Another early start this week for Oubrey and myself with a drive from Johannesburg to Bloemfontein to kick off the Free State region depot visits. This time we were provided with a Toyota Corolla to enjoy the journey in.
The drive down to Bloem was very interesting. Passing through a few small towns on the way, Sasolburg, Kroonstad and Welkom. I don't believe that I have ever seen so much open space before, especially with all the Windmills along the road.
When we did see households it was quite amazing to see how much space there is between the houses, giving you the impression that there is no shortage of land in this region.
Once we arrived in Bloemfontein we met with the Bloemfontein depot. Thank you to Gordon Loretz and Ciska Fourie for the time and effort put into these data changes and updates. We agreed on the following changes and updates,
12 additional areas added with a total estimated household distribution of
5,400 as well as
5 nu's areas were also renegotiated with only one name change, that of
Bloemfontein to Mangaung.The next day we had the opportunity to visit two of the most famous townships in Free State,
Botshabelo and
Thaba Nchu. We set aside the day to interview some of the locals and find out what influences are behind some of their purchasing decisions.
We visited a shopping centre in both Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu, thanks to the help of one of our contractors William who gave us a guided tour and introduced us to many of the locals and allowed us to get some really good material.
On a personal noteVisiting the townships of Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu allowed us valuable insight into what the locals think of On the Dot and the high values they attach to our brand. We were asked on several occasions if there were employment opportunities at On the Dot by respected members of the community as they believed that the brand of On the Dot was a very desirable company to be associated with.
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In Kimberley we met with the depot owners who walked us through some of the challenges they faced on a daily basis, they explained that because of the vast distances between towns in the area they travel up to 600km just to arrive at the intended town where distribution happens.
While we were in Kimberley we had a total of
14 new distribution areas added to the demographics with an estimated total of
13,500 new distribution points, 14 Nu areas that have been successfully relocated and renamed.
On a personal note:While in Kimberley, we were able to visit one of the tourist attractions so we decided to visit the Kimberley Big Hole where we were given a history lesson on the development of the town of Kimberley from an English colonised town into a South African city. During these lessons we were fortunate to be able to participate in some of the old traditional games that they played over 100 years back when Kimberley was first established. Oubrey and I played a round of 100 year old ten pin bowling as well as had a try at ancient diamond mining methods. I would highly recommend visiting the Big Hole to anyone who finds themselves in the Kimberley area.
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In Kimberley we also had the opportunity to visit the township situated in close proximity to the city, Galeshewe. I was so amazed at how clean and organised this township was. I have been lucky enough to have visited a few different townships in my travels but never have I seen a township quite like this. There was no litter scattered in the streets, the roads were of a high quality and it just seemed as if the people who live there are very proud of their township. We also found that the people living in Galeshewe were predominantly Afrikaans.
Kimberly to KlerksdorpOn the final day of the Depot Visits in the Free State we drove from Kimberley to Klerksdorp where we sat with George and the owners of the Klerksdorp Depot. We made a few updates and changes to our demographic data, added
12 new areas to the Klerksdorp region with an estimated distribution total of
5,000 new households, relocate and rename 3 NU areas. In closing we had a very enjoyable week in the Free State Region and if given the chance would return in a heartbeat.
And that wraps up the week in the Free State.
Regards,
Daniel De la Rey
