SECOND-HAND TYRE BUSINESSES MUSHROOMING IN TOWNSHIPS

The growing demand for high quality tyres at affordable rates has led to a sharp rise in entrepreneurs taking advantage of the trade. With a retail network worth millions of rands, the sale of second-hand tyres is sprouting at every street corner in Johannesburg townships, providing much needed employment opportunities and taking the youth out of the streets.

This is over and above catering to the growing demand for second-hand tyres in what is fast turning out to become an important empowerment avenue in the townships. One of these ‘tyre spazas’ is in Protea Glen Extension 29, in Soweto where Daniel Moyane and his brothers have turned a piece of open land into a one-stop shop for complete tyre sales and service solutions. “We are the proverbial cradle to the grave solution for tyres. In that way we are able to take the kids to school. Spread over a 4-metre squared area the ‘tyre spaza’ attracts all sorts of cars, some worth over R1 million. Moyane and his brothers use rudimentary tools and their competitive advantage is their dedication of customer care.

“Safety and value for money is key in our business,” he said. “Proper tyre care like alignment and balancing are of paramount importance to our customers.” According to Moneyweb, turning tyre waste into worth has not only created 3 023 jobs nationwide but produced many a ‘black diamond’ with typical SMME contracts valued up to R50 000 a month. This is true empowerment, with 201 small businesses – overwhelmingly black – having been established in two years.

The publication quotes Stanley Mangoegape, manager at one of the 51 storage depots established by the Recycling and Development Initiative of South Africa (Redisa) to collect waste tyres – puts it simply: “For me I’ve turned a tyre into a black diamond … I am a happy man.” At a cost to the motorist of an estimated half-cent per kilometre, a home-grown industry is also helping to clean up the environment by developing a new tyre recycling industry. Moreover, all of this has been achieved without a cent having to come from the South African fiscus.