Mark and Brett Levy went from humble beginnings in Delmas, Mpumalanga, to running a prepaid giant in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Levy brothers grew up in Delmas and, after their father’s death at a young age, became more independent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During their high school years, the brothers started selling electronic products, including car radios and televisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the 1990s, the two brothers had built a strong electronics distribution business, where they used parallel imports to gain a pricing advantage in the South African market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This would lay the foundation for Blue Label Telecoms, which the brothers used to establish a national distribution network for virtual stock management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After winning a Telkom tender for the provision of prepaid phones throughout South Africa, the Levy brothers ventured into the telecommunications sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prepaid airtime at the time was only bought and sold via physical cards, with the brothers looking at a way to digitise this business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They then created an electronic top-up pin system, which was rapidly adopted due to its convenience for consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This new system was not without challenges, as mobile operators could not supply them with electronic PINs, meaning they would have to buy prepaid scratch cards to get PINs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PINs started to grow in popularity after these challenges were addressed, and the group’s prepaid airtime point-of-sale devices were sent to numerous merchants across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the prepaid platform soon having a national presence, the brothers expanded into new industries and started offering electricity and water vouchers, prepaid data, ticketing, and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This strategy was incredibly successful, and the group’s transaction volumes grew to over 5 billion per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group was listed on the JSE in 2007 amidst strong growth. Close to a decade later, its market cap was close to R20 billion, and the stock was often seen as a JSE darling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blue Label Telecoms was initially known as the “The Prepaid Company,” which remains a subsidiary of the company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The early days of the group were characterised by 18-hour work days. The brothers then started a tradition where they would open Johnnie Walker Blue Label bottle after major deals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The brothers would write down the details of the deal on the bottle\u2014and this is where the company’s name originated. They did this during the JSE listing as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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