Adding light to a township economy
Businessman comes back to his roots for passion project
High flier Malibongwe Tokwe’s corporate assignments have taken him to major cities across the globe, from Sydney to Istanbul. But when it came to settling down seriously to start his own enterprise, he chose Nolukhanyo in rural, off-the-beaten track Bathurst. He tells Sue Maclennan why.
From Port Alfred, head north-west along the R67 towards Makhanda. Take a right somewhere after the Big Pineapple and the cows lining Bathurst’s main road, past the showgrounds. There, on a quiet corner near the entrance to Nolukhanyo, is Emzini Lounge.
The classy licensed entertainment venue could hold its own anywhere in SA. It has headlined with the likes of jazz maestro Andile Yenana and popular singer Zahara, as well as featuring several local artists.
Doubling as a restaurant, a mouthwatering menu features anything from Kota Bhotsotso at just R15 to a full braai platter at R170.
Adjoining the venue is a butchery and shisanyama where customers can choose their own meat, then take it outside to braai.
“We have our own in-house spices and sauces that you can’t get anywhere else,” Tokwe says.
Also in the Emzini complex is a car wash and a signs and printing facility that can handle vinyl signs and banners, T-shirts and stickers for cars.
“We have the infrastructure for an internet café, but that project hasn’t kicked off yet,” Tokwe says.
Tokwe graduated from Rhodes University with a BSc joint Honours in Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics. He registered for his Masters in Mathematics, and had attended two weeks of classes when he was approached by Cadbury (now Mondelez) to join their graduate programme.
His corporate trajectory saw him sought out by Absa, MTN and McCain Frozen Foods. He’s been deployed to Perth, Melbourne, Istanbul, and Auckland.
“Whenever there were challenges with supply chain optimisation they would just send me.”
He is working as Supply Chain Executive at Telkom.
And now Bathurst…?
“Well I’m from here,” Tokwe says. “There’s one thing you can’t run away from and that’s your roots - where you come from.”
Tokwe was born in 1984 in Mgababa, Peddie. Six years later, his grandfather decided to move to Nolukhanyo.
“I arrived in Bathurst at the age of 6. I did my primary and high school in Bathurst, then I went to Rhodes,” Tokwe says.
“Most successful people from the Eastern Cape leave. They go to Joburg or Cape Town, and I think that’s why those cities are doing well: because everyone clusters there. No one wants to take the risk and develop the places where they are coming from.
“If you’re not obsessed with being with the people ‘up there’, I think there are so many
opportunities back where we come from.
“The reason I’m in Bathurst is exactly that. I totally believe in Ndlambe, in the Sarah Baartman region. The landscape is beautiful. The weather is beautiful.
“The more I travelled the world, I realised that all the wonderful things that people from these different countries were seeking, are exactly what we have: ocean, beautiful weather, landscape, wildlife, we’ve got it all here.
“Yet we run away and pay twice as much to go to Kruger National Park when we have these things in the Eastern Cape.”
How sensible is it to open a business in a province where the number of employed people dropped at the end of last year by 66,000, in a municipality where, at the last count, unemployment was already over 30%? (Quarterly Labour Survey and StatsSA).
“I grew up looking after my grandfather’s cattle and sheep,” Tokwe says.
“I remember looking at Nolukhanyo and thinking there wasn’t much there.
“I just couldn’t get it out of my system, until I found the strength to start something in Bathurst.” Tokwe admits that Emzini is a “heart” project. “It’s not only a business; it also provides for a number of families that are not working,” Tokwe said.
“If I was only doing business for revenue, I’m sure I would have shut down long ago. But the fact that it’s been an emotional project as well, the vision is pulling me.
“We opened on 28 May last year and I’d like to tell you right now, it’s not been easy. But we’re starting to see the light. We’re starting to see good revenue and identify other opportunities.