Africans urged to wake up and smell the coffee

Africans must wake up and smell the coffee and start believing in themselves and their brands if they want to be a force to be reckoned with in the global world.

These were the words of Thebe Ikalafeng, one of the 100 Most Influential Africans, when he delivered his address at The Bull’s Kraal Black Conversations organised by Castle Mild Sout to celebrate African culture.
“For as long as Africans still uphold and continue to admire Western brands at the expense of their own, they will never reach the top-notch mark with their own brands. We should learn to uphold and admire our own brands and build them to the level of those from the Western world,” Ikalafend said.

He narrated a story of a boy from Daveyton who once remarked that he would not buy jeans created by Tshepo Jeans for R2 000 because they were too expensive for a Kasi boy that he grew up with in Daveyton and said he would rather buy these Western brand for even much more than a brand from a Kasi boy.

“With this mentality, we will never go far in building our own brands and developing ourselves as African people because we look down on ourselves and so much believe in Western brands.

“If our own Kasi boy has created these amazing top-quality jeans, why can’t we support him and grow his brand to be up there with the best the world can offer? There is also the Batho tekkies brand that some top American brand has been wanting to buy out because it was killing the market for theirs. I am glad Batho stood firm and never cowered to this elimination process so the West can always dominate us with their own brands,” he said.

This was also echoed by Mzilikazi Wa Afrika, an investigative journalist and advocate for a brand-led African renaissance, who urged Africans to outgrow the belief in Western brands and start building their own.
“For how long are we going to be enslaved by Western brands and suits in our own Parliament and not wear our own traditional clothing attire, which in this country is worn once a year during Heritage Day,” Wa Afrika asked.

He also mentioned an incident at some mall in Midrand where a Ndebele man wearing his traditional gear was booted out of the mall and accused of being scantly dressed and exposing himself to the disgust of other shoppers. “What nonsense is this in this day and age of our democracy,” Wa Afrika wondered.

This was echoed by Buhlebendalo Mda, a heritage enthusiast and healer, who urged Africans to transcend such belittlements and start the journey to build and market their own brands without fear.

“We need to try harder and be fearless in building our brands and marketing ourselves as African regardless of what the next person says and believes. We live in a world where we are influenced by so many things and cultures and as South Africans, we must try never to lose our culture and focus. We need to give ourselves credit instead of constantly criticising and blaming each other for losing ourselves.”

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