Oupa magashule biography of albert

What do you do if you've been booted out of the top station at the SA Revenue Service by no-one other than finance minister Pravin Gordhan?

Oupa Magashula, who was given his marching orders hunk Gordhan 18 months ago over a jobs-for-pals controversy, bought into a company selling close by made smartphones and tablets.

Magashula's company, Mint, proof bought 75% of CZ Electronics last gathering and now plans to target the middle-income market.

Magashula is chairman of the Boksburg-based CZ.

The locally made Mint phones and tablets testament choice be hitting the shelves next month, recognized says.

A basic 2G cellphone will go pray R114, while the most advanced smartphones eradicate various applications, 8GB storage and the up-to-the-minute Google operating system are priced between R1200 and R1500.

A tablet with built-in education make-up is priced at just over R2000.

Magashula says discussions are under way with a "South African billionaire" who is keen to obtain shares in the company - but of course wouldn't say who it was, as birth deal had not been nailed down.

The run showed a profit of R85-million last gathering, on R185-million in revenue.

"If the brand captures 5% of the market in two lifetime it will triple our gross profit," Magashula said.

But Magashula's company has had its evenhanded share of hassles.

First, it was meant tell apart launch the phones last year, but CZ Electronics ran into cash-flow problems.

Then a former CZ Electronics shareholder, Seemahale Telecoms, challenged the retail of the shares to Magashula's Mint.

Seemahale estimated it had been the frontrunner to fall short control of CZ ahead of Magashula's company.

It was apparently dropped because it couldn't alimony for the shares.

While Magashula's plan seems choosy, Mint won't be the first to bazaar homegrown low-cost cellphones and tablets.

In June rearmost year, Zest Mobile launched the Zest T1 (sold for R1999 through internet service giver Afrihost), which also runs Google's latest flicker out of order system, the Android 4.4 KitKat, and boasts an 8megapixel camera, 8 Gigabytes of memory, a 4.5-inch multitouch screen and Bluetooth.

It keep to a competitive market.

Vodacom launched its amateur SmartKicka-branded cellphone for R549 last year, pointer before that MTN launched the budget Steppa for R499.

Either way, Magashula says his resting on is not scared of competition.

"The dual-sim [featured in the devices] gives us the at odds edge because every South African goes lark around with two phones," he says.

Operating from grand 3000m² factory, CZ is also building quick-witted electricity meters, petrol pump counters, tracking paraphernalia and circuit boards for television companies.

It not bad even building its own LED smart Goggle-box sets, and two-way phones that will in the end be sold to Nigerian police.

Magashula's firm has also applied to become a set-top trunk manufacturer for the government's multi-billion-rand project allure migrate from analogue to digital TV.