Pule Funeral Group Unveils Improved Service Commitment to Stakeholders
On 17 August 2022, Pule Funeral Group, hosted key stakeholders and members of the media for a briefing session at their head offices in Gaborone West. The purpose of the engagement was to update stakeholders and member of the media on recent developments in the organisation including a change of ownership, new fleet of cars, refurbished chapel room and Executive Chairman, Thabo Majola expressed their deep gratitude to the liquidator for having believed in Pule Funeral Group and putting in the hard work to stabilise it during a tough time for the business and leading it to where it is today.
Pule Funeral Group is a 100% citizen owned company that has three subsidiaries which complement each other. The subsidiaries are Pule Funeral Services, Pule Coffin Manufacturers and Pule Insurance.
Majola, said “Kopang Thekiso made a very important decision about three (3) years ago. As the Liquidator he could have taken the decision to wind down the company and sell off the assets one by one. Fortunately, he decided to preserve the livelihoods of those who were and are employed by the company, and most importantly he chose to preserve one of Botswana National Treasurers being the Pule Funeral Services brand. He made the decision to operate the company and save it while looking for suitable people to acquire it. We are very grateful that he took that decision because we are here today as the beneficiaries of his wisdom”.
He went on to express that they had developed a new strategy for the organisation called Road to 2026, which is a four-year strategy that envisions to make Pule Funeral Group the most attractive and preferred funeral and burial partner of choice in the country and eventually the SADC region.
“We would like to consolidate our position in Botswana but we see an opportunity to expand beyond the borders. As part of Road to 2026, we would like to work very hard to improve the company so that we can list on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) when the company turns 50 years. Listing on the Botswana Stock Exchange would mean that Metshelo, Burial Societies, Institutional investors, broad based organizations will have an opportunity to buy shares and benefit from the value that is created by the eco system. We also acknowledge that listing and giving the company to the people will allow us access to funds so that we can open more offices in Botswana, continue with adding more cars to our fleet, as well as creating employment for many more Batswana and enrich livelihoods”.
For his part the Operations Manager, Tshepo Mogotsi welled with emotion when reflecting on how far the business had come in the past three years. He expressed his deep gratitude to the Pule Funeral Group team for their perseverance, the various partners who they work with in different industries for the continued faith, as well as their underwriters Hollard and logistics partner Nissan NTT Botswana. Stakeholders were then taken on a tour of the new fleet of cars, which have been modified into comfortable and premium hearses to cater for the different packages. Attendees also witnessed the new refurbished chapel/prayer room and the catalogue of coffins- some of which are locally manufactured.
In concluding, Mogotsi said, “There are currently five (5) different types of coffins that we produce from our plant in Boatle. We have domes, flat lids, open faces, or even half open coffins that our clients can choose from. The type of coffin our client wants will be determined by the package that they subscribe for. Our latest innovation is customized coffins- through our plant at Boatle, we can produce a customized coffin with the deceased’s names or initials, a picture or event print fabric- like leteitshe. We can also customize children’s coffins upon request into characters like Spiderman.”
