Growing up in Soweto as the child of divorced factory workers, street-wear brand Thesis Lifestyle co-founder Wandile Zondo’s dream was to study computer engineering. His marks were good, but there was no money for tertiary studies when he finished school in 2000, so he took the opportunity to join Edgars in an entry-level position. The young Zondo spent his lunch hours in CNA, reading books and magazines on business and self-improvement and voraciously soaking up knowledge. His cousin, a mentor, explained his destiny did not have to depend on his education, but on how he shaped his financial future.
Zondo and his friends were into street culture and music. “We would buy second-hand clothes, change them around and sell them as street wear,” he says. He was also “under the wing of the late Wandi [Nzimande, co-founder of famous streetwear and lifestyle brand Loxion Kulca] for a long time”.
“One day, we were chilling at the taxi rank, and this guy said he had to go and submit his thesis at Wits. He explained to us what a thesis is – this idea that it captures the thoughts of the author in an authoritative way – and that’s when we decided to call our brand Thesis.”
“Our DNA is the township, but our second biggest market is Gaborone,” says Zondo. And there are bigger plans afoot. “What we projected for a whole year in 2007 is now what we make in a month. We have to open up new avenues [and] we’re working on hitting the international trade shows next year. There’s a hunger for South African content globally.”
It’s not easy, though, he concedes. Apart from load-shedding and uncertainty about the future of the economy, there are challenges around access to capital and breaking into new markets – as well as the decline of the South African textile industry. As business manager, Zondo now spends much of his time securing support and investment for Thesis to tap into the international market. (The other co-founders are no longer with the company.) “We’re going to supply a full ready-to-wear range that we can sell in euros and dollars,” he says.
“We’ve built a solid brand; now we’re building a business.” There are no shortcuts in entrepreneurship, stresses Zondo. “Patience is everything.”
He concludes, “I’m chasing my dream to make Thesis a global company. Apart from that, I want to be the best partner and dad, the best mama’s boy, the best uncle, and a good friend. It’s the gratitude I have for the opportunity to chase all these dreams that keeps me going.”