Visionaries are defined by their great imagination and intelligence. They can think about and plan for the future with ingenuity and wisdom.
With these characteristics in mind, Herbert Theledi has proved himself to be an outstanding visionary.
The foundation for this ability was formed during his early years. It couldn’t be otherwise, considering the milieu in which the young Herbert grew up.
He was privileged to have a father whose business endeavours demonstrated entrepreneurial imagination. Herbert’s father established the first driving school in the Bushbuckridge area in the 1970s. He later successfully established a variety of new businesses.
Likewise, the various successful businessmen and -women in his community also helped to mould the young Herbert as a business visionary. He held these men and women in high regard, “Most of them were not exposed to schooling or any form of post-school training. They were just people who were naturally very bright and entrepreneurial.”
It is no surprise then that the young Herbert emerged from such a stimulating environment with the insight that “the future of African people is in business”.
This theme, linking business and upliftment, runs like a golden thread through Herbert’s life as an astute entrepreneur and committed businessman.
The world-famous futurist, Joel Barker, once said: “Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.” This saying can also be applied to Herbert as a man of imagination and intelligence. And John Maxwell, a leadership expert and author, could have Herbert Theledi in mind when he wrote: “A great leader’s courage to fulfil his vision comes from passion, not position.”
After earning a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting and Economics at the then University of the North (now the University of Limpopo) and spending time as an employee at a private company in Johannesburg, Herbert decided to put his dreams into action.
He returned to the community where he was raised and where his business values were laid. It was in the rural area of Bushbuckridge in the Lowveld where he has started to change his world, as well as many of those influenced by his actions.
Herbert’s conviction that “the future of African people is in business”, was evident when he started to rent a shop from his father and expanded into construction after a few years.
As a construction entrepreneur, he showed remarkable ingenuity by building houses for black working people who had mortgages with the building societies. This way he built a ground-breaking partnership with building societies who provided the capital, through mortgages, for his construction operation.
In 1993, shortly before the arrival of democracy, Herbert took another bold when he bought a large number of properties at very low prices from people who were leaving the country.
His vision is evident from what he said in an interview with City Press in 2018: “I bought every commercial property I could get my hands on with the help of the banks. Those guys were selling for whatever they owed the banks, so it made sense to buy, improve and sell.”
Herbert also seized the opportunities presented by greenfield projects and embarked on several successful property developments. One such development was the Bushbuckridge Shopping Mall in 1995, which was a joint venture with Twin City Development.
His intelligence and ability to choose the appropriate course of action enabled Herbert to realise that in a lot of cases a greenfield project offered a better opportunity “for a bigger economic uplift rather than from an acquisition” if the acquisition was not done at very low cost.
It was inevitable that Herbert would eventually form a company as a vehicle to build his property empire. Thus, in 1994, he founded Nthwese Developments with the vision, according to the company website, “…to be one of Africa’s leading empowered players in real estate development & investment.”.
Nthwese is a 100% black-owned company that develops commercially viable and economically sustainable real estate. By identifying property development, investment and trading opportunities in the sectors of retail, offices, student accommodation and industrial, it aims to optimise value.
The Nthwese team of “highly qualified and experienced specialists” is committed, under Herbert’s leadership, to fulfil Nthwese’s vision and goal. Nthwese echoes Herbert’s primary driving ethos that the future of African people lies in business., To this end the company “…is constantly striving to uphold our commitment to socio-economic development in South Africa. Within the property industry, we support sustainable economic development and job creation throughout our value chain, from deal sourcing to project implementation. ” Furthermore the company is …conscious about playing its role in helping to correct skewed property ownership and transformation in the sector.”
Speaking to Moneyweb in 2018 Herbert underscored the importance of property ownership, emphasizing: ”Property ownership is one of the best ways of radically transforming the ownership patterns of our economy,” and stressed that the property sector is very important in radically transforming the economy of the country.
Therefore, as a passionate promoter for black empowerment in the property sector, he urged the government and the private sector to support black property developers.
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