Upon arrival in Cape Town in 1988, all Zimbabwe-born Winston Rangwani was set on was completing his computer programming course. However, his path crossed with that of a wire artist - with whom he shared a house - and the beauty of wire crafting captivated him.
From that point on he started using his spare time to produce sketches and wire designs for his mate's business. This unleashed a creative talent that ultimately saw Rangwani turning into an entrepreneur specialising in wire crafts.
WHAT IT MEANS
 With an annual turnover of R4,2m, Streetwires exports to at least 15 states
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"I am a social entrepreneur. I am passionate about achieving my social and environmental objectives. It is essential to give back to society and develop it and give people the ability to appreciate life. Doing this work is not easy, it is a calling that requires a lot of dedication," he says.
He is the cofounder of Streetwires, which he started in 2000 with Patrick Schofield and Anthony Ressel. The company has an annual turnover of R4,2m and exports to more than 15 countries.
Rangwani was a panellist at the second debate hosted by petroleum multinational Shell and the Gordon Institute of Business Science (Gibs), in association with the FM and Summit TV. The debates have been initiated by Shell SA to promote entrepreneurship and provide social entrepreneurs with a platform to share their experiences.
The other panellists were Charles Maisel, the founder of Shoebox Homes; and Rolf Papsdorf, CEO of the Alternative Energy Development Corporation. They were invited to expound on their businesses as a platform for social entrepreneurship and this was followed by a discussion between the panel and the audience.
The aim of this second debate, held under the theme "the bleeding edge of social innovation", was to understand how to harness innovative entre-preneurial talent for social good.
Discussions included how the panellists started their businesses; how they ensure the sustainability of their projects; their role in society; and the challenges they face as entrepreneurs.
Their projects are highly profitable commercial organisations with a social-development core, built on the corner-stones of job creation, craft innovation, sound business practices and human capital development.
Maisel's background is in a nongovernmental organisation, where he worked as a project manager for new projects.
He has founded several projects, including the Man on the Side of the Road project, which addresses unemployment and skills development among previously disadvantaged communities. His current project, Shoebox Homes, uses unique design concepts to create homes that can each comfortably accommodate at least seven people.
"I was a traditional economist, then I become a social entrepreneur, but now feel I am a social artist. An artist is prolific and comes up with new things. Social artists are people who change what exists. Think about Mahatma Gandhi, he was a true innovator, his theories are timeless, he was prolific and never static," says Maisel.
Shoebox is a year old and has a staff complement of eight. It implements innovative and inexpensive designs for homes and provides affordable furnishings to improve the conditions in which people live.
The project offers a solution to one of Africa's biggest problems - homelessness. "We use different techniques to build homes. We've constructed a home for Aids orphans and it houses 26 people. There is also a house of 50 m², which we fitted comfortably for 10 people. It takes a week to build a house, and one to two months to renovate one," says Maisel.
Papsdorf, who is German, worked in Canada in alternative energy and moved to SA for a similar project.
But when he became aware of the daily challenges that rural communities face as a result of lack of power and infra-structure, he was motivated to develop a suitable energy source for rural markets. This gave birth to the Alternative Energy Development Corporation in 1998. The organisation has a staff of seven.
The entrepreneur describes his social, for-profit venture as a company focused on eradicating poverty and improving education, health and the quality of life. The company has developed technology for a low-cost, reliable, environmentally friendly and affordable alternative energy supply in the form of zinc-air fuel cells. This nongrid energy is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The company has also developed - in conjunction with SC Johnson, a company that specialises in cleaning products - an anti-malaria unit that operates from fuel cells. The energy produced by the fuel cells can be used to operate appliances. These can, in turn, be used to develop products and services that can help create disposable income for rural communities.
Papsdorf's project focuses on rural women. "You must use your knowledge to empower others. First, empower the community by involving them. The community must see it as a benefit," he says.
But great ideas and projects also face great obstacles.
"The challenges that are difficult to overcome include unskilled employees and HIV/Aids. Not addressing economic and social problems has led to poverty and crime," says Rangwani.
"To overcome these obstacles you need to be innovative or you may not succeed. In this environment, employees need to have a social objective for them to work towards. They need to forget about personal enrichment."
Local government has been castigated for its poor role in the growth and maintenance of facilities and services critical to daily life.
Says Papsdorf: "I am challenged by the lack of interest from municipalities in implementing service delivery for their communities.
Another big challenge is the lack of access to funding. "There are few people in decision making positions who are interested in developing the community. This makes it hard for us to access funds for projects," he says. "Also, some banks do not want to refinance projects, which shows a lack of trust."
Maisel says there are always people with great ideas. However, there is a lack of sufficient funds to turn those ideas into projects.
"Government is constantly looking for innovative ways to solve problems such as poverty, HIV/Aids and the lack of skills," Papsdorf says, "but to solve these it needs to acknowledge the projects that are already running and pilot them. If they work successfully after the pilot, then government should support them at a national or regional level."
So, what does it take to be a social entrepreneur?
"You must follow conventional business principles, whether you are selling a product or a service. This is the only way your organisation will grow and remain sustainable. You need to reinvest profit in the form of paying decent wages and giving employees essential training, which will be applied to the company to grow it further," says Rangwani.
Also, Papsdorf says, "you need to apply a model that can assist people who do not have access to basic necessities such as electricity".
" Use a proven model that will enable you to correctly approach government and various prospective funders and be able to get the assistance you need. Pay people on a performance basis and make them responsible for earning their money. This will make the private sector more interested. "
Maisel emphasises that ideas and money must merge for a project to be a success. Also, growth and retention of talent is essential for sustainability.
"Motivate, promote and believe in the dreams of your staff. Know their skills and which ones to promote. Encourage an understanding of the management of knowledge systems so that they can become entrepreneurs. We are also looking at setting up mini-franchises, which will give them the opportunity to take charge of their own destiny," says Maisel.
He says he attracts both young and inexperienced people as well as those with ideas and a range of experience, and then merges the skills of the two.
Shell will host the next debate in February.
