DR TIM TEBEILA: THE MINING MAGNATE WHO REMAINS A TEACHER
He dabbled in insurance after leaving his profession of choice, and soon realised that his entrepreneurial skills were above average. Dr Tim Tebeila speaks about his passion for education and philanthropy, becoming a mining boss, and the value of good managers in business.
He is an entrepreneur who left his teaching profession to pursue business interests but now, several decades later; he has come full circle, and is a contributor to education again, though on a much bigger scale. He was one of the Top 20 Forbes Africa Person of the Year in 2011, but Dr Tim Tebeila says he will always be a teacher at heart.
He is the owner of Sekoko Resources, which is a company that exploits opportunities in the mining and exploration sectors with a focus in acquisition, development, and beneficiation of mineral resources.
Sekoko also has an insurance wing, as well as a soon-to-be officially launched mobile division, among others.
Dr Tebeila is known for his charity work and does not shy away from affiliating himself with religious organisations. In one video, he is featured as a donor to the Rivers of Living Waters Ministries Church belonging to popular pastor, Bishop Steven Zondo. Last September, when 115 people were killed in the infamous Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) Guesthouse collapse, Dr Tebeila was among the first to rush to Nigeria to assist his friend and SCOAN’s founder, Prophet TB Joshua. At the time, the businessman came out strongly and condemned criticism against Joshua, telling the public broadcaster, “The church acted immediately when this incident happened.”
It is uncommon for business people to discuss religion, but Dr Tebeila is proud of his Christian roots. “My family was rich, in spiritual terms, and that has always been a good foundation for me,” he says, explaining how he managed to beat the odds to the pinnacle of success. This son of a bishop is one of the country’s most well-known philanthropists and when he speaks about his work for charity, the passion is evident on his face.
A mining magnate, successful insurance innovator, Dr Tebeila who is believed to be one of Limpopo’s wealthiest men and on par with some of the country’s wealthiest, has not always had it easy, in fact, his childhood was far less than fortunate.
HIS EARLY DAYS
Dr Tebeila grew up in a family of seven in Sekhukhune, Limpopo. He readily admits that he had a poor upbringing, and his mother had to take care of him and his siblings, while his father was at work.
“Our mother took care of us, and we were supported by our father, who was a migrant labourer in Johannesburg. We were poor and there were many hardships.”
Growing up in a rural community meant that he often had to walk for kilometres to get to school, which required him and his siblings to be up in the wee hours of the morning daily.
“But as a child I always knew my thinking was different.” He worried about the well-being of his family, and from an early age he took to doing odd jobs to help make ends meet, help the family with some basic needs and to buy himself, and his siblings, some clothes.
“When you grow up in the environment that I did, you do not always know where you will end up, but my father was a prayer warrior, and I believe that is what encouraged me to be where I am today,” explains the multimillionair
In high school he began selling fruit and, unknown to him, his entrepreneurial bone was being sharpened.
“I later sold bus tickets I used to buy about five weekly tickets, which worked out, cheaper than daily tickets, and I would go to the bus stop before sunrise to catch the commuters who were going from KwaNdebele to Marabastad. I would find commuters who needed only a single ticket and would allow them to use one of the weekly tickets at the reduced price, but I would travel with them so that I could take my tickets back once they reached their destinations. I would then do the same thing, with commuters who were travelling back,” he says adding that he made about R800 a month this way.
A PASSION FOR TEACHING
His family instilled the value of education in him, so much so, that he ended up choosing to become a teacher, a respectable profession - especially at the time of his qualification.
“Fortunately, my family knew that the only way for me to get out of the chain of poverty was to get an education, so they made my education a priority and it helped,” he explains, remembering his early days in the classroom.
“I am still a teacher in many ways, and people need to realize that, in more cases than not, what you do at a young age is what you end up doing in the future,” he says, reflecting on his love of teaching.
While Dr Tebeila was studying, he had a very difficult time, as resources were scarce, and his family had used all their savings for his education, leaving little else for other needs. This, and the apartheid rule of the time, prompted him to become an activist.
Fortunately he maintained momentum as far as his education was concerned, and attained a secondary school teaching qualification. Dr Tebeila was fired from his firstteaching job in Tembisa, because of his activities as an activist; sadly he was also banned from teaching, both in Gauteng and in Limpopo. This is when he had his first taste of financial trouble as an adult, as he was unemployed for four months.
“I managed to get a job in KwaNdebele, and was making a meagre R16 000 a year, so I started selling insurance part-time almost immediately, and soon I was earning my annual salary within a month.”
THE FIRST COMPANY
Dr Tebeila was so successful as an insurance broker, that he left his teaching joband sold insurance permanently for Sanlam, becoming one of their top reps. This was between 1992 and 1995, during which the new democratic government had come into power, and business opportunities started to open up for black people.
Only a year after South Africa’s first democratic elections, he decided to open his own insurance brokerage, Morethi insurance brokers, and targeted uninsured low-income earners and pensioners.
“I was the first to introduce insurance even for people who were at the age of 65. I realised that it was a common belief that it was the elderly who died frequently, but in fact, it was the young people who were a higher risk. Most insurance companies did not ensure older people at the time, but today most companies have followed suit, because this strategy really worked,” says the mining magnate.
When he started his company, he financed it from his own pocket and, as a result, he often had to spend what was meant for the family in the business.
“Fortunately I had assets, so often I would be out of pocket but my primary resources to continue business were always available, even though cash flow was often a problem,” he explains, adding that he never went bankrupt, regardless of the hardships.
THE MINING GURU
Dr Tebeila is at home in the insurance and the education space, as he spent a lot of time working in these industries, but he admits to having no experience in mining.
“I was just a passive investor in mining in the beginning. I was never a mining engineer, or worked in the mining industry, but I found myself being an investor in Anglo Gold. This is when it dawned on me, that I am a shareholder in this big mining company that another human being started, so I began to question myself on why I too could not open my own mining company,” reminisces Dr Tebeila.
This is when Sekoko Resources was born. Without any prior knowledge of mining, how did Dr Tebeila manage to become a force to be reckoned with in this formidable industry?
“I am an entrepreneur, and not a technocrat, administrator, or manager, so I am cognisant of the fact that I cannot be everything at once. That is why it is very important to me, to bring a strong team of managers on board, It is imperative in our business that we bring only the best to the team,” he explains, adding that his managers are highly qualified in their various fields. His management team is the backbone of his company. “We wouldn’t be where we are, if it was not for them.”
Dr Tebeila elaborates, “Many business people take short cuts, and fail to employ the right people - not realising that human resources is one of the most important resources you need. If, as an entrepreneur, you choose to employ people based on how cheap their services are, then you should expect a service that is as cheap.” He adds that, in that scenario, it is very easy to make fatal business mistakes because “you are a blind man, leading a blind team.”
The mining industry is generally volatile, especially in South Africa, where lengthy mining sector strikes are not uncommon.
On August 16, 2012, South African police opened fire on striking Lonmin (a platinum producing mine in Rustenburg, North West) workers, leaving 34 dead and 78 others injured. Ten people had already died, as a result of the months-long strike prior to the massacre. This left the platinum sector in dire straights, because production had been brought to a halt for months on end.
Understandably, when the Marikana massacre happened, Sekoko Resources was also highly affected. Dr Tebeila says that this is one of the incidents that spurred him to diversifying his company, by adding other divisions to the insurance and mining business.
EMBRACING TECHNOLOGY
One of the company’s most recent projects is embracing mobile technology, something Dr Tebeila is very excited about. “We are doing e-learning projects across the country, and play a very big role in the paperless classrooms.” This division is particularly close to his heart because, as a former teacher, he is pleased to be instrumental, in helping make a big difference to the education system.
“When I was still teaching, I did not know that I would be instrumental in coming up with solutions for education, but happily, when we talk about marking, working in the class room, and having to use a chalkboard, I understand what our teachers go through,” he emphasises.
His company will produce software, and hardware, for paperless classrooms, and offer training to end-users, in a bid to assist teaching and facilitate learner involvement with each other across schools.
“We have to make sure that all children in this country have access to quality education, and this is where going mobile will assist. It also helps when learners are learning in ways that they are interested in, and we know that children are very interested in mobile technology.”
When government launched the paperless classrooms in early January at seven Gauteng schools, it was announced that children would receive tablets in the pilot project. They would receive workbooks, learning material, and other subject matter on these mobile devices. Learners seemed excited about the project, but concerns were soon raised as to whether teachers are adequately equipped to teach on these devices.
Dr Tebeila is not fazed by such concerns, and says that in order to evolve with the rest of the world, teachers will need to be trained. “We have to also remember that many private schools have already migrated to paperless classrooms in this country, which means that this can certainly be done successfully.”
THE FAMILY MAN
Dr Tebeila values family, and grew up in a close-knit family, something he carried with him to adulthood.
He lives with his wife, Pollet, and four children. “I have time with my whole family. There is no way that you can say, ‘I don’t have time for family.’ We all have 24 hours in a day, and it’s up to us to choose to spend as many of those hours as we can with the family,” he says, adding that he attends school meetings, and spends time with the family on the weekends. We also gym together with our personal trainer, at home in the mornings. I also get home early, so there is time dedicated to the family.”
Dr Tebeila holds family in such high regard, that he is even concerned about the children of South Africa’s futures and their educational stability.
“I do not want to see the children live the type of life that I had as a child, and having to live in dire poverty.”
In 2008 he established his Tim Tebeila Foundation, which does charity work across the country. “For us, this in not just a Corporate Social investment Project, in fact, the foundation is one of the most important things we do as a company.”
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