Herman Mashaba
A case study (The paragraphs will be marked individually)
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Herman Mashaba
1. Read the following extract very carefully and then complete the table at the bottom by ticking the best match in each row. Herman Samtseu Philip Mashaba (anglicized from Tsonga spelling Maxaba) is a South African entrepreneur, politician and the former Mayor of Johannesburg. He is the founder of the hair product company Black Like Me. He is famous in South Africa for his life story: growing up and struggling against poverty and the Apartheid government to open his own hair business, which became the biggest hair brand in South Africa, making him a millionaire. He publicly backed Mmusi Maimane in the Democratic Alliance leadership race. He wrote the autobiography Black Like You and recently he wrote his new memoir "The accidental mayor". Philosophically, he is a libertarian and "capitalist crusader" whose highest value is "individual freedom."On 22 August 2016, Mashaba was elected Mayor of Johannesburg by the first sitting of the city council following countrywide local government elections. He announced his resignation on 21 October 2019. He left office on 27 November 2019. *
7 points
Black like you
Poverty
The Accidental Mayor
DA leadership
Resignation
Black like Me
Mayor of Johannesburg
Hair product company
Growing up
Autobiography
Mmusi Maimane
Second book
22 August 2016
21 October 2019
2. Read the following extract carefully and then answer the questions below.Early life and career: Mashaba was brought up in near-poverty in GaRamotse in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria by his sisters while his absent domestic-worker mother worked to provide for the family. Mashaba realised that acquiring an education would be crucial for him to break out of the cycle of poverty. He graduated from high school but did not complete his tertiary education. From a young age, he was a strategic thinker - he bought a car without having a license and drove out of the dealership without ever having learned to drive. He drove himself from one selling job to another, in the process confirming for himself that he was a natural salesman with an unswerving instinct for business. He started selling "SuperKurl" African hair-care products and became their number-one earner. He soon realised that these products excited him and that he wasn't content to be just an employee. His company, Black Like Me, was launched on Valentine's Day in 1985 with a R30,000 loan from his friend, businessman Walter Dube.Mashaba is also a music lover. After five years of secret lessons, he revealed himself as a pianist.
2.1 At a very young age Herman Mashaba realised something very important. What was that? *
2.2 Herman Mashaba drove himself from one selling job to another. What did he prove to himself? *
2.3 Herman Mashaba became the top seller for "SuperKurl". What two very important qualities did he show which would lead to him being a very successful entrepreneur? *
2.4 Mashaba had a secret passion. What was it? *
2.5 Why do you think Mashaba is such a good role model for many people living under difficult conditions? *
3. Read the extract below and answer the questions carefully. The Black Like Me story is as fascinating as Mashaba’s own.While working as a sales rep for SuperKurl, he found in one of his colleagues a potential partner. Ironically, he was a white Afrikaner, pharmacist Johan Kriel.“In 1984, blacks and whites rarely had any kind of social interaction, and it was certainly unheard of for a black man to approach a white man to join him in business,” recalls Mashaba in the book.Kriel came up with a perm lotion that substantially reduced the normal production time, allowing Black Like Me to compete with SuperKurl – “proving we could produce our quality products in a factory 20 times smaller than theirs”, recalls Mashaba.Mashaba, with Kriel and an old workmate at SuperKurl, Joseph Molwantwa, launched Black Like Me on Valentine’s Day in 1985, with a R30 000 loan from Mashaba’s friend, businessman Walter Dube.Within seven months, the debt was repaid to Dube, and all the partners were earning well.“Of course we bought ourselves the luxuries we felt we deserved – fine clothes, new homes and fancy cars, but if we thought we could spend with abandon, Connie quickly brought us back to reality,” recalls Mashaba in his book.
3.1 Mashaba approached someone who worked with him and thought he might be a potential partner. Who was this man and why was this so unusuall for those times? *
3.2 What important lesson did Connie, Mashaba's wife teach him? *
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