{"id":1272,"date":"2014-03-19T14:41:38","date_gmt":"2014-03-19T13:41:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buzzsouthafrica.com\/?p=1272"},"modified":"2023-01-02T15:58:28","modified_gmt":"2023-01-02T14:58:28","slug":"10-lesser-known-facts-richard-maponya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buzzsouthafrica.com\/10-lesser-known-facts-richard-maponya\/","title":{"rendered":"Details of Richard Maponya’s Life Story, Family, Net Worth and Death"},"content":{"rendered":"
Richard Maponya was a South African business powerhouse famed as one of the most successful pillars of black business in the Rainbow Nation. His net worth was about R400 million before his death<\/strong><\/p>\n To date, his biggest project was the joint venture with the property group, ZenPROP, in the construction of the Maponya Mall, a mega shopping mall in Soweto.<\/p>\n Having started his business career in the 1950s, during apartheid South Africa, Richard met with great difficulties and harsh business conditions. Nevertheless, he remained undeterred, thus beco<\/span>ming<\/span> an inspiration to disadvantaged South Africans striving for business success. His resilience eventually paid off as he became one of the most respectable business moguls both in South Africa and beyond. <\/span><\/p>\n He was a recipient of The Order of the Baobab (GCOB), a South African civilian national honor, awarded to those for service in business and the economy. He also served as a trustee of The Nelson Mandela Children\u2019s Fund, Urban Foundation, and the SA Foundation. Maponya was also the founder and first president of the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce.<\/span><\/p>\n Born as Richard John Pelwana Maponya on December 24, 1926, the business mogul was a native of Thlabine, near Lenyenye in the Northern Transvaal (now Limpopo Province). Nothing much is known about his parents, and it is also not known if he was an only child or not. What is known, however, is that he was raised in a middle-class family. He attended Kagiso Teacher Training College, where he was trained as a teacher.<\/p>\n After he graduated at 24, Richard started working for a clothes maker as a stock taker in 1950. Through his hard work, he got a promotion for himself and his manager, who was a white man. As a sign of appreciation, his manager sold him some second-hand clothing, which he went and resold. This provided him some capital, which he used to open up his cloth retailer, but the government of South Africa at that time refused to give him a license. However, he was granted a license to sell foodstuff instead.<\/p>\nRichard Maponya Was Born in Thlabine, Limpopo<\/strong><\/h2>\n