three years. 

It is like any other work and they do it proudly.

She says some customers have attitudes towards them.

“It might appear as a desperate form of employment, but this is what we do, and we would like to see people supporting us because we are trying to feed our families. It is not like we are not educated but lack of employment has put us here” she said.

That said, Gaborone bus rank is a place to be for some. 

It is place where many thriving businesses were born, a meeting  place for many where no two days are the same.  Ends