By Neo Kolane
Unfair labour practices at one of the business entities at BEDCO Sebaboleng in Maseru made Lefu Lintśi to think twice about being employed there.
The unpalatable labour practices could not go down well with this man forcing him to start his own small shoe-making and repair enterprise.
Established in 2003 when he called it quit at the BEDCO business he established what is now known as LL Shop Repair after deciding to go solo.
Situated at the Main North I in Maseru in the Cathedral Area, this small business manufactures pure leather sandals and belts. It also repairs shoes.
The 46 year-old said he could not let go an art of repairing shoes as he had assembled an extensive experience in the job from 1997 while working at BEDCO-based shoe-maker. From being a cobbler, he has now grown to be a cordwainer.
This week he told theReporter that he takes delight in clients who come up with their own shoe designs instead of him creating and drawing certain designs. This, he noted, would not be likeable to the customer’s taste.
Founder of LL Shop Repair narrated that in order to make a fitting size of shoes, he measures the feet of the customer and then select the shoe style and type of leather using the masking tape on a plaster. That, according to him, is because each pair of feet is unique to a particular customer.
It is then that he cuts leather uppers and soles from materials. He assembles the leather pieces and stiches them together before being glued onto the preferred sole type. Eventually, he polishes the shoes after installing laces.
However, Lintśi said that before the COVID-19 pandemic, he would take some of his made products to South Africa’s Carletonville town and Rustenburg in Gauteng.
“My siblings would sell them for me. I would supply some vendors who would in turn sell to the customers in Maputsoe and Hlotse in Leribe. That is how I would make money,” he remembered.
A pair of shoes ranges from M230 to M250 depending on the make.
Lintśi gets his material from a nearby retail shop that deals in leather materials and shoe soles.
He said his daily income is generated from shoe repair with each shoe being mend fetching M20. The repair exercise is the one that sustains his living as customers pay for service instantly.
But the dawn of the pandemic Covid-19, he remarked, has adversely affected his business as customers lost their jobs when businesses were forced to shut down.
He clearly indicates that his craft is what distinguishes him from the other shoe-makers. The knowledge and skills acquired while at BEDCO do keep him on the mark.
