Next Gucci in South Africa?

Will the next Gucci come from South Africa? Not a doubt, according to Mluleki, maker of sandals, bags and belts from Crossroads in Cape Town (below right). And he is going to extraordinary lengths to achieve that goal. After completing our micro-MBA course in February, he realized he was getting nowhere selling his products from his container in a quiet street in the township of Crossroads. No traffic, no sales.


But Mluleki does know his struggle history, and was aware that two youngsters, Mabhuti Fatman and Goodman Mali, had been shot and killed by security police in October 1985 next to his container. The Human Rights Media Centre got involved, a book was written (see this link for more information), and, recently, a graphical artist and a wood sculptor commissioned to design a simple memorial to the slain men. The container was repainted with a detailed description in Xhosa of the events, a sculpture erected and a gravestone carved into the trees where they were slain.



Now that the site is finished, tour operators are being approached to make this a stop on their tour of the townships. The first group of Norwegians were very impressed by this simple but very elegant memorial site!

Micro - MBA Follow Up Session

One and a half months ago, the Entrepreneurship Centre conducted its first Micro- MBA workshop. The week long program aided 21 develop and grow their businesses by providing valuable business training. Unfortunately, in any workshop there is always a gap between acquiring knowledge and putting it to actual use. To bridge this gap, the Entrepreneurship Centre ran the first of three Micro - MBA follow up sessions on April 7th. The purpose of theses follow up sessions is to ensure that the entrepreneurs’ businesses continue to grow, that they use the skills learned from the original workshop, and also build upon them.

The session began with many familiar face, smiles, and pats on the back as participants chatted about what has been happening since the last workshop. After exchanging pleasantries, the entrepreneurs gave speeches, detailing the obstacles and successes they have experienced in their business since the Micro – MBA. Various other exercises were conducted throughout the session including group brainstorming on why some small businesses fail and why others succeed. We also had a brief ceremony in which participants were given their Micro – MBA certificates.

To finish off the half day session, the group was given assignments for the month ahead to ensure that their skills developed in the Micro – MBA would be put to good use. Overall the session went quite well, and the participants had quite a lot to say. They even went so far as to write to us about how the course has affected them.


I am really happy that I took the opportunity to study about business at Tsiba in the Micro - MBA.

I gained knowledge on a lot of things like how to start a business, how to keep the customers you already have, how to keep the business booming, how to get the business well known among the people, and how to calculate the cost of sales and selling prices.

I also got friends that I can contact when I need assistance and advice.

-Nongqele Kalashe

What I have achieved from the Micro MBA course is how to price and add my markup, how to keep my books in order and balancing, how to create a marketing plan and how improve my purchasing strategy.

After the course I developed a marketing plan and orders have started to come in. I am busy processing many orders these days. Thanks to the Micro MBA course I was able to add value to my business.

-Evelyn Mbenyane




Through my encounter with TSiBA I have found the right attitude in dealing with my customers by reading in minute detail possibilities for potential customers. I learned how to tell apart the buyers from the window-shoppers. I found business should not be isolated within the notion of merely closing a sale. Instead it is important to realize an opportunity to build sustainable relationships with each customer.

-Mluleki Sinuku