Now Lala Voka hits the market

TUMELO SETSHOGO
Correspondent | Wednesday November 14, 2007 00:00

Though the market is already saturated ,the men behind the project are adamant that the brand will penetrate the market and survive the stiff competition.

Lala Voka represents any form of entertainment joint where people, especially the youth, spend the whole night. This could be at clubs, picnics or parties. It could also be a church where prayers and songs are conducted throughout the night, said Andrew Ditshebo, a fourth year Botswana College of Agriculture (BCA) crop science (Agronomy) student who came up with the label.

He is working with another BCA student, Petros Mphinyane, a third year Bachelor of Science (Agriculture general) student, and an unemployed youth. They are based at Oodi Village where they produce their goods from rented accommodation. Ditshebo owns the business, which is trading as Mind Culture.

The duo use T-shirts, tracksuit tops and overalls of different colours on which they superimpose their Lala Voka trademark. 'It's very simple to print the various articles because we have prepared a screen print and use different shades. It takes few minutes to do the job,' said a confident Ditshebo.

He told Showbiz that they are producing many t-shirts because of high demand 'more especially by the youth who are our main target'.

'The label is penetrating the market. We have a stall at the station near the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) and Broadhurst Route 5 taxi rank,' said Ditshebo, adding that there is another one at BBS mall and they intend to open more branches in the northern part of the country. He said they have engaged sales representatives to help market the label. 'We also mount stalls where there are many people such as bars, shops and at the weddings,' he said.

Prices range from P60 per t-shirt to a P250 overalls with a track top costing P90. The young ambitious students said they want to establish a factory to cater for a wider spectrum of Botswana society. Ditshebo said they started the project from their own financial resources to buy the dyes and other accessories.

Meanwhile, they are intending to diversify into music production for which they have already done the market research. They revealed to Showbiz that they have recorded an album for former Street Gang sensational, Semisare Gwaloba aka Vuvusela. The 12-track album is titled Ke tsamaya le wena.