The much-anticipated opening of the new Thavhani Mall in Thohoyandou has come as a big birthday present for co-owner and local senior traditional leader Thovhele Nkhaneni Ramovha.

The R1 billion mall opens its doors for business on 24 August 2017.

Ramovha is a trained lawyer, but he has never practiced law. He instead opted to be a developmental leader who is believed to be the first chief to start such a trust to benefit his community. Ramovha said the opening of the new mall could not have come at a more opportune time.

“This is my birth month and what more could I wish for as a present than seeing my dream of seven years come to fruition?” he said earlier this week. “There were many prophets of doom, some out of jealousy, who prophesied that this mall would not materialise and, at that time, the journey looked impossible. There were so many challenges in the way, and at one stage I felt like giving up and quitting,” he said.

Ramovha, of Thavhani Property Investments, beams with excitement and confidence when talking about this development. He said that, among the challenges he faced, was the issue of land, which took almost five years to complete.

“Two years ago, we managed to acquire the land and everything started from there. With my partners, leading South African shopping centre developers and investors Flanagan and Gerard Property Development and Investment, we secured the co-investment of the JSE-listed retail expert, REIT Vukile Property Fund. From there we soldiered on and we are very proud to announce that the doors to this mall are finally opening on 24 August 2017,” he said.

Ramovha added that, as a trained lawyer, he never had never seen the inside of a courtroom as he had other ideas in life than working for others.

“Development has been flowing in my veins all along and it started within my community. Business has taken almost my whole heart, and as I always wanted to do things differently, I ventured into property development. I was instrumental in the starting of malls in Elim, Biaba and Phangami, which I later sold to focus on this big investment,” he explained.

“In this latest venture, I was also trying to rubbish the notion that we cannot succeed in the big-business arena. This is proof enough that we can and maybe do it even better,” he added.

Ramovha explained that the Thavhani Mall is set to become much bigger. “This is just the completion of phase one and hopefully we will be embarking on the second phase in 2018,” added Ramovha. He further indicated that the new mall will bring massive savings to the community in terms of travelling costs as all the major shops and services will be in the mall.

"Our people used to drive to areas as far as Polokwane just to buy certain products, and this will be history as these services are now at their doorstep. We also have a variety of restaurants, entertainment  and clothing stores, some of which will be here for the first time in Thohoyandou.

"What gives me more pleasure is that the mall was carefully planned to cater for the needs of the local people, some of whom are already benefiting in terms of jobs,” he said. “The 50,000m² mall will become the largest shopping centre in the growing town of Thohoyandou, with 137 shops,” said Ramovha.