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Eddie Khoza, Product Owner
 


Magalevendze House

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AFTER the world’s greatest goldfields were discovered on the Witwatersrand in 1886, the mining town spread east-west along the fabulous reef; suburbs and even new towns sprouting almost overnight.

Then, a few years after Johannesburg came into being, Florrie Philips, wife of the wealthy mining financier Lionel Philips, rode her horse north across one of the Witwatersrand’s ridges and decided that it was there, on the farm Braamfontein, that she wanted to live.

Parktown, the leafy elite suburb which Florrie Phillips pioneered and which was surveyed in 1891, is today mostly low-rise office, educational and medical parks. Now bisected by the busy M1 motorway, one small corner of Parktown remains an unhurried tranquil residential suburb where big houses and even bigger properties recall an elegant history of gold-fuelled grandeur.

That suburb is Parktown West, an upmarket secret which residents keep to themselves – for good reason. Their little enclave is a world away from the glitz of Sandton to the north and the hustle and bustle of downtown, central Johannesburg to the south but it is so perfectly located that both are mere minutes away.

Parktown, with its hospitals and corporate head offices, is in the area’s backyard. Down the road are two universities and several of Johannesburg’s most elite schools; Ellis Park (a Fifa 2010 World Cup venue) is just over the ridge. Within two minutes from Parktown West you’re on the M1 highway which takes you straight to Pretoria or Soweto (with their own 2010 stadiums). Access to the highways to and from OR Tambo International Airport is so straight-forward that it’s almost impossible to get lost.

From Gale Road, Parktown West, drive for a couple of minutes and you’ll come to Johannesburg Zoo and Zoo Lake, two of the city’s favourite leisure destinations. Keep driving for a little longer and you’ll end up at the SA Broadcasting Corporation or vibey Melville. A few more minutes and you’re in Fordsburg, famous for shopping and a mouth-watering variety of Indian cuisine.

In 1902, just after the Anglo-Boer War ended, Lord Alfred Milner, high commissioner for South Africa, ran the newly-conquered Transvaal from what later became the Sunnyside Park Hotel, today one of Parktown’s most historic landmarks. Six years later, in 1908, a grand house was built in Gale Road, Parktown West. A century after that, the splendid old house, completely renovated, enlarged and modernised but retaining its old-world charm, opened as Magelevendze House and Towers.

The owner of Magelevendze House in Gale Road is Eddy Khosa, a hotelier from Tzaneen in Limpopo province who started out in the industry as a “cellar boy” at the Sunnyside. Eddy later became one of South Africa’s first black hotel general managers and, in 2005, was appointed chief executive officer of the Johannesburg Tourism Company. As such, Eddy knows a thing or two about the City of Gold and when, in 2008 he devoted himself full time to his own business, he looked to Parktown West because, as he says, “you simply can’t beat the location”.

Set on 3,000 square metres with fifteen upmarket en-suite rooms, Magelevendze takes its name from one of Eddy’s Mozambican ancestors who, in war, wore a headpiece giving the impression that he had more than one head, thus confusing the enemy’s marksmen; it literally means “multiheaded”.

Magelevendze offers its guests amenities including in-room bar fridges, high-speed Internet, LCD TV sets and even underfloor heating in the eight Towers rooms. Outside is an expansive pool and entertainment area with braai facilities, TV and sound system. There is parking for 26 vehicles and the business’s own minibus offers airport transfers.

Eddy’s wife, Valencia, is general manager of Magelevendze, overseeing a full-time staff of nine. The guesthouse serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Special dietary requirements, including halal, are catered for and the Khosas are proud of the fact that their home from home is particularly wheelchair-friendly.

After almost three decades in the hospitality industry and having served on several international tourism associations, Eddy is something of an elder statesman in the sector (he’s currently the chairman of the Fedhasa hospitality body). Yet even this hugely experienced professional appreciates the help his business has been getting from TEP for more than two years. “TEP are very involved in marketing our businesses,” says Eddy. “They’ve been extremely helpful in compiling our business development strategy. I simply don’t have the time to do it all myself, and I value the different areas of expertise they make available to us. They’re a great partner, helping us with things like signage, marketing and training.”
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