On the day Richard Maponya would have turned 100, his family calls for everyone to make a difference

For the first time, the family of business mogul Richard Maponya will spend Christmas this year without their patriarch.

Maponya, who succumbed to a short illness in January this year, would have turned 100 on Thursday, the day before Christmas, one of his favourite days, according to his daughter.

At the age of 99, he still had huge plans, said Chichi Maponya.

“He spoke about it a lot when he was still alive, even when he turned 99. It is a big milestone and he had big plans about the things he still wanted to achieve. I said to him it was time to retire but he said, 'No, God has given me all these years as a bonus. I must make use of them. If I don't, he will call me'," said Chichi.

The family and Maponya's foundation took to Soweto on Thursday — where he built a  65,000m² Maponya Mall in 2007 — to celebrate the centenary which the foundation said would be a year of entrepreneurship. This was after a visit to West Park cemetery where he was laid to rest.

“Today is all about commemorating a father, a grandfather, a mentor, a pioneer and just finding that inspiration in each one of us, it is to honour a person who lived and dedicated his life to  making a difference. We celebrate him,” said Chichi.

Asked about the significance of celebrating the birthday at the mall, Chichi said her father loved people.   

“He was a people's person. He was very clear about celebrating or sharing with the community - people who made him who he was.”

Chichi said the centenary celebration was also a call for action to everybody to find “a Richard Maponya within them, and make a difference”.

Christmas was one of Maponya's favourite days. Over the years, he had breakfast with all his children, who would individually reflect on the year. He would then have lunch with all his grandchildren, with whom he shared his wisdom. Then there would be a celebration “with everybody”.

Chichi said the family would continue to build the Maponya legacy.

Recognising Maponya’s entrepreneurial qualities at his funeral, President Cyril Ramaphosa hailed him as a bold, fearless man whose legacy would live on.   

Maponya and his wife Marina, who died in 1992, first opened a milk distribution company in Soweto. Their business empire later expanded to include interests in retail, automotive, filling stations and property development.

Speaking about their last encounter, Ramaphosa said Maponya had a dream of opening a youth entrepreneurship academy. He said he would endeavour to help fulfil the goal of Maponya to train young entrepreneurs.

“In my very last engagements with him, he urged me to do everything I could to see his greatest dream realised: to set up a youth entrepreneurship academy. It is a wish I will  endeavour to see fulfilled.

The foundation said it would kick off 2021 with  activities centred on entrepreneurship, skills development and agricultural value chains.

“These initiatives will be committed to unearthing entrepreneurs; guiding them with expert knowledge, empowering them with skills, as well as lobbying for funding with the private and public sectors where required, to build the type of sustainable ecosystem and value chains that will serve as a foundation for real economic transformation,” the foundation said.

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