Dithakong B&B

The name Dithakong is Sotho word that refers to a place of refuge. As Lenny explains, the name of her B&B is derived from the time of the mfecane (or difaqane) in the early 19^th century, a period of unprecedented social upheaval, when war stalked the interior of what later became South Africa and hundreds of thousands died of hunger. Dithakong referred to the places where Sotho people would take refuge, where they felt safe and comfortable away from the wars that raged all around them. “That is why I chose this name,” smiles Lenny, “because I wanted my B&B to be a welcoming, quiet place, a place of comfort and peace.”

 A trained nurse, Lenny has also worked in the corporate world for several years as a chief administration official but, she says, she found the work tedious. “I found it boring because entrepreneurship was in my blood. It was telling me to break out, to go and do something where I could be the master of my own future.”

In 2006 Lenny let her entrepreneurial blood lead her into opening her own business. Her four children had grown up and, she says, she was living in the Pimville house she’d owned since 1982 all on her own. It made sense for her to start her new business under her own roof. But entering the hospitality industry was not something the now 59-year-old took lightly. She immersed herself in learning about the industry before Dithakong opened the following year. Lenny “acquired knowledge by networking with credible tourism associations” and put herself through courses on hygiene, cooking and has a passion for landscaping skills.

The result of Lenny’s attention to detail (combined with her natural flair for putting people immediately at ease) is a stylishly-appointed B&B with four en-suite rooms, (including a self-catering unit). The house has a comfy lounge, a well kept garden and a sunny patio spot.

Lenny is now busy with her latest project; turning the fourth room into a wellness centre, the first of its kind in Pimville and the only such facility at a B&B anywhere in Soweto. The wellness centre is set to open in September 2009. Lenny explains that she got the idea from some American guests who came to the township for the Soweto Marathon. “Because they were running a marathon these guests could really have done with a nice massage and AquaOzone health spa,” explains Lenny.

The overwhelming majority of Dithakong’s guests currently are locals (rates start at R450 per person bed and breakfast and there is a special rate of R300 – for Sowetans) but Lenny predicts that within six months the percentage of international clients will have grown to 40%. “I really feel now that 2010 is just around the corner,” she says of the FIFA Football World Cup being held in South Africa. “Already I’ve had enquiries about accommodation from the United States, Mexico, Belgium, Argentina and Ghana.”

Soweto, Lenny predicts, is going to “offer the very best standards of accommodation.  We’re going to use 2010 to surprise people about what is on offer in Soweto.”

A committed marketer, Lenny energetically sells Dithakong – and Soweto – to big business, government, hospitals, education, sports fraternities, organisations and women’s clubs. “I always take my laptop with me and I show people DVDs of all the facilities including the rooms. I find that I have to sell Soweto because many people just don’t believe that we have standards that measure up to those in Johannesburg.”

Lenny says many of the marketing strategies she uses to sell her B&B and her township she learnt through training provided by TEP. “I’ve gained a great deal of knowledge since joining TEP,” she says. “Apart from marketing, I’ve done a Financial Management course but, most important I believe, is the TEP Cluster which is inspiring me to keep moving and to work harder.”    Through this kind of exposure, I motivated to reach highest levels of hospitality excellence - thereby putting Soweto on the map as the best tourist attraction venue.