The chairperson of the board of the co-operative society Tebogo Venson told members during their annual general meeting over the weekend that they have almost cleared all their debts. He explained that the co-operative society suffered poor control measures and stock leakages which led to near-collapse last year. Venson said the business was able to clear debts after borrowing some money from the Bobonong Co-operative Society.He noted that the co-operative society receives rentals amounting to P133, 253.80 monthly. "We have decided to change our strategy of doing business by going into property leasing. We realised that trading is tough due to competition from chain stores. "The idea is for the co-operative society to buy more properties and lease them out," said Venson.
The co-operative society was established in 1972 and currently has a membership of 3,988. During the meeting, 89 new members were registered. Giving a keynote address, the Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry Keletso Rakhudu said, "this is an era of business transformations and only businesses with vision, strategic plans and commitment are likely to survive in this competitive era of technological advancement". Rakhudu observed that in the past, especially in 2008, it was realised that the business was not doing well due to competition from other traders. He noted that the co-operative society had losses of P608,705 in 2010 and P1,104, 000 in 2011. "If you want this business to prosper, you must follow proper business procedures, the Co-operative Act and Cooperative bye-laws. You must also benchmark from other cooperative societies that are doing well," he said.
