Limpopo Business 2016-17 edition
The 2016/17 edition of Limpopo Business is the eighth issue of this highly successful publication that, since its launch in 2007, has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to the Limpopo province. Limpopo is unique in terms of its abundant natural and human resources, and is also one of the key drivers behind the South African economy. This edition of Limpopo Business is officially endorsed by the Office of the Premier of Limpopo.
The 2016/17 edition of Limpopo Business is the eighth issue of this highly successful publication that, since its launch in 2007, has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to the Limpopo province.
Limpopo is unique in terms of its abundant natural and human resources, and is also one of the key drivers behind the South African economy.
This edition of Limpopo Business is officially endorsed by the Office of the Premier of Limpopo.
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INTERVIEW<br />
the Internet has direct impact on improving the<br />
lives of people. This is no different for <strong>Limpopo</strong>.<br />
In addition to that, there are a number of<br />
unique aspects to how we operate in <strong>Limpopo</strong><br />
and what our market needs. For example, data usage<br />
is growing exponentially and we are still one<br />
of the fastest-growing data regions for Vodacom,<br />
even though we are coming off a smaller base.<br />
However, what I find fascinating is that voice has<br />
also been growing – so people in <strong>Limpopo</strong> are<br />
still talking. It’s a good thing and a bad thing.<br />
It’s good that people talk because we still make<br />
money from it, although not at the rate that we<br />
used to previously because there’s been so much<br />
of a reduction in the pricing, which most customers<br />
don’t believe but there has been, so that’s the<br />
one thing. And then the second thing is that we<br />
still have in the region of about four-million 2G<br />
devices on the network. Now that represents an<br />
opportunity – it’s an opportunity for customers<br />
to have a better experience, so we no longer roll<br />
out 2G –only base stations. Now we only roll out<br />
2G and 3G. Vodacom is pushing customers towards<br />
knowing the benefits of having improved<br />
technology at their fingertips in terms of data<br />
usage. We also educate customers on new 3G<br />
and LTE devices that range in price from R299<br />
to R1 399. You don’t have to go out and buy 2G<br />
phones because you’re scared that someone is<br />
stealing your data. Vodacom will make a substantial<br />
investment in customer education this year.<br />
How are you guys able to give work to<br />
SMMEs and what are the opportunities<br />
for businesses in <strong>Limpopo</strong>?<br />
There are three angles to the business we manage<br />
in <strong>Limpopo</strong>. The network is the underlying product,<br />
Consumer business relates to our retail customers<br />
and Enterprise business talks specifically to business<br />
customers and the public sector. On the network<br />
side there are tons of areas of opportunity, from the<br />
company that supplies the diesel to the company<br />
that has to survey the land and get permission from<br />
the local municipality to enable us to build a site,<br />
and the list goes on to areas such as maintenance.<br />
One of the companies that constructs sites for us<br />
in the region is called Boniswa, and it’s owned by<br />
an African black woman so I’m very proud of that<br />
relationship. She employs 150 people of which 75%<br />
are from Polokwane and has been so great that<br />
we’re one of the regions that made our accelerated<br />
site roll-out target. When you have suppliers<br />
who share your vision and passion to win then your<br />
job becomes easier. We give a lot of work to small<br />
and medium businesses and some of them are no<br />
longer small; they may have started off small but<br />
they’ve grown up and are flourishing, and that’s on<br />
the network side. We have in excess of 1 000 sites<br />
and 3.9-million customers to manage. Without the<br />
many small-medium businesses partnering with us,<br />
we would not be able to deliver to our customers.<br />
IF COMPANIES LIKE<br />
OURSELVES ARE<br />
NOT PUTTING IN THE<br />
INVESTMENTS IN RESOURCES<br />
AND INFRASTRUCTURE NOW,<br />
IN FIVE YEARS IT’S GOING TO<br />
BE TOO LATE.<br />
On the consumer side we have a massive distribution.<br />
We have 50 franchise stores in the province besides<br />
our national chain partners like PEP, Edgars, Game, etc.<br />
One of our local franchisees, Mohabi Mahape, is<br />
from Seshego. While he still owns the store there,<br />
he also owns 11 other stores including the store<br />
in the recently launched Mall of the South. So this<br />
thing has spread its tentacles, but underneath this<br />
whole <strong>Limpopo</strong> development is the fact that we are<br />
starting to have an influence on the greater business<br />
community. The company is also really committed<br />
to small/medium enterprise growth and Vodacom<br />
is really embracing the spirit of giving back to<br />
73<br />
LIMPOPO BUSINESS <strong>2016</strong>/<strong>17</strong>