Enterprising artist urges youth to be Ambitious

Oleosi Kgosi | Friday February 23, 2018 15:47

By this move he hopes to inspire youth in the Kweneng Village.

Mahlakata who is also a DJ, told Arts & Culture that Zooger is a registered clothing line specialising in clothing, footwear and headgear.  He said that the inspiration of the brand comes from township language used to name the least recognised currencies in Southern Africa, especially Botswana and South Africa being five thebe/cents coins.

“The brand is inspired by our country’s natural preserved resource, a bird called Korwe (Yellowed Hornbill), the brand’s emblem has a Setswana idiom which also teaches a lot about our cultural way of living (Korwe ga ke je, ke bapalela tsetsi) meaning a man is a provider of his family,” he said.

He added that the brand differs from others because it is conceptualised.  Unlike others it is an expressionist brand whereby the artworks are used to represent life experiences.  “It offers clothing at large ranging wears from casual, street, sports and formal,” he added.

The versatile artist highlighted that as a small company, he encountered many challenges like lack of unity and trust linked to societies.

“As a country it seems like we are a nation that believes in individualism, thus slowing down the growth of small entities which indicates that patriotism is lacking.” The other challenge he mentioned was customer preferences, elaborating that generally Botswana is a nation that believes in foreign products and avoids local brands. 

“We lack textile factories in our country because most of the local clothing lines use finished products from outside and the few factories that are available are difficult to partner with us brand owners,” he said.

He further stated that Laz-Bonenterprises is currently working on another concept called ‘RE-SOM’. “The brand refers to synonyms of togetherness including unity; Re Mmogo and Sisonke,” he said.

Mahlakata said that the concept is inspired by the day-to-day problems encountered in his village like youth delinquency and unemployment. He added that Re-Som is an initiative that strives to bring Bakgatla Ba ga Mmanaana together in harmony, impart ideas, cultural exchange, socialise, and celebrate achievements.

He concluded that Re-Som set its objectives to create bonds that will positively impact the youth in terms of business establishment and growth.