Seabelo: Fighting back to the top

| Monday June 11, 2012 00:00

 

Mmegi:  Who is Seabelo Tlhaselo?Tlhaselo: I am a 59-year-old man from Ramotswa, group director and owner of the Seabelo Group. I am also a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Botswana (ELCB) where I also serve in the fundraising committee.

Mmegi: How did you end up running a transport business?Tlhaselo: As a young boy I had a strong passion for the industry. I started with one small combi and 15 years later it grew into what it is now; a bus transport business, a truck service and travel and tours operations. Seabelo Express was purely for buses. I now have 31 buses and more than 20 trucks.

Mmegi: Recently you became a board member of the Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA) board as a member. What motivated the move?Tlhaselo: BONELA approached me to join the board and I agreed, even though I am too busy. As you know government once sent me to Somalia to provide assistance in that country. I am also involved in a lot of projects.But I also realise that I can play a meaningful role in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Mmegi: I understand that at one point you put your business up for sale. What were you running away from?Tlhaselo: It was a tough time. That was in 2009. I was losing at least one employee per month to HIV/AIDS-related illnesses between 2009 and 2011. Most of the employees were expatriates working as drivers. My business was nearly crippled. I talked to government to consider giving foreigners working here ARV medication but was told it was against government policy. Then I decided to offer them an extra medical allowance to help them get medication to sustain them, but most of them were not keen on using the money to seek health but rather saw it as an increment. Ba ne ba a ijela. Some even told me that they cannot use ARVs because it is against their beliefs

Mmegi: So why did you end up not selling it?Tlhaselo: I realised that a lot of people depended on me for gainful employment, especially that at the time I had about 230 workers. Selling the company would have been too disastrous, hence I changed my mind and decided to find a solution to this challenge posed by HIV/AIDS.

Mmegi: What did you do?Tlhaselo: I then embarked on an HIV/AIDS campaign and sought the assistance of volunteer counsellors to come and teach my employees. This brought a great change. At the time I had also realised that there was an information gap in rural areas. This was mainly because the areas are difficult to reach.

Mmegi: What do you intend to do about the situation?Tlhaselo: After joining BONELA as a board member, I realised that I can join forces with them to fight this war. This we will do through billboards and my buses will be used to distribute the message on the fight against HIV/AIDS. I have availed 10 buses to be used for this campaign for a year, then we will review it with BONELA and see if the campaign is working or not.

Mmegi: Besides that what other interventions do you have in mind to help in the HIV/AIDS campaign?Tlhaselo: I will help BONELA to raise funds. The organisation is doing a great work but it's financially hamstrung because it is an NGO. They need more money to finance their operations. I will be talking to other companies to ask them to come and help.

Mmegi: You are giving a lot and I wonder what it is that you are trying to get by this magnanimityTlhaselo: I want to help my country realise its Vision 2016 and make sure we have a healthy nation by 2016. You will also realise that in all my buses, the disabled and blind do not pay for transport.

Mmegi: You are known to be a close friend of former president Festus Mogae. Can you tell us about the relationship?Tlhaselo: He is also a parent to me. He was one of the first people to come to my side when my child died. Since then we bonded well.

Mmegi: With your philanthropy and being a member of a political party, the Botswana Democratic Party are you also strategically positioning yourself to make a shot at a political seat, say the council, parliamentary or even the presidency?Tlhaselo: I don't want to be an active politician. I think I am in a better position to help serve the state and the nation using my resources. We cannot all be politicians.

Mmegi: Let's talk about your divorce. I understand it was finalised this week Tuesday. Tlhaselo: Marriage is not a bad thing. But I have realised that you cannot know people no matter how close you are. I thought I understood my wife, but I realised I didn't. But I can't discourage anyone to get married.

Mmegi: So when did you realise that there was trouble in the marriage?Tlhaselo: Last year.

Mmegi: What did you do?Tlhaselo: I sought the intervention of church elders and some business associates of mine to come and reconcile us, but my wife was adamant that she wanted a divorce. I didn't want a divorce, actually I have always hated divorce and I am glad that I was not the one who instigated it.

Mmegi: So what was the cause of the divorce? Were you having extra-marital relationships? Some people charge that you were frolicking with ma-14 (young girls)?Tlhaselo: No, that is not true. You can't take everything you hear from the streets. Even my wife will tell you that I never at any time disrespected her or suspect me for engaging in adultery. At one point during the divorce proceedings, I asked her if she thinks there was someone that I was cheating her with and she said 'no'. But I have a lot of things that I can say about her but I cannot say them, because I just want to talk about my life.

Mmegi: What have you also learnt from your divorce?Tlhaselo: That running a company with your wife is the biggest mistake that one can ever make. When you do that she crosses the line and bad problems at home can be brought into the workplace and this will the affect business.

Mmegi: So what was the cost of the divorce in monetary terms?Tlhaselo: I lost P33 million. That is the total value of the assets that she was awarded and they include buses and trucks, six houses and four plots in Gaborone North. But I don't regret the loss of money. It is the time I wasted in this marriage that really hurts me.

Mmegi: For how long were you married?Tlhaselo: For 30 years. We actually met in Ramotswa, which is our home village.

Mmegi: So you are trying to re-build the business? Or you have decided to fold back and bow out?Tlhaselo: No. I am a fighter. There is no need to sit down and cry over spilt milk. At the moment I am trying to reconstruct. I have 230 employees who are looking up to me as their employer to provide them work and by closing shop I would have betrayed them and their trust in me.

Mmegi: Are you saying that the employees remained behind when your wife took part of the business?Tlhaselo: Yes they did. Actually more than 95 percent of the staff remained behind. Go tsamaile ngwana le mmaagwe (It is my ex-wife and her son who left the company) and a few employees.  This really touched me so much; for my staff to choose me. It really shows that they have faith in me and my leadership. I really value this and it has inspired me to strive for the best and take my company to new heights.

Mmegi: I see that there is a busy construction site behind Seabelo House. What are you doing there?Tlhaselo: She (ex-wife) took the workshop that we were using for repairing buses, so now we are building a new workshop here (behind Seabelo House building). I have also made an investment worth over P1 million building a re-fuelling station and parking facility for all my buses and trucks in Boatle.

We are setting up a huge workshop here at Seabelo House. Buses will be serviced here. By the end of November, the contractor will be done building the whole structure. It will be a double story. We have also built a temporary fueling point which has a 23,000 litre tank, but in Boatle we are building a 45,000 litre fuel storage facility.

Mmegi: Can you please tell us what operations and or businesses you are operating here?Tlhaselo: We have Seabelo Express, a company on its own which is involved in long haul operations. Then there is Seabelo Carriers, which is an exclusively trucking business. We also have Seabelo Travel and Tours and the newly created airline business. Here we will be selling air-tickets. The company, which will soon be registered will be called Seabelo Air Travel.

Mmegi: What are your future plans for your companies?Tlhaselo: In the next five years I want to step aside and remain as chairman of the Seabelo Group. I want to leave the running of the operations in the hands of my capable skilled and experienced management teams. The process is ongoing as I have established strong leadership structures in all the companies. They can only come to me and say ''Rraagwe T, I have long sent a truck to a repair company and they are taking long'. Then I will pick up a phone and call the company in question, say Volvo for example, and ask them to assist my people in time.

Mmegi: What is your secret to success?Tlhaselo: You have to invest in people, especially your workers so that they become more productive and enjoy every moment of it. You also have to make them trust you and believe in the business and that it is not mine but theirs hence they will do anything to protect it because it is their lifeline.

Mmegi: Does your political affiliation especially in the ruling party help you win government tenders?Tlhaselo: Fortunately I am not in tender-related businesses. I know there is a lot of talk in business circles about people winning tenders under questionable circumstances. I am not interested in those businesses where you have to tender because the whole thing can turn very dirty. Besides you can win a P10 million tender and buy expensive equipment and then when you try to get another tender to utilise those machines you will be told 'nnyaa monna ema pele o jele, mma go je ba bangwe' (you have had your turn, let others eat too). This means your machines will be under-utilised and you might end up in debts.

Mmegi: So how do you get jobs in your line of business?Tlhaselo: I simply apply for a transport permit. In this sector, the business is market-oriented. I believe you need to find jobs for yourself and not to wait for government to come and spoon-feed you.

Mmegi: What is your view of education, the youth and their attitude towards work?Tlhaselo: Our youth think education can do everything for them. They prefer to sit back and let their degrees do all the work, but you can't run a business that way. You have to be hands-on. But the young generation is just content playing with laptops in a luxurious office and buy expensive cars like Range Rovers even before the company breaks even. You need to make sure the business is sustainable and can support itself before you think of anything else.

Mmegi: What are your educational credentials?Tlhaselo: I went as far as Form Two. My parents didn't have enough money to send me beyond that.

Mmegi: I am told at one point you were invited by University of Botswana students to give a motivational speech. Tlhaselo: I was wondering; 'what is it that I will say to these educated youths?' But when I got there and told them about my business philosophy and the way I run the company by being hands-on, they were very impressed by my story and my leadership style.

Mmegi: I understand that you are an agent of an international company called Tracker. Can you please tell us what the company does?Tlhaselo: It sells till-like electronic machines, which are used for selling tickets in buses. It has a SIM card. When the conductor sells tickets after a passenger has given her a bus fare, the information is stored and sent directly to the bus owner's phone. We are using it on a pilot basis. I can also use the information to get the total sales made in a day for all the buses.

Mmegi: How much is this machine?Tlhaselo: It costs 1,000 US Dollars.