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SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS
CONTENTS Cover image taken by Lonwabo Marele. Cover page designed by Aasif Sirkhotte.
3 EDITOR'S NOTE Lonwabo Marele 4 OPINION PIECE: MPILO PUBLISHING What is success? 6 FIRE PIECE: MPHO DAGADA Mr. Bitcoin and the future of cryptocurrency 9 VIBE THE BRAND ADVERTISEMENT
17 NISSAN CONTINUES 60-YEAR LEGACY OF INVESTMENT IN AFRICA
21 AFRICA FINTECH SUMMIT ADVERTISEMENT 22 JOHNNIE WALKER ADVERTISEMENT
11 COVER STORY HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL WINE AND LIFESTYLE BUSINESS Get to know Lata Ngoasheng, a key player in the South African economy. He is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, investor and art enthiusiast. SUCCESSFULJOURNALS.COM
24 TOP READ: BUCHULE SIBACA SMTAX - The present and the future of digital tax in Africa
30 #NOTOGENDERBASEDVIOLENCE CAMPAIGN
32 GET IN TOUCH, ADVERTISE WITH US JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS | 2
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AMBITION AND INNOVATION CAN'T BE QUARANTINED We took a standstill as a country, continent, and the world as we were shocked by a pandemic that left many jobless, homeless, and much worse. Through the midst of it all, we continue to seek hope and innovation towards a brand new normal. In times like these, where humans communicate from a distance, it is important for us to unite, virtually, to spread a positive message, to build and help each other get back on our feet. During the pandemic, some donated millions and others risked their lives by helping those in need of food and sanitary packs - a kind gesture that plays a pivotal role in the life of young girls and women, particularly around the povertystricken areas of Africa.
Some started teaching online, earning enough money to put food on the table for their families, while others were forced by their circumstances to start their own businesses. No matter the struggle, if you are going through hell, keep on going, because sooner or later, you will find the light and the doors will open. In this first issue of SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS, we took the initiative to use as much time and resources as we had to contact entrepreneurs, philanthropists and investors from across the continent, to listen and share their struggles, tips and success stories. We shared some stories of hope, positivity, strategies, and relatability, because, for every man to reach the top of the mountain, they have to climb from the bottom upwards. We welcome all the brave hearts, the wealth creators, the courageous beings who bend the rules, the warriors who refuse to take no for an answer, the extraordinary people who disrupt the status quo while creating a better future for generations and generations to come. We salute you all. At SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS you all have a home. We are a platform for aspiring entrepreneurs, kind-hearted philanthropists, and future billionaires.
LONWABO MARELE FOUNDER & CEO SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS hello@successfuljournals.com www.successfuljournals.com
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EDITOR'S NOTE
WHAT IS SUCCESS? OPINION PIECE
"More likely than not, when one is asked what success actually is, they would define the success that has been concluded by the world. I’d like to define it in relation to what I have experienced and have come to realise," - Simthandile Mhlambiso, Entrepreneur. I’m currently the Founder and Managing Director of a publishing company, Mpilo Publishing (Pty) Ltd; and while that may sound impressive, having those titles is not success. What success actually means, is to accomplish something, to be effective. For me, at current, success in my business means the effective running of the business operations – every aspect of the business, from communication with potential clients, turning potential clients to actual clients, successfully completing the full publishing process of a book, to compliance with SARS and CIPC. Success is a journey that is different for each individual. Your readiness to accomplish anything is dependent on where you are skillfully, but most importantly, being mentally ready. I say ‘mentally’ because you may not be skillful enough for what you want to succeed in but if you have made up your mind about it, there’s nothing that can stop you. Quick story: I obtained a Bcom Accounting degree in pursuit of being a chartered accountant at first, I then pursued being a professional accountant. When I had quit the latter journey, I had already registered the company and selfpublished two of my own books. No, I didn’t obtain a qualification that would qualify me to operate a publishing company or self-publish books, but I did have a background of blogging, through which I discovered my gift of writing; and I gained enough knowledge and training about the financial statements, SARS and CIPC company compliance.
Everything else that I know about the full publishing process is self-taught through ‘Howto’ publishing books obtained from the local library. I also took it upon myself to enrol for a copy-editing course and entrepreneurship courses which are still equipping me to this day. Over the past two years, I have helped to self-publish 7 books including mine; and completed other publishing services which are editing and book reviews for 3 books, one of which include Zizo Izabelo Zam Apleni’s “My father took away my innocence.” Like I said, success is a journey that is different for everybody. You may not have the same resources as everyone else at the time you think you should have had them, but once one is successful in whatever they had put their mind into and start accomplishing things, no one will care about how you got there.
Simthandile Mhlambiso Founder and Managing Director info@mpilopublishing.co.za Mpilo Publishing (Pty) Ltd - identity restored
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SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS | PUBLISHING
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FEATURED MODEL: LUNGA "MR LUU" RULULU PHOTOGRAPHER: LUVUYO "MR V-NTAGE" RULULU VIA VINTAGE FRAMES EMAIL: VINTAGEFRAMESGP@GMAIL.COM LOCATION: PORT ELIZABETH, SOUTH AFRICA.
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SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS | FIRE PIECE
MPHO DAGADA
FIRE PIECE!
MR BITCOIN AND THE FUTURE OF CRYPTOCURRENCY MPHO DAGADA MAKES INVESTING IN CRYPTOCURRENCY SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE FOR YOUNG INVESTORS WHO ARE EAGER TO TAP INTO THE MARKET. BY LIKHO MPAMA
Mpho Dagada is a young Entrepreneur, a Speaker and an Author from humble beginnings - coming from a small town in Venda, Limpopo.
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SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS | FIRE PIECE
"MY CURIOSITY TOOK OVER WHEN I SAW THE VALUE OF BITCOIN.
Mpho Dagada believes growing up in a small town gave him time to dream big, to be inspired, and have visions that will transform him into one of the most influential black people in the continent. He says his grandfather was his biggest inspiration, especially during the Apartheid era, because he owned and managed to open multiple shops all around the town during those difficult circumstances of Apartheid. His journey started in university when he realised the struggles of getting a job, through that, he discovered Bitcoin in 2013 thanks to a lady who asked him to buy her some Bitcoin at a cost of R200. He says “my curiosity took over when I saw the value of Bitcoin jump from R1,000 to R10,000. I became obsessed with Bitcoin to a point where I studied it and mastered it and became a millionaire at the age of 21”.
Today he considers himself an advocate of cryptocurrency and the 4th Industrial Revolution. Mpho Dagada does not consider himself as only a Bitcoin master but also has other aspirations that he ventures into, which include an Author. His books have done well in South Africa and the rest of Africa. He is also into logistics and food franchising. In all of that he tries to stick to his passion, which is the 4th Industrial Revolution as he believes that is where the money lies. SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS asked him if he discovered any challenges during the Pandemic (Covid-19). He believes Covid-19 was a gateway that has boomed the 4th Industrial Revolution as much as it has not been good to other industries.
In fact, it has boosted cryptocurrency, with many technology companies also increasing in numbers. He says “a lot of people have started to realise that the 4th Industrial Revolution is here”. He advises people to upskill and enhance the lessons of the 4th Industrial Revolution because it is a game-changer in the world, even through Covid-19. The Pandemic has given Mpho Dagada motivation to expose, get people aware and engaged about the 4th Industrial Revolution. He wants to teach people about the ups and downs of cryptocurrency and most importantly the benefits that come with it. He believes technology and the digital world is taking over; he wants black people to be empowered so that they can lead this revolution.
He says “no entrepreneur is necessarily born an entrepreneur, we all learn, train as we go, read books and watch videos so we can get into the entrepreneurial mindset”. He advises young adults or anyone who wants to be an entrepreneur to never lose the burning desire to become successful or to make money. “They should focus on their desires. As much as people are telling them it is not possible or it is difficult to make it, they should just keep on pursuing that burning desire to a point where they write it down and verbalize those desires into existence”. SJ
"I STUDIED IT, MASTERED IT AND BECAME A MILLIONAIRE AT THE AGE OF 21.
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SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS | FIRE PIECE
SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS FEATURED MODEL: COURTWIN BLAAUW (3) PHOTOGRAPHER:CURTLY GALANT EMAIL: WAXSCPT08@GMAIL.COM LOCATION: LADISMITH, WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA.
"SKILLS PAY THE BILLS. - VIBE THE BRAND CEO, TRUIMPH BALOYI.
Contact Vibe The Brand on +27 79 561 1974 Truimphbaloyi114@gmail.com
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“To be a successful business owner and investor, you have to be emotionally neutral to winning and losing. Winning and losing are just part of the game.” - Robert Kiyosaki
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL WINE AND LIFESTYLE BUSINESS By Lonwabo Marele
While Running A Petroleum Company
SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS | EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Lata Ngoasheng is a key player in the South African economy. The young entrepreneur, from Limpopo, runs a successful wine company, is an investor in the petroleum industry, as well as a man fascinated by art and collectables. But it wasn't all good and glamour. Here is the story behind his success.
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LATA NGOASHENG'S SUCCESS STORY
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SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS | EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
November 2020 was a successful month in a tough year in our journals as we bagged a couple of profound interviews with extraordinary entrepreneurs. While in Johannesburg for our partner's graduation, we caught up with Lata Ngoasheng, the founder and CEO of LN Wines. We have been in contact with Ngoasheng on social media throughout the year. And, when he responded, it felt like our dream had finally come alive. Initially, we were scheduled to meet on a Thursday afternoon. Due to the entrepreneur's busy schedule, our interview moved over to Friday afternoon. When we saw the phone rang and Ngoasheng's name popped up, excitement glistened through our eyes. Although he was running a couple of 30 minutes behind schedule, we were actually not bothered. We were over the moon for the fact that he could make it to the interview. At 3pm we marched towards Birchwood Hotel's reception to fetch the entrepreneur. He apologised, showing his character as a businessman and a valuer of time. It was a beautiful partly cloudy day with pockets of rain. The hotel had a buzz and was full of security personnel as there was a function that had a prominent minister as a guest speaker.
Instead of walking all the way back to the other side of the hotel where we would host the interview, Ngoasheng offered us a lift in his luxury executive car. Bear in mind, we could grab a lift with the golf-cart service from the hotel, but the ride on his brown-leathered seats convertible, an expression of love for finer things, was a superb build-up to the interview - it was a statement of success. Ngoasheng's passion lightens up in the way he walks, talks, and laughs when you mention the word 'wine'. Funny enough, we spent over 10 minutes looking for two glasses to pour the bottles of Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc he brought from his range of bottles. He smiled when we got two wine glasses from the catering team at the hotel. And, when we could not find a corkscrew, it was like buying a TV without a remote. We quickly shifted the topic towards timepieces as he was wearing a Patek Philippe. For every milestone and for every goal Ngoasheng reaches, he rewards himself with a timepiece.
We kept the two bottles of wine for the partner's graduation - a win for everyone. The entrepreneur, originally from Uitkyk No 1, grew up in Mokganyaka, a small township outside Marble Hall. He poured water in his glass and progressed to share his background. His drive and determination was influenced by his mother, Modjadji Ngoasheng, a professional teacher and a business owner. When he was 10 years old, his mother tasked him with cleaning taxis in the family business and collecting the daily cheques from the drivers. He honestly says, he was never fond of this task, but it paved the way for his managerial and entrepreneurial skills. “It gave me the sense of responsibility for handling hard cash. Handling hard cash is one of the key rules in business. If you cannot handle hard cash you cannot handle money in the bank account because hard cash is more tempting than liquid money,” he says. He moved to Johannesburg in the late 1990s to start his high school journey. He then studied graphics design and marketing. After a couple of years with a Belgium company that was located in Port Elizabeth, Ngoasheng started his own advertising agency, RedSpark Communications. Ngoasheng strategically rebranded RedSpark Communications to RedSpark Designs. They now provide a range of design and communication services throughout the country. He has also served as a director at Bogosi IT Solutions, a company that provides Asset Tracking Solutions through Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. He was one of three directors who negotiated and closed a deal that saw Bogosi IT Solutions become an enterprise development beneficiary of Barloworld Siyakhula, a Barloworld Group development entity. The objective saw the company gain access to a bigger and broader market in the continent. Throughout his business journey, wine was always a weakness and something he loved and collected. The wine bug bit him in 2014 after his son, Leano Ngoasheng, was born. His love for the vineyard was never to start a business, it was simply to admire the finer things in life, with family and close friends.
He reached over the counter to grab a bottle of wine and wrote a legacy to his son. His family began to pay attention to his newfound love, and so they began to show interest. His intention was to celebrate milestones with close family and friends... The rest is history. “The LN brand is about the celebration of family and family legacy, the celebrations of our generation and our responsibility and where we want to go as young black people - not only as individuals but collectively as a family, immediate family, a family at large and community at large. It's about what makes us even better than previous generations - both in responsibility and achievement,” he says. The way Ngoasheng speaks about wine, for a person in another room, it sounds as if he is painting Leonardo da Vinci's portrait of the Mona Lisa. But, of course, his passion oozes out art. He says his house is invested with 90% local art collections and pieces including his own work. Actually, Ngoasheng's first taste at running his own business was when he founded a record label at the age of 15 years old. He recalls he was too young to sign than CIPRO papers and his mom had to on his behalf. The Limpopo-based record business did not survive his move to Gauteng.
"MOST BUSINESSES ARE GOING THE DIGITAL ROUTE, WHICH IS AN ADVANTAGE FOR A BUSINESS LIKE OURS THAT GENERALLY WOULD HAVE STRUGGLED TO GET INTO THE MAINSTREAM DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS.
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SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS | EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
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SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS | EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
"TOAST TO THE FUTURE TODAY. In an industry dominated by winemakers, mostly from the Western Cape, it is good to see a black entrepreneur, from a different province, in demand, across the country. But for Ngoasheng, this is just the beginning. There are many avenues within the wine industry he is enthusiastic about tapping into, which include partnering with restaurants throughout Africa, hosting lifestyle events across the country and becoming a household name globally. “We are in the digital realm right now. Most businesses are going the digital route, which is an advantage for a business like ours that generally would have struggled to get into the mainstream distribution channels. But now because of the digital space, it is easy for us to reach our market directly. We are doing very well selling online.” "We are basically going to be catering a whole full circle of a lifestyle environment that revolves around the wine, which is LN. That is basically what the future holds, it is coming to make sure that people enjoy not only the wine but to include music, art, fashion, travel and other beautiful things that people enjoy around their lifestyle that goes well with wine,” he says. Besides being in the wine industry, he owns a petrol station in Jabavu where he ploughs back by employing the local people. He was driving in Soweto a couple of years ago when he saw a debilitated petroleum station. Over the years he had raised enough capital. He then bought the petrol station, up-skilled himself and fixed it. Ngoasheng is also an investor in a number of businesses in Gauteng, as well as a philanthropist with a non-profit organisation, The Cooks Foundation, in the Eastern Cape. Ngoasheng says the foundation's primary focus is the preservation of SA's heritage through different projects; be it through photography, film, books, and any medium that preserves heritage. Fuelled with drive and compassion for his family, friends, and fellow entrepreneurs chasing their dreams daily, Ngoasheng's inspiration comes from the interaction and ideas he constantly shares with his inner circle.
Ngoasheng's dream is see Africans continue supporting each other and create a legacy through generational wealth. “Our own friends are our own inspiration these days. I advise we make the circle bigger, we get together more, we share ideas, we share challenges and we help each other to grow. The only way we are going to grow is if I wear Skinny Sbu Socks, the only way we are going to grow is if I drink Moringa Gin, and if someone walks into the restaurant and asks if they have LN Wines. If we don’t do that ourselves nobody is going to do it for us. So let’s support each other and keep our heads up, the struggle is real man and nobody is going to do it for us.” “We are in a very great space in our lifetime where we are starting to appreciate ourselves and value ourselves and our worth. We are at a point where black people are starting to appreciate each other and the brands that we are bringing into the industry. The quality of our brands are on point and it is amazing to see that people are also accepting them as we hope that they would. Let’s keep on supporting each other and keep on drinking our beautiful wines and toasting to the future today.” SJ
SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS
THE NEW NAVARA CONTINUES NISSAN’S 60-YEAR LEGACY OF INVESTMENT IN AFRICA
SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS
NISSAN WILL BUILD ITS NEXT GENERATION OF NAVARA BAKKIES IN SOUTH AFRICA
NISSAN'S 60 YEARS OF AMBITION, GROWTH AND INVESTMENTS IN AFRICA
When Nissan made its first investment towards Africa’s growth sixty years ago with Datsun’s presence in Zimbabwe and the Nissan Motor Company Limited, opening its Rosslyn operations, it was the humble, but bold start of a journey. With a firm belief in the opportunities that lie on the African continent, the group furthered its investments in 2000, when it purchased a 37 percent stake from Sanlam Group; opened an assembly facility in Egypt; and became the first overseas auto manufacturer to begin local assembly in Nigeria in 2014. In 2019, Nissan continued its commitment to the continent, making a R3 billion investment announcement to facilitate the local production of the Nissan Navara pickup. The bold investment spoke to the Navara rolling off the production line alongside the popular NP200 half-ton pickup, and NP300 oneton Hardbody that are already produced at the South African plant. The impact of the Navara production announcement has been substantial, extending from the Nissan facility, to its people and the communities in which Nissan operates.
The modernised Rosslyn plant now has a new, flexible production line and additional facilities. R190 million has already been invested in re-skilling and training Nissan South Africa’s employees to expand their expertise in preparation for the Navara’s local production the company’s production trial engineers, for example, spent three months receiving virtual training (due to COVID-19 travel restrictions) from Nissan trainers in Japan on implementing the model here in South Africa. Nissan South Africa has also incubated eight new component manufacturers and related companies, from their BBBEE start-up programme, and identified a further 15 who can assist with components for the new Navara. The installation of the necessary machinery, including robots, meanwhile, and new press machines, were completed during lock-down by highly skilled local engineers under the “virtual” online guidance of Japanese, technicians sitting at home in their respective countries as everyone came to grips with the global pandemic.
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Investing in an opportunity-filled market This journey demonstrates just how critical Africa has been for Nissan, and today, the continent is one of the company’s fastest growing territories in terms of Total Industry Volume (TIV). The company has a 20 percent market share in a number of Sub-Saharan markets and holds 4th position with nine percent marketshare in South Africa. As the operational hub for Regional Business Unit South, Nissan South Africa serves the Group’s key Sub-Saharan markets- South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Mauritius, Angola, Zimbabwe, which have been labelled as opportunity markets by the Group. Nissan believes the business will be able to achieve sustainable, profitable growth, and maximise their competitive advantage as a lowcost manufacturing base in these markets.
Geared for growth The journey does not stop here. With its commitment to build the new Navara in South Africa, Nissan continues to show its commitment to the continent and is aligning with the Nissan Next Transformation Plan to increase its passenger/crossover market presence, and to become the LCV production hub for its regional markets. In addition to this, Nissan has also entered automotive policy discussions with the Kenyan government, with the vision to invest in manufacturing plants in these countries.Taking investment action a step further in Ghana, Nissan recently appointed long-time partner Japan Motors Trading Co. as to develop its new vehicle assembly facility in Accra, Ghana. The first model to be assembled at the new facility will be the all-new Nissan Navara. This comes as a result of the 2018 memorandum of understanding between Nissan and the government of Ghana to lay the foundation for a sustainable automotive manufacturing industry in the country.
According to Nissan’s Africa Regional Business Unit, Managing Director, Mike Whitfield, Nissan will continue to develop regional hubs, “South Africa remains a pivotal market, first for the access that it grants Nissan to the continent and secondly as a light commercial vehicle hub for the Nissan group. We have a specific team working on potential opportunities in East, West, and Central Africa. This includes investigating options for local assembly, consolidating and strengthening our National Sales Companies in Sub-Sahara, and working with local governments to develop their industrial policies.” Nissan South Africa is the operational hub for Regional Business Unit South, serving Nissan's key South Africa market and 45 other countries in Sub Saharan Africa, including Angola, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria as well as the key Southern African markets of Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland. In South Africa, the company offers a range of 24 vehicles under the Nissan and Datsun brands, including the popular locallyproduced Nissan light commercial vehicles the NP200 half ton pickup and NP300 one-ton Hardbody - produced at the company's Rosslyn plant, north west of Pretoria. Nissan made history locally in 2013 with the introduction of Africa’s first electric vehicle, Nissan's flagship Nissan LEAF. As well as boasting zero emissions leadership, Nissan is also a leader in the crossover segment. Among its product offerings are the allnew Nissan Qashqai and X-Trail, as well as Juke. The Datsun brand has re-established Nissan in the entry-level market where the tailor-made Datsun GO is breaking new ground in the ‘riser’ market segment. For more information visit Nissan's website at http://www.nissan.co.za Issued by: Nissan South Africa (Pty) Ltd Communications Reg No 1963/007428/07 P O Box 911-010, Rosslyn, 0200 South Africa
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38
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March 22-23, 2021: 6th Africa Fintech Summit Location: Cairo, Egypt
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In Capital Represented
October 14, 2021: 7th Africa Fintech Summit Location: Marrakech, Morocco
Contact partnerships@africafintechsummit.com to partner with the Africa Fintech Summit. For additional information, email info@africafintechsummit.com
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Photo by Chi Lok TSANG on Unsplash
Enjoy Responsibly. Not For Persons Under the Age Of 18.
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ALMONDS: HIGH VALUE, HUGE POTENTIAL
Global almond product introductions continue to rise. Almonds experienced double-digit growth (+13%) between 2018 and 2019, with 12,206 new almond products introduced globally. 2021 highlights numerous paths for almond manufacturers to meet evolving consumer demands. Year after year, almonds prevail through shifts in the food and beverage landscape, shining as an ingredient that continues to deliver innovative and unique products for global consumers who are increasingly seeking to balance health and indulgence.
SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS | TOP READ
SMTAX
TOP READ!
THE PRESENT AND FUTURE OF DIGITAL TAX IN AFRICA Turning a dream into reality By Lonwabo Marele
SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS | TOP READ
BUCHULE SIBACA Buchule Sibaca is cut from a different cloth of entrepreneurs. He is a realistic nerd that enjoys being on the golf field while mastering the art of tax. When he is unsure of a task, he goes out to research it and comes out with a simple way to do it, for his business and his people. When he speaks, his use of words and thought-provoking speech teases an audience's brain to listen, engage and envision. Words and numbers come naturally to him, hence, he is the founder and MD of one of the leading black-owned digital tax and accounting businesses in South Africa, SMTAX. From as early as his high school days at Muir College Boys' High School in the small town of Uitenhage, near Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern Cape, Sibaca's dream was to become the CEO of a JSE-listed company. He wanted to join Old Mutual, to be specific until he realised, he can actually build his own successful business and get Old Mutual on board as a client. Sibaca knew at a very young age that discipline, focus and good grades, especially in Mathematics and Accounting, would play a pivotal role in his journey to success. He excelled academically, on the rugby field, as well as in leadership roles at school committees. He was nominated as a prefect and one of the top five pupils in the matric class of 2009. These achievements helped him bag a bursary to study Actuarial Science at the University of Cape Town the following year. The shift in his vision, helped him to switch over to Accounting, prepping him for the real world of business. He worked in the corporate world for a of couple months, two months to be specific, until he ventured into entrepreneurship, with his wife and partner, Sivenathi Sibaca.
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SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS | TOP READ
Sibaca says his first set of motivation was to start on a thread of academic excellence, acquiring experience and then chasing his vision. "I joined a start-up firm that sold insurance digitally and my interests were around financial services. It was there that I learned more about the internet and how digital services were the future. This was about 5-7 years ago and how things could be paperless and it was there where I started learning and experimenting with digital accounting and tax,” he says. Sibaca unravels how SMTAX started - simply by helping people file their tax returns during tax season. He charged them a bottle of whiskey for the service. When he started to run out of storage space, his partner advised he starts charging clients properly. “I had started charging the price of a whiskey bottle at the time. And when I started charging cash, at the time it was still a side hustle. So for tax purposes I thought let me funnel this money into an entity,” he says. “I then registered my company in order to funnel the money through this particular entity. I registered the company SMTAX; S for Sibaca and M for Maduna, my partner's surname, and Tax, because that’s what we do, tax,” he says.
Sibaca registered the company, but their clients could not come to him at the office, at the time. And so, he researched tools to fully turn his entity digital and it worked in their favour. They now have clients they have never met, from across the world, who, until this day, are happy with their service. “Ultimately I think we were just focusing on the individual, doing their tax planning and helping them plan better. What we found is that they also had side hustles, just like me, so we started doing tax for small businesses as well." "We also found out that there was a big gap in the accounting end. We were very good at doing tax excellently but we were not good at doing accounting digitally. We had to find frameworks on how to do that so we found this really powerful platform called XERO that allowed us to sort of building digital leisure for people to connect to and work with our clients at the same time. We incorporated an accounting layer,” he says. When Sibaca realised the abundance of problems entrepreneurs face on a daily basis, they added an advisory service to their business.
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SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS | TOP READ
"THE INITIAL PUSH WAS TO START ON THE THREAD OF ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE. "In a nutshell every business, whether small or big, has to comply with legislation compliance. So the first one is the Company's Act that says you must file financial statements, you must file tax returns. Then you have your Income Tax and your taxes at regular intervals of the year. Then you have your Labour Act that says when you have an employee you must deduct UIF and have compensations, compensation of Disease Act and others," he says. Sibaca says they are moving towards a time where they will automate their whole accounting system so that it has no human element. This will effectively take out the role of a bookkeeper or an accountant. "We then looked at it and said when we get there what then? When we get to point X what then? What happens when everyone else gets to point X? We said that at that point in time the biggest differentiator will be the human touch."
Sibaca says as automated things may be in the near future, it is always good to go to the grocery shop or to the petrol station and interact with other shoppers. "Ultimately the biggest sort of asset a company can have is its humans, it's the human intelligence and the creativity it will bring and the human interaction. That is why we have hired the best of the best in the country that will make sure we have that human touch. We still very much have that digital element but we are focusing on that human element. So if you ask me what the future of the world, I think it is more human connections," he says. Sibaca says the Covid-19 pandemic taught the business sector two lessons; how to evolve and tackle many of the challenges digitally. Secondly, it showed township-based businesses a new market in different geographical locations. He says the negative impact came when many employees got retrenched. His solution is for mid-management employees who lost their jobs to start their own businesses. He suggests that government uses that narrative to create packages for new businesses to help boost the economy.
"And because it is a conversation you are going to have alone, you are going to be realistic with the number. And then work back and say "this is where I want to be and this is what I want to achieve". I don’t give up even if things go pear-shaped, I don’t panic, I become much calmer and work on the solution. "To the youth of SA who looks up to me, follow your dreams. You only have a fine line number of years. Don’t let anyone tell you what you can and cannot achieve. When you go through the valley of darkness, and you will, persevere. It’s only when you really persevere that the valley of darkness becomes worth it and success becomes worth it. If it was easy, then it wouldn’t be great, it’s only great because of the challenges you overcome. That is what Mandela said, “it always seems impossible until it’s done,”” says Sibaca. SJ
"IT’S ONLY WHEN YOU REALLY PERSEVERE THAT THE VALLEY OF DARKNESS BECOMES WORTH GOING THROUGH AND SUCCESS BECOMES WORTH IT.
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Sibaca says in the past, and in some instances, in the present, for previously disadvantaged areas, people still use the old way of sending and receiving tax clearances and income statements. They have to walk or drive a long way and deliver it by hand. His legacy is to help simplify this method by helping people go through their business income statements digitally and faster, while they focus on the importance of delivering an excellent product and service to their clients. One of the lessons he has learned from his parents, who were both teachers, is that in the lifetime that we live in, when you put your mind to something, nothing and nobody can stop you from achieving it. And, by you achieving it, you get to motivate more that come after you. “Give yourself a number, tell yourself you are going to die at that age. Don’t tell anyone that number."
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