By Lesley Mofokeng
Thato TT Mbha is man of many talents and interests. Not only is he a chartered marketer, but he is a distinguished social entrepreneur and a real estate practitioner. For 25 years he has worked hard to establish his name in boardrooms and social circles as a force to be reckoned with. Today he occupies a rare position as a respected businessman and a major social media player.
At 45, he is the founder and CEO of Black Real Estate, Mzansi Cribs/Business Makeover, TT Mbha Financial Services and TT Mbha Community Drive NPC.
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He holds a diploma in clothing management, a diploma in marketing management and a postgraduate diploma in project management. Mbha is also a television host, executive producer, family man and a social golfer. He runs his own subscription based online tv channel www.ttmbhatv.co.za.
In this interview he tells Vutivi News about the importance of wellness and never doing business with close friends and family.
- How do you summarise your entrepreneurship journey so far?
I left corporate in 2010. My last job was as GM for marketing at Sasol. I joined Black Brain Pictures as marketing and business development director and finance director. I held a lot of titles for three to four years. I then moved to start my real estate journey in 2014 when I established Black Real Estate and Mzansi Cribs. My journey has been interesting, considering that I studied clothing management and fashion design straight after matric. And my first job ever was a trainee and trends buyer at Edgars and then I moved to Total as a buyer for their convenience stores; then eventually moved to Sasol as the head of customer experience and GM for marketing. I also did some work for Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker Black as an ambassador. So, I’ve done clothing, marketing, project management, and here I am now running a real estate and construction business. It has been an interesting 15 years since I left corporate.
- What’s the toughest business lesson you learnt?
When you get into partnership with people close to you, it oftentimes doesn’t end well because there are emotions involved and I learnt that the hard way. I have lost relationships, scarred relationships as a result of confusing business and personal and confusing the two. I don’t do business with people who are close to me anymore. We can collaborate, but I will never be a business partner, as in own a company together. It’s a big lesson I have learnt.
- What business principles do you live by?
You are only good as your last transaction, deal or negotiation. Yes, it’s great to conquer deals but once I have conquered a deal I need to move on to the next and that’s the toughest thing because you want to celebrate and get complacent, but there’s no time for that. You need to go and get the next biggest deal
- How has the business of property evolved since you started?
When I started everybody was still in this whole notion of putting up ‘for sale’ boards. First of all, I don’t do those boards, I think it’s a waste of time, but it is evolved now. There are virtual videos. I learnt that a lot during Covid and I was able to still transact, because I did the videos before Covid and clients enjoyed them. The real estate space has changed drastically, but unfortunately, it’s still very much white owned and run. We still sit with a deficit of 90% real estates who are white while 90% of our country is black. That is the reason why I started Black Real Estate to prove to a black child that you can still conquer in a place dominated by white people, yet the biggest consumers of the industry are black people. Black Real Estate is intentional about servicing the interests of black people in the space of property and real estate and educating them about the ins and outs. This is something the apartheid system didn’t want for us, but we are learning as we go, we conduct workshops and seminars.
- What are the 3 things every entrepreneur needs to survive business?
These are the three people I cannot survive without in my business. My doctor who takes care of my wellness, I cannot run a business if I am not well. My accountant I can trust and have a good relationship with because they manage my books and accounting systems in terms of SARS and compliance. A good legal person for contracts and dealing with legal entities.
- How has your faith influenced your decision making?
I’m very grounded in my faith. Everybody knows that I believe in God. I was raised in the Anglican Church, I used to be a server and in the choir. So, my family is quite religious, but I am also in tune with my spirituality and my ancestors. I acknowledge them as such. I meditate, pray and journal a lot. I encourage my kids to pray every day. My faith continues to be a great influence in my life. I believe that it is the substance of the unseen. You have to believe in yourself and others and God believes in us all.
- Congratulations on your newly announced editorship of Successful Man. How have you managed to reinvent yourself and business interests over the years. What drives the moves and informs direction?
Thank you so much. I keep myself and my mind young by surrounding myself with young people. I enjoy hanging around young people, sharing my experiences and also learning from them because the way we did things when I was young is completely different to how things are done now. There is so much innovation around us, there is technology, there is AI, so I deliberately surround myself with young people and employ young people in my team because they come up with fresh ideas. They may not have experience, but they have ideas, so the balance of my experience and wisdom compliments their creativity and ideas. Being the editor-in chief of a magazine that empowers men is an honour because I run the Amatyma Brotherhood Circle that focuses on the wellness of men, so it makes sense that I was selected to be the editor of a magazine that focuses on empowering men. I am very passionate about empowering men and boys because no one looks at them. Everybody focuses on women and the girl child, which is important, but we cannot leave the men behind especially when the stats claim that the biggest perpetrators of gender-based violence are men, so what are we doing to fix the man? So, this magazine addresses issues and challenges that affect men and more importantly solutions. I am going to change the face of this magazine; it’s going to be the most sought-after magazine that focuses on men.
- What has been your lowest point in business and your highest?
My lowest point was in 2010 when I joined Black Brain and we lost a big client and we were highly indebted. Depression and anxiety were a big thing for us because we didn’t know where we were going to get our next paycheck, but obviously we managed to fix our mistakes and it’s a lesson at the end of the day that I can talk about proudly. My highest point was passing my real estate board exam and being officially [recognised as a] real estate agent, and passing my second board exam to become a master practitioner was probably the greatest achievement for me because it proved the point that black people can thrive in a space designed only for white people.
- What’s the most precious award you have received and why?
I’m not one for awards really because I think your work must speak for itself. But in 2024 I was acknowledged as Man of the Year in Entrepreneurship by the Department of Social Development in Gauteng, for the work that I do with the Amatyma Brotherhood Circle and the great work I do for the community, the various drives, the Lantern Drive that I did for matriculants and the Suit Drive I did for matric boys, the Pad Drive that I do for girls and the Mzansi Cribs Home Makeover Drive where I fix homes and restore their dignity of our people and Amatyma where I am fixing one man, one boy at a time.
- What’s your projections for the future? What are you working towards for TT Mbha brand?
The future is uncertain, but we always try to innovate to be ahead of the game. I am about to launch a brand called Africa to the World, which is going to shine the spotlight on African excellence in our products, services, talents and everything. We want to take Africa to the world and expose how great Africa is. I will be really breaking boundaries with this because we never celebrate each other as Africans. We are fighting among each other; there’s always xenophobia and we need to stop that. We need to showcase Africa and that we have minerals that the world needs from us. Africa to the World is about exporting African talent to the world [with] the likes of Black Coffee, Davido. International stars from Africa doing amazing things in the world. Africa to the World… watch this space.
