Orphaned, black, gay … and a rising star in the construction industry

He is the founder and group chief executive of Ralenkoane Holdings, a 100% black-owned diversified investment holding company with subsidiaries in construction and property management and occupational health and safety medical solutions.

After six years of avoiding the spotlight while building a mini empire employing 400 people, Ralenkoane says it’s time to say: “I did it. I am here to stay!”

An anomaly in several ways, he is a successful construction mogul who is orphaned, black and gay in a country where being any of those things can be a hurdle for any ambition beyond the average.

“I was born in South Africa, but I grew up in Lesotho,” Ralenkoane says. “My father was a very prominent businessman for the few years that I spent with him before he passed on.”

This is a painful memory for him, because it was to begin a life of early independence, strict discipline and the pressure to become a provider to his impoverished family and a protector to his little sister.

The family was dealt another blow later in life when he lost his mother just after high school, leaving him as the last hope for his siblings’ survival.

A remnant of the rigorous survival mode he adopted early in life is his struggle to truly feel proud of himself and celebrate his achievements.

This is something he has promised to rectify as a birthday present to himself.

“It’s like all your life you’ve had this mentality that you have to work very hard because I want to make mama proud … then you lose her,” says Ralenkoane.

“You basically lose a part of yourself in all of that.

“So, I don’t think I have celebrated my life like I’m supposed to but simply because of the hardship I have had to endure, I am yet to be happy.

“I am very content, but I am yet to be in a space where I can say Kananelo is happy on a personal level,” he admits.

Aspects of his early family life are very relatable for many South Africans who had to grow up too soon because of socioeconomic circumstances.

The young overachiever whose shoulders uphold entire families is a quintessential South African tale. Motivation to achieve doesn’t just come from the promise of happiness and self-adulation, but from the threat of continued generational poverty.

“I made myself a promise that when I turned 30, I would travel more and try to make Kananelo happy and put him first,” he says.

“For the longest time, it’s been about making other people happy, but I am at that point where I am going to make myself happy before making others happy.”

Today, his company is doing “extremely well” after an uphill, six-year battle.

“The first four years is when a business is always on the verge of collapse in an industry where most of the income relies on government projects and the department of human settlements in a country where if you are not well connected politically, you’re not going to get certain contracts.”

It was during this period that Ralenkoane was reluctant to be the face of his own business, afraid that its failure may be associated with him. Now he has built a foundation strong enough to confidently predict his prospects for the next three years.

“Now, I don’t mind people knowing about Kananelo and I don’t mind having my story told,” he says. “It is a success story and I feel like everything I have learnt – how I got to teach myself and learn from the streets – that is the knowledge that I now want to share. I think it’s another way of celebrating my success and telling a unique story.”

Ralenkoane has seen various “glass ceilings” hampering the growth of young ambitious startups like himself.

From the stringent financial grading system in the construction industry by which contracts are awarded to the perils of walking into a boardroom and realising the exact moment people silently question his sexuality – he has seen it all.

But through joint ventures which allowed him a foot in the door and slowly building relationships as a solo venture, his business outgrew the hesitancy with which he was initially welcomed into the industry.

“But the gatekeepers will always be there. There is a ceiling, whatever contract you’re after. It’s all about giving something in return,” he explains.

– simnikiweh@citizen.co.za