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Just over ten years ago Henri Tshiamala took flight from Kinshasa, Congo and found himself an immigrant on the streets of Johannesburg. Unable to speak any English, he peddled reject clothing for food and a place to sleep every night. Today, Tshiamala has an MBA degree from the UCT Graduate School of Business and has three retail outlets of his African-influenced soft furnishings company called Our Heritage. 

It’s been an arduous road, but the remarkable success story is a testament to Tshiamala’s entrepreneurial spirit and determination against all odds. “I had to leave the University of Kinshasa in 1991 after the government started cracking down on students and when I got to South Africa I was faced with the reality of having to survive on the Johannesburg streets. I started trading in clothing but there was resistance to foreigners from South African informal traders. My stock was burned and I was assaulted,” explains Tshiamala. Life was not easier in Cape Town, but at least he managed to scrape together a living from informal trading at St Georges Mall. And it’s here that Tshiamala got an unlikely foot in the door of success. 

“I traded outside Truworths on St Georges and, after a few years, everyone knew me and saw my enthusiasm. This included the manager of the store. In 1995, I went to speak to him about a job. He gave me the opportunity to train. After that I secured a casual position at the store,” says Tshiamala. The more stable income meant he could pursue his education once again, which he had had to leave so abruptly in Kinshasa. He took short courses through UNISA and also started part-time at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in electrical engineering, his initial career path. In 1997 he started his internship at Metrorail and worked as a technician at Telumat, a communications company. 

But he says the attention he gave to developing his informal sector trading was what proved to be a catalyst for his success. The goods Tshiamala was manufacturing and trading were a big hit with the public. From the humble beginnings of a single sewing machine at home, a unique brand has evolved. 

“We had a small machine and made our own ‘soft furnishings’ goods such as pillows and bedspreads, all with an African touch and using unique fabrics from different African countries. “In 1999, I was offered the opportunity of trading formally at the new Century City shopping mall. That was the start of the Our Heritage brand and I soon dedicated all my energy to making the venture a success,” he says. Soon after, Our Heritage began trading at the Waterfront Craft Market and Tshiamala moved the manufacturing to a workshop in central Cape Town and took on three people to train as machinists. A short time later, Our Heritage expanded to two and then three stalls at the Craft Market and he could employ a few more people. 

It was at this point in 2003 that Tshiamala decided it was time to get the formal business skills he needed to better manage his growing business, and he signed up for an MBA at the GSB in 2004. Just two months after his graduation from the GSB, Tshiamala’s business skills really came in handy as the business took another step forward. He opened his third retail outlet on the ground floor of the prime V&A Waterfront’s Alfred Mall.