Who Is the DRIP Owner Lekau Sehoana and What is His Net Worth?

Lekau Sehoana is the 35 year-old founder and CEO of Drip Footwear, one of the most successful and fastest-growing sneaker brands in South Africa. He was born on September 20th, 1988, and has a net worth of R280 million.

Though Lekau launched his sneaker company in 2019, he has tried his hands at other businesses that didn’t go well. Nevertheless, he persisted and moved into the fashion industry, and his sneaker brand has grown massively to accommodate business expansions. Presently, Drip Footwear has more than 340 employees with over 20 outlets across South African provinces.

What is Lekau Sehoana’s Age?

Lekau Sehoana is 35 years old. In GaMamabolo, Limpopo, the millionaire businessman was born on September 20th, 1988. Marking his 33rd birthday in September 2021, Sehoana was celebrated by his company on social media for running the brand with determination, dedication, and vision, which inspires the staff to always give their best.

The next year, he took to Twitter to encourage the youth, inspiring them with his rags-to-riches life story as he turned 34. He moved on to name some of his achievements and how proud he is to have created employment for more than 340 people through his diverse business ventures at his age.

Picture taken January 2020, this was my 24 Square meter warehouse and Stock. Lol…

Happy 34th Birthday to Myself.

I Pray for PEACE, Stability, Wisdom, Growth in all aspects of Life, happiness, Grace, AND MORE LIFE.

🥳 🎂🎁🎊 pic.twitter.com/UrrcLJwjkD

— Lekau Sehoana (@LekauSehoana) September 20, 2022

Where Does Lekau Sehoana Come From?

Lekau Sehoana originally hails from GaMamabolo in Limpopo. However, he grew up in Midrand, where he lived with his mother in the informal settlements of Ivory Park. Despite his humble beginnings, the award-winning entrepreneur has ensured that he gives back to the community where he was raised and was born as well.

Lekau Sehoana’s Challenging Childhood

Lekau Sehoana was raised by a single mother. His parents separated when he was two years old, and his mom was faced with the challenges of raising four children on her own. In 1994, they settled in Ivory Park, one of the many squatter townships in SA. Having been raised in an impoverished family, Lekau lacked basic needs as a child.

Sometimes, his neighbors and relatives would give his family clothes as his mom couldn’t afford to get them. At the age of 14, he began sewing clothes in order to provide for the family. His grandmother taught him how to sew and equally how to be independent from an early age. He then began making clothing and sneakers after he made for himself an eye-catching outfit for a casual day in school in 2003 while in Grade 8.

Having no clothes and shoes to wear, Lekau Sehoana created his first pair of sneakers using an old torn pair of Adidas sneakers which he sewed together with denim and polyurethane. Afterward, he started making sneakers for his schoolmates and teachers during high school. Despite growing up in a poor environment, Lekau has had big dreams far beyond his circumstances, and this inspired his company’s first slogan, “The Township Dream.”

Lekau Sehoana’s Education

Drip Footwear founder completed his high school education at Eqinisweni Secondary School located in Ivory Park outside Tembisa. He subsequently studied Civil Engineering at Ekurhuleni West College from 2013 to 2015. Following his graduation, he worked as an engineer for two years in a construction company.

Though being an engineer was a dream come true for Sehoana, he was forced to make shoes to survive. He eventually resigned from the job and kickstarted a poultry farming business called Egg Seh Chickens, which is presently managed by his brother.

When Did Lekau Sehoana Found DRIP?

Lekau Sehoana’s sneaker brand, Drip Footwear, was launched in July 2019. His passion for creating sneakers was ignited while in Grade 8 after redesigning torn Adidas sneakers with denim and polyurethane. After pursuing the business venture of remodeling sneakers for eight years in his youth, the Limpopo native decided to pursue a job as a sneaker creator full-time by establishing his company.

He opened his first store at Newton Junction in Johannesburg and the second Drip Footwear store was opened in July 2020. In the following year, Drip Footwear’s 10th and 11th stores were opened in Kwazulu-Natal. Currently, the brand has opened more than 20 outlets across the provinces in South Africa. Also, Drip Footwear will be opening stores outside South Africa as the business has gone global.

The company started with 600 pairs and after Lekau marketed the brand on social media, narrating his life story which inspired many people, Drip became one of Mzansi’s favorite sneaker brands. He sold out 600 pairs in six weeks, and another badge of 1,200 pairs of multi-colored sneakers was sold out within a few days. The business grew so fast that after two years and six months, it became a multi-million rand operation.

Hence, Drip Footwear has emerged as one of the fastest-growing sneaker brands in South Africa. The savvy businessman now hopes to expand into the production of socks, sling bags, and sunglasses.

I went through not having shoes to wear in high school, back in 2003. To having a Sneaker Brand Startup with 600 Pairs in 2019. Selling them out and manufacturing 1200 more pairs. I'm giving my painful story a successful ending. @kuliroberts @DRIPFootWear #DRIPFootWear #DRIP pic.twitter.com/YQXZV58JYb

— Lekau Sehoana (@LekauSehoana) September 9, 2019

How Much is Lekau Sehoana’s Net Worth?

Lekau Sehoana’s net worth is said to be R280 million. Though he wasn’t collecting a salary for his role as the chief executive officer at the nascent stage of his sneaker business, he now pockets a significant sum of money for his work in the company. His athleisure and lifestyle brand has become very lucrative and reportedly worth multi-million rands, though the exact figure is yet to be deduced.

Despite Sehoana’s Kiddies Clothing label liquidating in June 2023, Drip Footwear and his other businesses are still raking in huge amounts of money. Over the years, the 35 year-old entrepreneur has added massively to his net worth through his several remunerative collaborations with big brands and celebrities in SA.

More so, Freddy Lekau Sehoana, who owns a poultry farming business and a restaurant called Huku Dust, has spread his wings across the sports market. He aims to get many top football teams to wear Drip outfits which would lead to a surge in his total wealth. By becoming an owner of a football club, Lekau is not far from achieving his goals, and here are more details about his other income sources.

Football Club

In September 2021, Lekau Sehoana expanded his business with the purchase of a football club, Black Eagles FC which plays in ABC Motsepe League. After Drip Footwear became a huge success, the entrepreneur started planning on restructuring his business by tapping into the sports market. He plans of designing soccer jerseys, soccer boots, running shoes, and gym wear.

In 2020, he disclosed that his dream is to see one of the biggest PSL clubs matching into the field rocking Drip outfit―jersey, boots, and tracksuits. Amazingly, he took a pivotal step in actualizing his dream by purchasing ABC Motsepe League club, Buya Msuthu, which was renamed Black Eagles FC. He works to get the team into the GladAfrica Championship and from there, they can find their way to the Premier Soccer League.

By designing the team’s kit and making it highly fashionable, Sehoana would reach the brand’s target market, getting them to buy its products. Interestingly, TS Galaxy now wears Drip sneakers.

Business Collaborations

With the goal of reaching new heights in business, Lekau Sehoana has been making strategic collaborations with top brands and A-list celebrities in the country. He hopes to capitalize on the partnerships to grow his brand in the entertainment industry. A deliberate strategy, Freddy Lekau Sehoana’s Drip has been a sponsor of the Channel O Lockdown House Parties, the South African Music Awards, and many other events.

Having aligned his brand with music, arts, and drama, in June 2021, Drip CEO collaborated with renowned rapper, Cassper Nyovest and signed a legacy deal worth R100 million. The two subsequently launched a sneaker range called Drip 990 Root of Fame. The collaboration was well received by their fans, as more than 30,000 pairs of Root of Fame sneaker was sold by December 2021.

Additionally, unnamed products would be launched under Lekau and Cassper’s Root of Fame partnership. Again in September 2021, Lekau Sehoana partnered with BMW, and the partnership led to the change of the brand’s slogan from ‘The Township Dream’ to ‘Live your Great’. Due to the collaboration, Drip sneakers are now sold at the BMW Midrand dealership in the form of a pop-up store.

Why Sehoana Liquidated One of His Businesses

In mid-June 2023, the Drip CEO announced the closure of one of his businesses, Kiddies Republic, which was a children’s clothing brand launched at The Mall of the North in Polokwane, Limpopo in July 2022. Though he had plans to open more stores, the business venture wasn’t financially viable, and thus, Sehoana decided to get it liquidated.

Kiddies Republic operated for almost a year but didn’t generate enough revenue to sustain itself and also pay the employees. It was reported that some staff working at the store didn’t receive salaries from March 2023 till when the business was shut down in June, and the rent also was unpaid. After making the announcement on Twitter, Lekau Sehoana was encouraged by several people, who advised him to stay focused and don’t let the failure distract him.

As usual, the businessman will definitely rise from the setback as he did in the early stages of his business career when he tried several businesses, including setting up cleaning companies and a recycling business, but they failed. He eventually got things right when he returned to his first love, which is making sneakers in 2019.

Lekau Sehoana’s DripEd

In addition to his dream of creating employment, Sehoana aims to impact and empower young black people. Starting from his family, his brother runs his poultry business, Egg Seh Chickens and his sister manages Drip Footwear’s social media. He also gives back to the community that supported him. Hence, he established a Drip Education center in Ivory Park called DripEd.

For me to sit on that chair and run a Multimillion Rand Sneaker Brand and also Employ my fellow young people means a lot. I’m a kid from ivory park informal settlements. Your support has really opened doors and I’ll never disappoint. Thank You mzansi. https://t.co/OCRuDYtRfN pic.twitter.com/XVLb9f7dJH

— Lekau Sehoana (@LekauSehoana) June 25, 2020

The project will elevate the community by keeping the youth busy and active after school. They will use the internet and library facilities to do homework and equally play sports at the education center. Additionally, a big sneaker store is available at the center for the purchase of Drip sneakers. Lekau also spends time at DripEd, mentoring and guiding the youth.

Legal Battles Lekau Sehoana Has Been Embroiled in

Having established a lucrative business, it’s no surprise that the 35-year-old has had legal issues regarding his business operation. Nonetheless, he has made efforts to sort out the cases. And below is a sneak peek into a few legal issues Lekau has been involved in.

Lawsuit for 34% of Drip Footwear

A Pretoria investor named Alfred Mashiya sued Drip founder for a 34% shareholding stake in his sneaker company in October 2021. The businessman reportedly met Lekau at Menlyn Mall in Pretoria in November 2019 and he gave him an investment loan of R45,700 for 200 pairs of sneakers that had already been manufactured. The two signed a contract and agreed that the money would be paid back in December 2019 with an interest of R18,000.

The terms of the contract also dictated that Lekau Sehoana would pay R100 to Alfred for every pair of the first 5000 Drip sneakers sold. He would also give him 5% of the company shares if the payment should be made 24 hours late and an additional 1% share for every day it was delayed. Having not received R100 from the first 5000 pairs of sneakers sold, Alfred Mashiya stated that he’s entitled to 34% of Drip Footwear.

He made his calculations from August 1st, 2020, when the contract was breached, to September 4th, 2020, the day he asked his lawyer to execute a letter of demand. Leakau Sehoana confirmed to have received the letter. He, however, asserted that he paid back the loan and the R18,000 interest before December 31st, 2019. And he only defaulted in paying Mashiya R100 from the sales of the first 5000 sneakers due to COVID-19 and unexpected expenses.

He further stated that he agreed a different contract terms with the Pretoria investor which would allow him to pay R200,000 in July 2020 and R300,000 in November 2020. However, he only paid R100,000 as the sales made weren’t enough to pay the money. Despite Sehoana paying the remaining money to Alfred Mashiya after receiving a letter of demand, he still demands 34% of the company.

Drip Founder was Sued for R2 million by SD Africa

In September 2022, SD Africa allegedly filed an R2 million lawsuit against Lekau Sehoana for failing to make payment for a bespoke software his company procured to monitor its stock. He was dragged to Johannesburg High Court by the bespoke software company for failing to pay R1.9 million for software development, implementation, and services.

In March 2022, Drip Group requested for SD Africa to provide information technology support services for the creation of stock monitoring, an integrated distribution, and a management system for its company, Kiddies Republic. They also agreed with the company to train their staff on how to use the system and equally provide maintenance and support to its businesses for one year.

After developing the software, SD Africa demanded installment payments on or before June 30th, 2022 but their request was not met. They, however, decided to take the matter to court. At the time the report was made, Sehoana stated that he was not aware of the lawsuit.

Sehoana’s Estranged Wife Demands 50% of Drip Footwear

Amidst a messy divorce from his wife – Lebohang Machaba, Lekau Sehoana is now faced with claims that he owned Drip Footwear together with his estranged wife. Lebohang claimed that her ex-husband owes her half of the company and demands it as part of their divorce settlement, alleging that they were married in a community of property.

The former couple reportedly split in 2019, and Lekau is adamant that Lebohang owes half of his company which he launched shortly after their separation. He also stated that they were not married in a community of property. In June 2023, he opened a counter-case of extortion against Lebohang who first opened a case against him. However, Lekau was said to have told the police not to look into the matter as the case is a civil one and not a criminal case.