Living proof of power of women and endurance
AUGUST is regarded as women’s month on the South African calendar. So it made sense for us at Statistics SA to also recognise women for their great deeds. Jeff Radebe, Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning Monitoring and Evaluation, graced our special day – he rocked.
Our guest speaker was none other than Semole Hilda Tloubatla, the founder of Mahotella Queens and the only active member of the group of Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens.
Why the choice of the surviving Queen and why did we choose her to address us? Mahlathini and Mahotella Queens occupy a special place in South Africa and globally as a cultural group with profound messages.
But importantly it is one of the few businesses, and at that black businesses, that are now 53 years old and still going strong.
It was from this angle that we thought the question of black leadership and black business could be brought to the fore to those of us who crunch numbers and what perhaps this may mean for the future of transformation. This was the assignment I requested Tloubatla to narrate to us.
The hallmarks of being a lass or lad growing up in the subcontinent in the 1960s would not be complete without the mbaqanga jive of Mahotella Queens, the towering voice of Mahlathini and the skilful fingers of Max Mangwane. Mahotella Queens and Omo washing powder have a lot in common.
It was through the attractions of the music that villagers would congregate around the Omo van with blustering music Mahlathini and Mahotella Queens records. The introduction and use of Omo was problematic for people who washed clothes along rivers.
Unlike the blue soap that you would rub in the item being washed, the powder soap and foam would float with the flow of the river. Omo marketers had to overcome this problem. So they introduced a dancing competition. The prize was a blanket and a basin and then a demonstration of how Omo had to be used.
My recollection of the lived experience of these two brands that parted ways around 1967 revisited me as I was troubled by a number of questions the answers of which were unfortunately hard to come by. I thought about the question of first what elements that make for a successful idea?
Second what are legendary black women-led businesses? And third what are their secrets of resilience and success? Mahotella Queens for me topped the list. How many black led women businesses are there? How many exhibit this level of resilience? How many will be alive in half a century? To think about the future of any nation, we have to think women and Tloubatla remains legendary.
Born in the dusty streets of KwaThema seventy five years ago, at the age of 23 she established a group called Mahotella Queens with her two retired colleagues.
Within a short space of time they got in Max Mangwane and the flamboyant Mahlatini and they set South Africa and the SADC region on fire with their special kind of music.
They toured the world and are doing more of late and as I called her they were preparing for a tour of France. She greets in different languages and displays how she has sold the brand South Africa. She however laments that South Africa appears to fail to invite them and appreciate the culture.
The real queen of Mahotella Queens, Tloubatla, talks about the lonely path she found herself in as she started surviving all the members of the group she and her colleagues founded in 1964. How she had to rebuild after the death of the likes of Max Mangwane and obviously the irreplaceable Mahlathini.
The pain is palpable in her voice as she speaks fondly of her fellow queens who can no longer perform. But the determination to ensure that the succession is sustainable is demonstrated as she enumerates each individual and explains their role.
How and when, including circumstances and attributes, of why they got recruited to replace those who are retiring for a variety of reason are clearly articulated by this indomitable matriarch.
The determinants of success of Mahotella Queens were clear and there in the open to see, including a clear path of succession. Their secret is discipline, training, respect, staying the course and remaining original as they thought of the future. These captured the central theme of the success story of Mahotella Queens.
Vision
The path was not easy and as the founders started ageing and falling off, the burden took a toll. But one matriarch who had the vision stood and showed that great heights can be achieved from a township such as KwaThema. They were are attainable and can be kept. Legacies can be built and local brands can be global – all from a corner in KwaThema.
For me Mahotella Queens represent a case study of a successful black women led business in South Africa with a very unique proposition and a clear succession plan. It outlived some of the greatest brands of its times, such as the Beatles.
It is in the Mahotella Queens, the likes of Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Sibongile Khumalo, that we may search for women liberation and gender equality. As we are in the thick of building institutions we should dip our buckets where we are and derive leadership lessons of what makes institutions resilient.
We would have not managed without the true taste of Mahotella Queens, the ISIbalo House, the home of Stats SA rocked with the talented song birds.