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Melina Langa, Product Owner
 


Malangeni Lodge and Conference Centre

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Melina Langa Is a serial entrepreneur; a businesswoman who has created hundreds of jobs in her time, and who spends the hours when the rest of us are sleeping, dreaming up new ventures.

The Sowetan’s first venture was a contract cleaning business which she started with two staff and which now employs 160. Later Melina opened a motor mechanic and panelbeating business in downtown Johannesburg. Today she’s the operations director of a women-owned transport consortium which runs a fleet of 11 buses.

In 2003 Melina opened Malangeni, a small guesthouse in the quiet suburb of Walkerville south of Johannesburg. Being the die-hard entrepreneur that she is, in next to no time Melina had bought her neighbour’s property, then adding what she refers to as Malangeni 2, a few minutes’ drive away, also in Walkerville.

Between them, the two Malangenis can sleep 70 guests in comfort, and Malangeni 2 has conference and entertainment facilities for as many as 300. Malangeni 1 Melina describes as being the “cultural” guesthouse; her unique take on various aspects of her African heritage being reflected in the carefully designed decor and even the horses which are an integral part of Melina’s Sotho heritage. Malangeni 2, on the other hand, is a more western home from home, with all the mod cons and styling of a sophisticated, modern guesthouse, mod cons like spa baths and even an indoor pool.

Walkerville is a leafy semi-rural area just 20 minutes from both Johannesburg’s Southgate Mall and Soweto’s FNB Stadium, showpiece of the 2010 Fifa football World Cup, and barely 45 minutes from OR Tambo International Airport. Surrounded by farms and set on 30 acres between them, Malangeni 1 and 2 are next door to the Vaal Dam; famous for its watersports and angling. Cycling, walking and golf are popular pastimes for visitors who are usually amazed that such a rustic environment can be so close to the heart of busy Johannesburg.

Regular guests include a group of 25 to 30 architecture students from Munich University who come to South Africa and Malangeni every year. The German students, Melina explains, do practical projects in some of the nearby informal settlements and, thanks to Malangeni’s extremely competitive rates, they are able to stay for up to eight weeks a year. 

Malangeni’s combination of rural tranquillity and its growing reputation for value for money make it especially popular with groups; including churches seeking a quiet retreat and groups of youth campers who, Melina says, “always used to go to the Magaliesberg but who have now discovered Walkerville”. Matric farewell dances, Christmas parties, Easter celebrations and weddings keep Malangeni busy all year round. But busy isn’t busy enough for Melina. She is already working on the next expansion phase for Malangeni; one that will see her lodge accommodate up to 300 overnight.

Another pet project is Zibondiwe Basadi Business Enterprise, an undertaking Melina has started with three partners, which she says will exploit Malangeni’s catering expertise to carve out a niche in the outside catering industry. Asked when, if ever she sleeps, Melina quips: “Of course I do sleep, just very late. When everyone else is sleeping, these ideas come to me. I don’t know where they come from but they just keep coming.”

Her entrepreneurial dreams, Melina insists, are not about growing her bank balance but about growing the capital value of her community and about empowering women. “I have a wonderful opportunity to empower people and to do my bit to alleviate poverty. That is what keeps me dreaming; the belief that there is still more than I can do to give back to the community.”

Becoming an Eteya finalist, Melina says, has been a huge shot in the arm for her business. “The publicity has been invaluable and, thanks to this, more and more people are buying into my dreams.”

Right now Melina is dreaming about one day catering for the Gauteng parliament and even the national legislature. And she wants to see Malangeni at the forefront of a drive to franchise successful businesses owned by black women. “Why not?” she says. “We build the businesses; let’s build the brands and franchise them so that more and more women can share in our success.”
 
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