This series of articles aims to inspire and highlight the amazing stories of South African entrepreneurs who are not only supporting their families but also making a difference in their communities. We want to showcase the inner workings of their businesses – from marketing and operations to procurement and logistics. But sometimes, the conversation takes an unexpected turn, as it did when we spoke to Mr. Martin Modise, a true testament to how financial skills propel entrepreneurship.
Humble beginnings
Mr. Martin Modise grew up in Senekal in the Eastern Free State on a farm. The son of a farm labourer, he also worked as a farm labourer in the early days of his adult life. Shortly after his mother moved to Soweto, he relocated to this area just south of Johannesburg in 1993, like many others. Looking for “greener pastures”, as he put it, the life of a farm labourer didn’t have much promise.
He started working for a grocery store in Rockville, Soweto, until 1997, when he opened his shop. He didn’t have the capital to open a full grocery store, so he started small and sold sweets and snacks. His first shop was near his home in Rockville. Still, things were tough, and he occasionally borrowed money from his mother to make ends meet. He couldn’t cover his rent, so he moved back to his mother until he could grow his business and become independent again.
Turmoil of trading
In 1999 he started selling in Kliptown, Soweto. There wasn’t a space on the square where the vendors could trade, so he walked around selling his sweets and snacks. He then realised that commuters were a good market. He started taking the train to Westonaria during peak hours, selling his sweets and snacks to commuters stuck in their daily routine.
Business was good. Soon Martin could move out and even pay the lobola to get married. Life was on the up, but he got mugged one day after a long day of selling. All his money and stock were stolen, and he realised there was a threat to his life. The cost of crime – another business ended.
He returned to selling snacks and sweets at Kliptown, scraping a living for himself and his family. He started selling airtime and had public phones (before cell phones became commonplace in Soweto). However, even with the small amount of money he earned at Kliptown, his finances caused much trouble at home. His wife left him.
The turning point
In 2014 a friend introduced him to Xhantela. “And that is when my life changed,” he says. Our business model provided Martin with the financial skills and support he needed to take his business to the next level. With his Xhantela loan, Martin was able to buy more airtime at a time, which drastically improved his margins on his airtime and public phones.
“When you have a family and other responsibilities, your money can easily go there, and your business doesn’t have enough to sustain itself. With Xhantela, even if the business starts to go backwards, you know Xhantela will intervene, and your business will have stock again.”
Learning financial skills propel entrepreneurship – this was crucial to the change in Mr Modise’s life. “I learned to make things easy for myself by using a bank account to save. Even if it is just R10 at a time. Even though my business is small, I’m saving now.”
“They robbed me again, but because of Xhantela, I’m still standing.”
“Even though I worked in the grocery store, I never learned how to manage the money in a business. With Xhantela, I learned how to manage my money. We also help each other with good ideas. When you talk to other people about business, you learn from each other, and good ideas come from there.”
A vision for the future
When asked about his future vision for his business, Mr Modise has big dreams with the skills and experience he has built up. “My dream is to build my business into a fully-fledged grocer. For that, I need to change a lot. I’m looking for a fixed structure in Nancefield where I can establish and grow my grocery business. I’m currently selling from a zinc structure – as soon as you stock up in such a structure, you get robbed.
“Before Xhantela, I was very poor. My wife left me because things were too difficult. If I had only known Xhantela earlier, I don’t think my first marriage would have failed. Now I’m no longer poor. I have a new wife and could afford to pay new lobola.”
“I thank God that I can be in Xhantela. Other people don’t know it – they only know mashonistas (loan sharks), and they are going nowhere with them. But, with Xhantela, we are going up.”
Martin’s journey is a reminder that entrepreneurship is about more than just making money. It’s about taking control of your life, learning new skills, and making a difference in your community. We salute Martin and all the other South African entrepreneurs who are using their businesses to create a better future for themselves and those around them.
Well done Xhantela for enriching peoples lives.