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A taste of Africa

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Mzoli Ngcawuzele is a restaurant owner and property developer. (Picture: Glenneis Kriel)
Mzoli Ngcawuzele is a restaurant owner and property developer. (Picture: Glenneis Kriel)

If there is one person who can be singled out for his role in the gentrification of Gugulethu in the Western Cape, it is most probably Mzoli Ngcawuzele. 

With his property development company, Ngcawuzele has made his mark specialising in projects aimed at the renewal of townships. 

Some of the big projects he has been involved in include the Kuyasa shopping centre in Mdantsane in East London, the Central Park shopping centre in Bloemfontein, the Metlife Mall extension in King William’s Town, the Gugulethu Square shopping centre and the 3 500sqm shopping centre currently being planned for Middledrift in the Eastern Cape.
 
He also owns the butchery restaurant Mzoli’s Place, which has become a favourite hangout for locals and a must on international tourist itineraries. 

Ngcawuzele, thought to be the best Western Province 5000 metre and 10000 metre athlete in the late ’70s and early ’80s, ascribes his success to his love for people and the discipline he learnt during athletics training.
 
How did Mzoli’s Place start?

I have always wanted to contribute to the social reform of underprivileged communities. Envisaging I would do so by giving these communities access to services and infrastructure that would help to improve their quality of life, I started Mzoli Properties in 1994.

Property development, though, can be very cyclical. You are swamped with work during some months and have nothing to do, and in effect no income, during other months. 

To alleviate the impact of these “dry months” on cash flow, I started selling offal from my garage in Gugs around the start of 2002. I bought my first offal consignemnt with a modest R1 000. 

The business grew well, but I wanted to get away from offal because of the perception that it is an inferior meat product. 

While the South African population is quite diverse, there is one thing most of us share, and that is a love for meat, especially barbecued meat. 

I therefore decided to create Mzoli’s Place, an open-air butchery restaurant where people from all walks of life and of all races can enjoy high-quality barbequed meat.
 
The concept is quite simple; people select the meat they want to eat, and it is then barbecued to perfection in our secret sauce. The food is served on tin plates, with cutlery available on request. 

I started the restaurant with R100 000 saved up from my offal earnings. Mzoli’s Place started out with 10 employees, and we’ve grown to 20 over time.    

Where did your sense of business come from? 

You may say I studied at the university of life. My dad, Siright, used to own a fabric offcut business in Cape Town. He taught me the importance of keeping customers happy. 

It also really helped that my whole family supported my business ventures. They not only believed in my ideas and encouraged me to follow my dreams but also supported me financially when I started the property development business.
   
And I have been fortunate – perhaps because of my athletics career and the fact that I have always liked people – to always be surrounded by a strong network of people who were not afraid to share their knowledge. 

I knew nothing about property development when I started out, but the learning curve was softened thanks to various individuals who gave advice and served as mentors.      

How did you secure funding for developments?

It took me roughly a year to learn the ins and outs of the property development industry – the finer details of pitching projects and whom to approach for funding in which companies. 

Companies I have worked with include Old Mutual, Futuregrowth, Group Five and Khula Finance. 

As a developer, you are in the business of selling ideas to financiers. I think it counted in my favour that I grew up in the communities for which I pitched projects, giving me good insight into the dynamics and challenges these societies face. 

My family came from East London, and we were displaced from Cape Town and moved to Gugulethu in the early ’60s. My dream for Gugulethu has always been to turn it into a thriving suburb; a place where people live because they want to, not because they can’t afford to live somewhere else.

What has been you greatest break?

For the property development company, my first big break came in 1998 with the building of Kuyasa. And Mzoli’s Place was a hit from the start thanks to our aggressive marketing approach. 

What did this marketing approach entail?

It was mostly by word of mouth. We told as many people as possible, especially influential figures in my property development network, of my plans to open a butchery restaurant that sells high-quality barbequed meat. 

The place was packed from the start, attracting visitors from all over South Africa as well as overseas. A highlight was when Jamie Oliver visited in 2009. 

Afterwards he featured it in his magazine, Jamie – and on the cover even – describing his experience at Mzoli’s as “heaven”.   

How do you differentiate yourself from competition?

We do not get involved in half-baked ideas. Gugulethu Square, for example, is a state-of-the-art building that cost more than R300m to develop. 

It’s also a green building with energy-efficient water-cooled air conditioning, a rainwater harvesting system, intelligent lighting and various other technologies reducing its environmental footprint.

In terms of the restaurant, there are many places in Gugulethu where you can eat barbecued meat. 

Unlike the majority of these places, we set ourselves apart by supplying high-quality meat that compares well with what you would find in restaurants situated in more affluent parts of the country.

What makes us different is that Mzoli’s is a uniquely African experience – where people from all walks of live enjoy their food together.   

What has been your greatest challenge?

There haven’t really been any major challenges. I guess it’s because we set out to supply a good-quality product from the start. 

What are your plans for the future?

I have been looking into the expansion of the Mzoli’s concept to other parts of the country through a franchising model. These plans were placed on the back burner after I suffered a severe stroke in 2013.

What do you see as one of the most important traits of an entrepreneur?

Athletics has taught me the importance of discipline when you want to succeed. When it comes to business, this entails discipline in the physical work and effort you put into the business, in the way you manage your time, as well as in the way you work with your money. 

Remember that there will be hard times. You have to save for a rainy day. 

Do you have any sage advice foraspiring entrepreneurs?

The restaurant business is hard work, but as with anything else in life, this won’t matter if your heart is in the business. 

This article originally appeared in the 21 September edition of finweekBuy and download the magazine here.

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