Keeping his head above water

Soweto businessman lives smart to keep his business afloat during the pandemic.

He owns Smart-Living Properties, a company that converts shipping containers into homes, offices, libraries, schools, shopping centres, tuckshops and any type of building at a low cost.

It took eight different business ideas for him to find something that worked.

Wandile Moganedi, 30, pictured, would start a business, fail and start another one. But giving up never crossed his mind. Then he started Smart-Living Properties.

Born and raised in Dube, Soweto, Moganedi lived with his mother, grandmother, three cousins, aunt and uncle in a four-room house. He knows first-hand the need for space.

Growing up, he considered himself an introvert and loved to draw, which later turned into a passion for architecture.

“This started as a passion project for me, but I realised I could make a living out of it,” he says.

The architectural draughtsman started his business in 2018, focusing on the use of alternative building methods that are cost-effective to meet the needs of many South Africans who struggle with housing, accommodation and office space.

It has built toilets, homes, office parks, shopping centres, libraries and sanitising booths.

It recently donated a library to the David Makhubo Secondary School.

Coping through the pandemic

It has six employees who Moganedi has managed to retain during the pandemic.

“We had just introduced the smart-disinfecting unit when the Covid-19 pandemic started. We built these to assist the government in reducing the spread of Covid-19. But those were cancelled due to further health implications.

“When [the contract was] cancelled, we lost business and we donated the units to a Siyabonga High School in Braamfischerville, Soweto [to] be used as shelter or a tuck shop. Some will be repurposed into kitchen units for feeding schemes.”

Moganedi has been forced to cut costs to avoid retrenchments.

“We restructured our business and the team’s package.

“We have had to cut down on business expenses and reduce a few necessary expenses.

“We have also gone to great lengths of securing loans, to make small changes in communities that will make big a difference.”

– Citizen reporter