By Palesa Matlala
- Maria Mokwena, 56, turned ten backrooms into 28, all rented out to foreign shop owners in Delville, Germiston, since 2014.
- Every tenant is registered and compliant, Mokwena says, and none of her properties have been looted despite recent unrest nearby.
Maria Mokwena built her first 10 backrooms in 2014, hoping for a little extra money. Twelve years later, the business earns her more than R40,000 every month.
The 56 year old grandmother owns 28 backrooms in Delville, Germiston. Each yard also has a spaza shop, and every shop owner rents both the business space and a room.
“I consider myself a businesswoman,” Mokwena said.
“I raised my children and grandchildren using the money from these backrooms.”
Delville is one of Germiston’s busiest industrial areas, home to factories, warehouses and transport businesses. Mokwena first rented to foreign nationals working in the area, then began noticing more people from Ethiopia, Pakistan and Bangladesh moving in and opening spaza shops from 2016.
“Most of the jobs here do not pay much and many South Africans do not want them,” she said.
Mokwena said all her tenants are registered and their shops are compliant with documentation requirements. None of her properties have been looted, despite unrest and anti migrant protests affecting other parts of the East Rand this year.
She said Delville was once mostly home to Afrikaner families. As industries changed and residents moved away, more African families settled in the area, and property owners began renting to migrant traders.
Mokwena earns more than R40,000 a month from the business. She said she lives simply despite the income.
“I do not need to work and I do not live a lavish life,” she said.
“You would never think I earn this money because I live like everyone else around me.”
She is planning to build five more backrooms and three more spaza shops.
“I will never run out of business because foreign nationals are still coming to South Africa,” she said.
Pictured above: Maria Mokwena stands outside some of the backrooms and spaza shops she rents out in Delville, Germiston.
Picture: Palesa Matlala
