Stellenbosch Magazine July 2021

Entrepreneurship
Stellenbosch Network Entrepreneur of the
Month: - by Dillon Birns
ACCESS TO ALL: Marvelous
Matlou isn’t just connecting
businesses with communities
– he’s also giving residents
meaningful employment.
To many, South Africa’s enduring struggle
with widespread unemployment seems insurmountable
– but not to Marvelous Matlou.
As the founder and CEO of MTalks, he’s a
man on a mission to create work opportunities
for people living in communities that are
worst afflicted.
Officially launched in 2019, MTalks creates
jobs for people in rural and informal communities
by helping businesses access new
markets and the consumers within them.
“To give you the elevator pitch, businesses
come to us for help when they want to
expand into a new area or community,
especially those located in rural and informal
areas. We guide them by collecting data and
information from the community. This data
is then used to ensure that their product or
service is able to best reach the consumer,”
explains Marvelous.
“Our aim is to make it easier to engage
with people in traditionally hard-to-reach
areas. So, for businesses selling products,
we help them reach new consumers in
underserved communities. And for consumers
in these communities, we help them secure
employment opportunities from these same
businesses.”
MTalks makes it easier to engage with people
in traditionally hard-to-reach areas.
Connecting the dots
Marvelous explains that, by drawing on the
knowledge and networks held by residents,
they’re able to imbue their data with necessary
context. “Locals have unique insight
into and understanding of their community;
this means that they’re able to share nuances
which outsiders might not pick up on.
We recognise this advantage – but rather
than simply exploit it, we see it as an opportunity
to reinvest into the community by
giving the people from these areas a chance
to find work, expand their knowledge, hone
their skills, and earn an income from it all.”
He says that, when approached by a client,
he and the team break down the job requirements
into various tasks. These are
then allocated to several workgroups made
up of locals, who are assigned tasks based
on their skills and the needs of the client.
“Every task has a cost attached to it.
Once a team completes a task, they get
paid. This way, we simultaneously ensure
that our clients get good service, and that
our workers are reimbursed in an ongoing
and timely manner.”
34 | Stellenbosch Magazine | July Issue