Family members seek justice for murdered daughter

‘‘You need rejection as a wakeup call’’ -Michael Oupana  Diago:

 

 

He bought his first house at age 27 from the money he received from an apprenticeship. Despite the love he had for engineering, the passion for business took over as he is now one of the successful guest house owners to live.

 

Michael Diago married to Matee Diago, a father-of-two, has accomplished it all through hard work and dedication. 

Diago who describes his teenage life as experiential and exciting, completed his matric in 1999 where he was entrusted with leadership.

 

The 39-year-old, originally from a small village of Limpopo in Jane Furse achieved academically. This brought an opportunity for him to encounter tertiary education. He gained fame as he was counted among the least that went to University. In the year 2000, Diago with his best results became a student of the Witwatersrand University and studied towards a diploma in Biotechnology.

 

In the same year of his studies as a first year student, the struggle began and he couldn’t cope anymore with his studies, then eventually dropped out. 

To think that would derail him; dropping out of university didn’t stop Diago from going forward, instead he went on to study Diesel Mechanic at Gauteng Technical College. He was fortunate in securing an apprenticeship at Noordwood after the completion of his N5. It was in the year 2006 in the same course of his journey while being at Noordwood that he bought his first house at Vosloorus, which cost him R65 000.

 

The motto, ‘‘Think business’’ kept him going. During the time of his apprenticeship he saw an opportunity in a certain restaurant to sell them avocados at a low price. He then seized that opportunity, the love for business grew stronger. 

Diago’s breakthrough came when he sold his first house and took a loan at a bank to buy vacant land; he immediately built small rooms afterwards in Vosloorus and back in Limpopo in the year 2009-2010. In the presence of challenges, the business of owning rooms picked momentum as he built even more rooms from the money he had received, this meant he had to develop these ‘‘small rooms’’ into guest houses.

 

The passionate guest house owner who has succeeded by having five branches of Guest houses, two (2) in Vosloorus-Gauteng and three (3) in Jane Furse (Limpopo) having a total number of 15 staff members, was employed at Wits Health Consortium right before he saw a gap in the shortage of accommodation in Ekurhuleni. 

Diago born on September 3, 1980 in a small village of Limpopo in Jane Furse is now a permanent resident of Vosloorus, where he offers accommodation to local visitors and international tourists.

 

He plans on expanding his business in the near future, seeing his guest houses being hotels, ‘’not just a hotel but a 5-star-Hotel’’

 

• HERE’S A QUESTION-AND-ANSWER SESSION :

1. When was this business established?

The name of the guest house is PAPA’S Guest House and it was established in the year 2010, catering for residents in and out of Ekurhuleni and currently has five (5) branches which are successfully operating well.

2. What kind of services do you render for your guests?

PAPA’S Guest House services allow guests to stay overnight, day-rest and refresh; which means they can come anytime they like and costs for each visit vary.

3. How much do you make on a good day? How about on a regular day?

As you know that days aren’t the same, sometimes you win sometimes you lose. Well, in a good day we can make R 1 500 and on a bad day we can make R0 to R500 depending on how many guests we had.

4. What motivated you into starting the business?

Firstly, I got tired of reporting for duty and thought it was time I worked for myself. Then I noticed a gap in the field of accommodation here in Vosloorus and Ekurhuleni at large, keeping in mind that Ekurhuleni is a gateway for tourists. With the profits I attain, I develop in small bits.

5. Where do you see the business in five years’ time from now?

 In five years’ time I wish to see PAPA’S guest house being a hotel, not just a hotel but a 5-star-Hotel, where outsiders would come rest at the hotel and be served with everything from the different types of local meals from the likes of Mala Mokgodo and pap, chicken feet and Nhloko (cow head)

6. Would you advice tourists to visit your guest houses?

Yes, as we have an airport in Ekurhuleni it is also essential that tourists familiarise themselves with guest houses such as PAPA’S Guest house as it is situated in Vosloorus a township with rich history of the apartheid era and we are the best in rendering services for our guests.

7. What are some of the challenges do you come across with in this business?

We are finding it hard to get exposure on our businesses as we lack the support from government. Our business lacks the level of marketing and that in-turn affects us financially.

8. How do you ensure that your business is stable?

I ensure that my business is stable by rendering a good service to my clients so that they come next time and recommend my place to their loved ones.

9. If you were to advice a person starting this business, what precautions would you say they should take note of?

I would advise someone going into this business by saying that business is like a weather; sometimes it is busy and sometimes it is quiet. You just won’t know when it starts raining. Those individuals should just remain focused and passionate as they’re several challenges along the way.

10. How would you like the government to help you?

 I would like the government to help me with funding and exposing this business so that PAPA’S Guest house gets recognised as one of the best guest houses in town.