Gugs businessman had a big heart

Tarzan Mbita

The demise of Gugulethu businessman Lefa Mapilo has left many in the community reeling.

Mr Mapilo died after suffering an asthma attack during a visit to his ancestral home in Sterkspruit, in the Eastern Cape, a little more than a week ago.

Mr Mapilo, 60, is renowned not only as a business personality, but also for helping those in need, whenever they approached him for assistance.

In his formative years, he attended Xolani Primary and Intshinga Higher Primary Schools and later enrolled at Fezeka High School, where he completed his matric.

It was here that he became actively involved in school protests. He and a group of friends brought lessons to a standstill, raising the ire of the then Bantu Education Department when they mobilised fellow students around common issues.

Dubbed the Council of 8, the group led the charge against the non-replacement of broken glass windows, which made learning and concentration difficult, given the biting Cape winters.

They also protested against the inadequate distribution of text books, which rendered learning almost impossible.

It was the turbulent early 80s and although none of them were politically aligned at the time, the riots set the course for their future political activism.

Among those students were the likes of Mcebisi Skwatsha - now deputy minister of rural development and land reform - and Andile Apleni, who went into exile, following a period of repression and harassment.

The backyard shack where the Council of 8 held their meetings in the Skwatsha homestead aptly became known as the "Lancaster House", in reference to the venue, in London, where in 1979, formal talks were held to iron out negotiations for Zimbabwe's independence from colonial rule. Zimbabwe gained freedom in 1980.

Mr Mapilo grew up in a business environment where his father and elder brother operated trucks that ferried people and goods to the Eastern Cape. Most of their custom were migrant labourers going home during the December holidays.

That was before the advent of buses to transport large numbers of people to what was then known as the “homelands”.

Although he started helping in the business even during his school years, it seemed the hurly-burly of the operation had caught up with him.

He is the younger brother of another business giant, Peter Motale, himself regarded as the father of the black long distance bus business in the Western Cape.

At one stage Mr Motale owned up to 30 of those buses, a feat not without its challenges, given the Apartheid regime’s restrictions on black businesses.

Mr Mapilo rose in the ranks of the bus business to become an inspector, helping with road-side assistance during mechanical breakdowns.

But in the early 90s he ventured out on his own, opening a liquor trading outlet called Lefa’s Beer Garden at his home in NY141 in Gugulethu.

Later he changed the “shebeen” into an off-sales outlet.

He also partnered with businessman Gcobani Mkunqwana to start the Phunga Coffee House, situated at the shops in NY115.

A man of great acumen and business insight, he also partnered with Mr Skwatsha to start a business renting out toilets for funerals, parties and weddings. Called Mcele's Rent-a-Loo, it was the go-to business for locals, even beyond Gugulethu.

Mr Mapilo is known as a man who lived large and enjoyed the finest things in life. At a friend's wedding, he surprised all by rocking up in a new Audi TT sports car. It was discovered later that the item had been hired, as he was never seen behind it's wheel again.

He also had a big heart and gave as much as he received from the community. People were known to make a bee-line to his doorstep, asking for help with all kinds of problem, either for food or help to purchase school uniforms.

Mr Mapilo was also a member of the Western Cape Liquor Trader's Association, serving as it’s secretary since 2017 until his demise.

He was greatly involved in the struggle to fight for fair trade between retail liquor outlets and the small business person.

Lefa Leonard Mapilo was buried on Sunday October 2 and is survived by his wife Noxolo Mapilo and five children, Thando, Thabiso, Thapelo, Naledi and Lesedi. His other son, Lerato succumbed to an illness in December 2021.