Mr. Themba Lawrence Mdlela was the owner of the first Supermarket in Orlando East, Good Luck Stores.
Mr. Mdlela was a humble and down to earth businessman who was a true entrepreneur at heart
and passionate about black business.
We are paying tribute to this man who left us on the 19th November 2021 after a short illness at the age of 81.
Mr. Mdlela was born in Orlando East on the 23rd October 1940. Affectionately known as Bra Themba. He started his entrepreneurial journey while in school at Bantu Primary School. He was a natural born businessman from an early age, a true hustler who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.
He went on to further his skills at Dube Vocational Skills Centre. Bra Themba had a vision of breaking the barriers that are faced by aspiring black entrepreneurs, he worked hard despite the restricting laws against black people during apartheid and went on to be a successful businessman with a fleet of stores and other business throughout Soweto. (Good luck Supermarket, Roman Supermarket, Pimville Fruit Market, Good Luck Bakery, and Mdlela Distribution Centre.)
Bra Themba was a true champion of empowerment, during his lifetime he has uplifted a lot of people in the community and created employment for a great number of people. Through his charity initiatives he has assisted many students and households who were struggling with school expenses and groceries.
A PILLAR OF STRENGTH IN THE COMMUNITY
The signficant mentorship and positive influence Mr Mdlela played in shaping and guiding the lives and aspirations of those around him is well recorded through countless personal stories.
Many thriving community leaders and business owners today often still talk about how much they gained from the man through his invaluable lessons on how to achieve both personal and career goals.
Bra Themba was a versatile and talented person who could communicate in many languages, a people’s person who travelled around the world and met a lot of people in his lifetime.
Bra Themba lived according to a principle that “the only effective way to give back while economically growing your community was to re-invest in people rather than short term self enrichment.”
The community of Orlando and surrounding have lost a giant, Bra Themba has provided a road
map for all of us on how to be successful in business and in life.
Start with honesty and caring for others, toss in an entrepreneurial spirit, “out-of- the-box” thinking, and the ability to come up with new
ideas, and couple all of it with a lot of hard work, and you have the recipe for success.