Reckless trader or intrepid entrepreneur?
Views are divided on Lekau Sehoana, whose company’s last assets were auctioned this week following the liquidation last year of his ultra-trendy label Drip Footwear.
While bidding was under way, Sehoana was basking in the glow of a new venture launch, Drip Sportif.
On February 27, he launched a range of sneakers at Tape retail store at Mall of Africa, with a crowd of A-listers showing up to support him. They included DJ Shimza, DJ Zinhle, Morda, Cassper Nyovest and Somizi Mhlongo.
But not everyone is happy about his comeback. His former Drip Footwear employees are owed R697,955.
“The assets the liquidators have are not worth the money he owes and I feel like we are not going to get a penny from it. The sad part is there’s nothing we can do legally,” said a former employee who did not want to be named.
The sneaker brand was liquidated following an application by advertising agency Wideopen Platform for unpaid debt of R20m.
According to the liquidator’s report, Drip Footwear’s assets include a Range Rover Velar, a Mercedes-Benz V250D worth almost R2m, two Toyota Hilux bakkies and five BMWs. There is also stock worth R84,500.
The company’s debts total more than R32m, owed to various creditors including landlords, WesBank and BMW Finance. Two auctions have been staged this month to sell off company assets.
The liquidation report notes that liquidators had not received a CM100 (statement of account) or books from Sehoana and were still investigating the cause of the failure of the company.
“There are a lot of lessons learnt,” Sehoana told the Sunday Times this week.
“I have spoken to a lot of big business people and they are so happy that my head is above my shoulders. I am very focused. I was able to think outside the box and position myself as someone who wants to reinvent himself. I have learnt that I have to be very focused. I have to work around the finances, trust the team.
Rebirth for me and the brand has always been about everyone being able to establish themselves after something bad happens
— Lekau Sehoana
“There are a lot of lessons around product development, stock and staff management, the SOPs [standard operating procedures], the contracts. Because there’s a lot of things that happened that led to that business going down that we have to learn from.”
Sehoana has shifted his focus to marketing Drip Sportif.
“We were working in the background for this new deal, for this product to come,” he said.
“We never saw it as a comeback but in the public eye, they see it as a comeback. We just had a time where we were realigning with other things. As much as we were not selling, it didn’t mean we were not working.
“When we wanted to launch Drip Sportif it was easier for me to talk to [Tape] and say we can use them as retail. They sell aspirational brands and products.
“Having Drip in a space where there are other international brands just makes us stand out and compete at the highest level ... And also not to have a lot of overheads makes it easier for us to trade and focus on the core product development, while they deal with the retail.”
Sehoana said he was relying on perseverance and determination to get back on his feet.
“We all go through some things in life. I’m creating a marketing opportunity here where we can talk about the things that didn’t go well in our lives and we are able to re-establish ourselves.
“Rebirth for me and the brand has always been about everyone being able to establish themselves after something bad happens. We are all grieving, we are all losing money, we are all losing relationships, jobs, businesses, and we have to be able to come [back] from every bad moment.”
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