27 Jan 2014

Unemployment is generally viewed as a cause to rural-urban migration.

Youth migrate to urban areas to seek employment. However, those jobs are never there for them.

Since idle hands are the devil’s tools, the frustration caused by unemployment usually drives the youth into engaging in illicit acts such as drug abuse and theft.

Although rural-urban migration by unemployed youth is known for its negative impact on the youth, it is however, a different story with the owners of Mokolobe Investments.

Armed with knowledge of the dangers of such migration, how it had destructed and destroyed many dreams, 44-year-old Mr Moitsiemang Mokolobe of Werda and 42-year-old, Mr Bosi Puso of Lorolwane decided to make the pilgrimage to the urban areas regardless of the dangers of such a journey

The two men are managing director and deputy managing director of Mokolobe Investments. They met in Lobatse in 2001 where they worked as labourers at different construction companies.

Working for those construction companies marked the beginning of this story that these two are now telling the world because that is where they benefitted from the benchmarking that they did whilst they hopped from one company to the other.

With time, Mokolobe and Puso graduated from labourers into bricklayers. The two say that seeing themselves progressing made them feel grateful but, were saddened by the way their employers exploited them.

According to the two it was not easy but they continued working for various contractors and moved from one company to the other with the hope that they will find greener pastures.

After eight years of working of toil and emotional turmoil, they still owned nothing, except brick laying skills which they felt was not enough. That is when they decided to do a bricklaying and construction course at Madirelo Training and Testing Centre (MTTC) and attained excellent results.

Their outstanding performance at MTTC convinced them that they could now take on the building industry. No one was ever going to cheat them especially when they looked at the eye-catching aesthetics and the quality of the buildings that they could produce.

Later in 2009, the two decided to start their own building business. They built houses for private individuals in Pitshane, Lobatse, Kanye,Thamaga, Moshupa, Gaborone, Mochudi and as far as Tonota.

They were fully convinced that it was an auspicious start. Though they thought being literate in their trade, combined with being self-employed was going to generate them money, it was however, not as easy as they had initially thought. Mokolobe says they had to exert themselves.

“We worked hard to satisfy our clients but, they never appreciated for they never paid the full amounts that we had agreed on, and some would not pay us at all. I remember a client who chased us out of her house after completing it when we demanded our money. We had no place to stay and a massive conflict between us and our employees emerged as we did not pay them. Sekepe sa dikoloto se ratile se nwela ka rona, (meaning that they nearly sunk in debt). Rental debts accumulated, Mokolobe revealed.

Since where there is life there is hope, Mr Puso said they never gave up. They endured the hurdles and tried their lucks even outside construction, and it helped them as they won a car, an Opel Corsa in a Choppies win-a-car competition in 2011. They traded it and registered their company and had enough starting capital.

Puso stated that they realised that it was essential for them to register a company as it was an advantage since they would be able to tender with government. 

Mokolobe Investments is involved in supplies, catering, maintenance, construction, electrifying, and plumbing. All these were made possible by the money that they had won.

Mr Mokolobe revealed that after registering their company, their breakthrough came through. The wide services that they rendered brought in revenue.

Their desire to work with government has been achieved as they are currently constructing Self Help Housing Agency (SHHA) houses in Kgalagadi and they also have tenders for maintenance of Tribal Administration houses and are also building for individuals. In addition to all these, they are also involved with patching internal roads and they also do sub-contracting for bigger contractors.

In a good business year, Mokolobe explained that they can build and maintain between four to five houses.

The two owners of Mokolobe Investments are not business partners only but, they have developed an inseparable brotherly bond, which Puso said has helped their company to defy all odds.

Furthermore he stated that they have respect for one another, and are loyal to one another. Since they have equal shares in the company, the profits are shared equally to avoid disputes over money, something that can destroy their company.

Mokolobe and Puso take pride in their company because it has created jobs for other people, more especially the youth and these jobs keep the youth busy and away from bad indulgences and also help them to learn and develop building skills and gain experience.

“It pleases us to see our company making a difference in the community. These jobs keeps youngsters off the streets and away from all sorts of misdemeanors thus bringing joy to the hearts of their parents as well as contributing to the reduction of crime in the society,” Puso said.

Income generated by the company helps the owners to meet their basic needs. They are able to run the affairs of the company such as collecting, processing (buying) and delivering tender documents, making business calls, transporting machinery and going to site visits.

Apart from sustaining itself and its owners, profits generated by Mokolobe Investments have also enabled the owners to purchase its owners to buy assets.

The success of the company can be attributed to provision of good quality, affordable pricing and prompt service delivery. In addition, hard work, patience, loyalty, endurance and cooperation also contribute largely to the prosperity of this company.

Even though Mokolobe Investments is performing well, just like in any business, there are challenges. Puso said that insufficient funds is one of the problems that has stopped them from purchasing some equipment that they so desperately need such as concrete mixers and not having such machinery denies them opportunities such as tendering for bigger projects which would bring more money into the business.

One day Mr Mokolope and Mr Puso hope to have developed their company, having trucks and all the necessary equipment needed to run this sort of business smoothly.

The two strongly want to see their business growing and are desirous of pursuing buildings related courses such as architectural design, quantity surveying and interior design as that will enable them to offer more services.

Mokolobe Investment owners advise Batswana to work very hard and should persist in the pursuit of their dreams.

They urge people to look at how they started. Though they were exploited, they continued to work hard. Today Mokolobe Investments is big and growing bigger. ENDS