Buzzing: Mokgadi Mabela founded Native Nosi after she couldn’t keep up with her former colleagues’ orders for her dad’s honey and she needed to secure her own supply. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
Mokgadi Mabela is the bee lady whose love for good honey has set her on a path of building a legacy. She speaks to Athandiwe Saba about her genius dad, late introduction to bees and her club DJing skills. A sweet combination.
What is the most important thing you have learned as a businesswoman to date?
Currently, it’s just resilience. Look, there are so many things that you need to run a business. But I think when the honeymoon phase stops, it comes down to the business of remaining sustainable and growing.
It’s not fun: it’s challenging. You ask: “Must I die like this? Can I just leave it and just relax, and just do a nine to five every day?”
Especially in the past year, with the opening of our shop, when sometimes you’re not sure if you’re going to make rent or if you’re going to be able to pay your staff.
I think the only thing that has kept me going so far is resilience.
What is it like to stand in your shop and experience these emotions?
There’s a lot of anxiety. I know that after opening the shop for the first six months, I lost so much weight. I couldn’t sleep, because you are thinking while you’re sleeping. I would wake up in a panic, thinking, “Did I do this? Did I call that person? Did I pay this person? Did I remember to send that email?”
I had to go to the doctor and get sleeping tablets, because I wasn’t sleeping. I wasn’t eating. But, I don’t think you can avoid that as a business person: it’s just about you getting used to new circumstances. It’s weird and may sound like a cliché, but also, I swear to God, every time I act in faith, things come through.
Your dad is your mentor in the business. How has that heritage and relationship added to what you needed to create a Native Nosi?
For lack of better words, my dad kilipantsula.
He is about surviving each day. He’s not about the glamour, the wealth or even about getting famous. He is just about loving his bees and doing what he has to do every day to make sure that he has enough to feed his family, make sure that we are well cared for, and pay his bills.
He is not a businessman in any way. He is an avid farmer, through and through. He loves working with the bees; he loves being in the garden planting the most amazing vegetables, but he has the poorest business sense.
I don’t think he took me seriously when I started the business. With the shop and growth, he sees what I’m trying to do, and he’s amazed. Over and above everything, he is a genius. He’s a genius at what he does.
Your depictions of your dad are just beautiful. Tell us a little about your upbringing and ‘meeting’ bees for the first time?
I had a very normal childhood. I was pretty fortunate that I have both of my parents. I was born in Gauteng, because my mom used to work at Baragwanath [Hospital]. She’s a nurse by profession. My father used to work for South African Breweries. After I was born, they decided that they wanted a stable life for the kids. They decided they wanted to relocate to Polokwane. Lebowakgomo was my home.
My interaction with bees was never with the bees themselves but always the honey. My first actual interaction with the bees was after 2012.
That was recently …
I did not think it [farming] was cool in any way. And I was flourishing. When I came here to study at the University of Pretoria, my life was lit. I got a job; I was driving a flashy car; I had a nice townhouse. Look, I was popping. I had no time to think about farming.
So how did the farming bug bite?
While I was working, I started noticing — remember, I only knew my father’s raw honey — that my colleagues at tea time were using some dodgy honey. That’s when I said to people, “Look, I’ll bring you some of my dad’s.” Word of mouth went around. I started wanting more and more honey from my dad.
So my father suggested in 2015 or so that I might get a beehive or two of my own. He said he would teach me what he knew, and then I could start securing my own supply. So that’s when the actual beekeeping started.
What are your mornings like?
So I’m a loner; a person who likes being in my own space. Around 2008 when I started working, I had my own place and everything. I’m the type who used to just chill at my own house from the moment I knocked off on Friday and leave again on Monday. Then I met my husband in 2013. And then, we had our first daughter in 2015. The culture shock, oh my God. I wasn’t ready.
Now my life is that I’m a mom of two, and I’m a business owner. So in the morning, when you wake up, it’s the morning drill, man. The first thing that I do is bath because if I don’t, I’m not going to find an opportunity for the rest of the day. I am very militant about my schedule. Then I get the kids ready, make lunches and take them to school. Then my day starts. The days vary depending on the needs of the shop. Then I come back home at the end of the day and cook for my family.
What is your favourite quiet time?
My idea of time off does not include family. During those times, I just like being on my own. I’ll check my phone, get some sleep, and I love reading whenever there’s an opportunity for me to get lost in a book. But I’m very careful when I start a book because I’m the type who, when a book is interesting, I want to do nothing else but read.
If you ask me for anything, you are annoying me — if the people at the shop call me and want me to pay attention to business stuff, I’m annoyed. Like my husband is asking me what we’re having for dinner, I’m annoyed. So I try to read books when I know that my general schedule is not too intense.
Outside family and business, you are also a DJ.
I’ve always loved music. I’m currently reading Still Grazing: The Musical Journey of Hugh Masekela. My mom, my aunt, my father all love music. I grew up hearing everything from Lionel Richie to mbaqanga, jazz, pop and R&B. If I could learn how to produce, I’d probably make a hit song.
Years ago, I met a guy called Victor, who was a DJ. I wanted to learn, but nobody wanted to teach me, because they said all the guys would want to sleep with me. I don’t know why men always think we can’t make our own decisions.
When I was in Pretoria and started working, I enrolled in some DJing classes. I started getting some gigs around Hatfield. The DJ gigs began snowballing.
Then I became a mom and a wife; it wasn’t working out anymore. I wanted to raise my kids. And so, I started doing corporate gigs instead. My husband and I still play a lot. We have decks at home, and we play all the time. Our kids are always dancing with us — music is a very big part of our lives.
What is the best advice you have received?
The world owes you nothing, contrary to popular belief. Even if you believe it does, you will soon realise that it is not like that in the real world. Opportunities come to people who are moving; who are in action.
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