Street trader aims high
TEBELO Mabaleha's plans to expand his business as a street trader to other parts of the Pretoria CBD are about to be realised after years of struggling to secure funding.
Mabaleha, of Soshanguve, is a street trader outside Marabastad railway station in downtown Pretoria.
He sells vegetables, fruit, snacks and has a public phone as an added service to his business. This business has been part of his life for the past 19 years.
On average, Mabaleha makes about R400 a day but during the end and start of the month he takes home about R1000 daily.
"I sell to people on credit so most of them come to pay on this day," he says.
But for years, Mabaleha has struggled to expand his business to other parts of town.
He recently applied for the new Absa Hawkers Loan of R450. The new loan is an attempt by the bank to alleviate the pressures often faced by informal traders and to further cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit among all sectors of society. The loan was launched as a pilot project at the Tshwane Fresh Produce Market and will run until June.
Hawkers can apply for loans of R400 to R1500 which are payable in weekly instalments.
"The interest is very low and by the time I finish paying it next week, I will have paid just over R500 since I started making my weekly payments two weeks ago," says Mabaleha.
"It (loan) has helped to increase my stock. When I pay off this loan I will apply for R1000, which will enable me to have another table in the Pretoria CBD," he says.
Mabaleha says that after settling his R1000 loan he will use his next credit to open another outlet in Soshanguve.
"It is easier for me to manage my finances because I bank my money every Saturday."
He says that as his stock increased it would enable him to save for his two children - Fana, 15, and Matebello - 10, who he wants to take to university.
The hawkers' loan is designed to provide them with a line of credit in order to boost their working capital, thereby enabling them to increase the volumes and diversity of stocks that they purchase.
Lawrence Twigg, Absa's managing executive of entry level and inclusive banking, says the product is an initiative by which the bank will meet the needs of its customers.
"Hawkers are part and parcel of our economy and we are committed to finding solutions that will enable them to grow," says Twigg. "This loan facility is linked to the buying of hawkers and uses their stock-buying trends to help assess business viability."
Rakgadi-Tabeya
Good Luck my brother all the best with your dream of expanding your business. I pray that your plans of sending your kidz to varsity be successful. How I wish they could listen to you as kidz these days they have their own way of thinking and which bears sour fruits at the end of the day. Modimo ke oo.Report Abuse
VETAREN
E tla gola kgwebo papa..kodumela moepathutse gago le humo leo letšwang kgauswiReport Abuse
thinya
disturbing to learn that a man generating +- r400,00 a day for 19 years is now applying for a loan of 450,00. ABSA BANK, you fished reaping the workers now you want to destroy the hawkers? my advice to the poor man, please PLAY FAR FROM LOANS because the very same people will be repossessing your property tomorrow.Report Abuse
xushuhua67
Google in the input: = ash ops.us ==you can find many brand names, even more surprising is that he will sell you the unexpected o(∩_∩)o
Report Abuse
cyborg
I say keep it up................ check Mr Maponya, he stated by selling milk and eggs.Report Abuse
