President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday he would endeavour to help fulfill the goal of late business mogul Richard Maponya to train young entrepreneurs.
Ramaphosa was delivering the eulogy at the funeral service for Maponya, held at the University of Johannesburg's Soweto campus. He was accompanied by his wife, Dr Tshepo Motsepe. Former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Mothlanthe were among the dignitaries.
“Today we bid a sad farewell to a man of extraordinary resilience, who rose above his circumstances and persevered until he reached a pinnacle of success, and yet he remained humble,” Ramaphosa told the attendees.
Maponya succumbed to a short illness last week at the age of 99.
He established a number of business during the apartheid era, when it was almost impossible for black people to do so, said Ramapahosa.
“Fifty years ago, the very idea that a black man could build and own a shopping mall in a black township, where young black men and women could socialise, eat, buy books and watch movies, would have been dismissed as a fantasy and yet Richard Maponya did it,” he said.
Maponya Mall opened in Soweto in 2007.
Ramaphosa commended Maponya’s resilience and legacy, which he said would live on.
The late businessperson and his wife, Marina, who passed away in 1992, first opened a milk distribution company in Soweto. They expanded their business empire to include interests in retail, automotive, filling stations and property development.
Ramaphosa cited obstacles such as the lack of permits, licenses and constant raiding of businesses by the apartheid government as some of the issues Maponya had to grapple with.
Speaking about their last encounter, Ramaphosa said Maponya had a dream of opening a youth entrepreneurship academy.
“In my very last engagements with him, he urged me to do everything I can to see his greatest dream realised, to set up a youth entrepreneurship academy. It is a wish I will endeavour to see fulfilled,” he said.
Ramaphosa urged South Africans to strive to make a difference in their own right.
Maponya was buried at Westpark cemetery on Tuesday afternoon.
50 years ago, it was inconceivable that a black man could own a mall, but Maponya did it: Ramaphosa
Image: PresidencyZA
President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday he would endeavour to help fulfill the goal of late business mogul Richard Maponya to train young entrepreneurs.
Ramaphosa was delivering the eulogy at the funeral service for Maponya, held at the University of Johannesburg's Soweto campus. He was accompanied by his wife, Dr Tshepo Motsepe. Former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Mothlanthe were among the dignitaries.
“Today we bid a sad farewell to a man of extraordinary resilience, who rose above his circumstances and persevered until he reached a pinnacle of success, and yet he remained humble,” Ramaphosa told the attendees.
Maponya succumbed to a short illness last week at the age of 99.
He established a number of business during the apartheid era, when it was almost impossible for black people to do so, said Ramapahosa.
“Fifty years ago, the very idea that a black man could build and own a shopping mall in a black township, where young black men and women could socialise, eat, buy books and watch movies, would have been dismissed as a fantasy and yet Richard Maponya did it,” he said.
Maponya Mall opened in Soweto in 2007.
Ramaphosa commended Maponya’s resilience and legacy, which he said would live on.
The late businessperson and his wife, Marina, who passed away in 1992, first opened a milk distribution company in Soweto. They expanded their business empire to include interests in retail, automotive, filling stations and property development.
Ramaphosa cited obstacles such as the lack of permits, licenses and constant raiding of businesses by the apartheid government as some of the issues Maponya had to grapple with.
Speaking about their last encounter, Ramaphosa said Maponya had a dream of opening a youth entrepreneurship academy.
“In my very last engagements with him, he urged me to do everything I can to see his greatest dream realised, to set up a youth entrepreneurship academy. It is a wish I will endeavour to see fulfilled,” he said.
Ramaphosa urged South Africans to strive to make a difference in their own right.
Maponya was buried at Westpark cemetery on Tuesday afternoon.
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