The mastermind behind the Basotho all-terrain cars
When we think of iconic means of transportation in Lesotho, the beautiful Basotho ponies are guaranteed to come to mind. But Elias Motlomelo in Maseru has built a fleet of off-road vehicles that are just as maneuverable.
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00:00This man wants to turn the sotu into a car manufacturer.
00:05But how does self-taught mechanic Elias Mutomelo want to achieve that?
00:10Most of the villages in the sotu here, they don't have roads.
00:16The same cars that I'm repairing, I've realized there's a little bit of failure on the suspension.
00:25Those cars have been made for other countries where they're from because they don't know about the sotu.
00:33I decided to build the flexible suspension,
00:38like the suspension that they are making on the racing cars,
00:43because the racing car can go wherever they need, there is no road.
00:47When you look at the way the car is structured,
00:50it shows that it was manufactured for countries such as Lesotho, our own country,
00:56which has high terrains and very beautiful and high mountains.
01:05It all started in 2020, under lockdown, when everyone in Lesotho was condemned to kill time.
01:11But while his neighbors were coming up with a great banana bread recipe,
01:15Elias came out with a self-made car.
01:18Although he's been towing and fixing cars for years, he had not trained as a mechanic.
01:22How did he come to build his own all-terrain vehicle?
01:26I don't think I'm at the right stage that I can say, no, I'm in.
01:30So I'm still far.
01:32For instance, the first car that I've built, Tabure, the green one,
01:36I've took about 29 days on it.
01:39And then actually, if I had a big workshop with full machinery,
01:44actually, I was supposed to take at least a few days.
01:48For those days, 29, I would have built at least five cars.
01:54In 2022, Lesotho imported almost US$22 million worth of cars,
02:00mainly from South Africa, Singapore, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom.
02:06With a growing GDP and no car production of its own, that's a lot of money Lesotho is losing.
02:12What if inventors like Elias could actually turn the country into a car manufacturer?
02:17The first car I made is after I attended the shows where they are building cars.
02:24I have been there and saw people who build the car,
02:28and then I realized that I can make it better than those just that don't have machinery.
02:32I started to buy machinery.
02:34I started to understand which is the best engine that I can use.
02:39The engine that doesn't have many problems,
02:42and then I bought the engine, it's a complete engine.
02:46The other one they're building up, it's with full aluminium,
02:50so those, I don't prefer them.
02:54I needed one that is a block, is a part, a cast iron,
02:59and then the cylinder head is aluminium.
03:04As much of his compatriots are proud of his achievement,
03:07there were, and still are, mixed comments on the other side of the border.
03:10What does he say to the criticism that he's only assembling the car?
03:14No, I'm not assembling, I'm starting the car from scratch.
03:17Even the chassis itself, I can build the chassis from scratch.
03:24Elias' cars are uniquely designed for Lesotho's mountainous terrain.
03:28He now has a fleet of four vehicles.
03:30Three which were produced from scratch,
03:32one which is a modification of an existing seven-seater.
03:36But producing one vehicle at a time is a painstakingly slow process.
03:42Will he ever be able to scale up?
03:44The design process, it comes to my mind,
03:47especially when I'm sleeping.
03:49Actually, I'm not drawing because I'm not good in drawing and those things,
03:54and I go straight to my instructor.
03:58When time goes on, I can get those people who can take that drawing from my mind
04:04and then tell them what to draw.
04:07Because it's taking my time, because sometimes,
04:10even if I'm busy making a car,
04:13I stop, maybe I'm stuck with it, and then I stop there.
04:17Right there, and then I go to sleep,
04:20maybe I will take two weeks and then sleep, and thinking about that thing.
04:24Then, after, when I've got it in my mind,
04:27then I'm going to start it again.
04:29To scale up production will mean building up teams of specialist manufacturers.
04:34He offers mechanical engineering students from a local polytechnic
04:37a six-month internship at Clomo Autostyle,
04:40so they can learn what it is like to develop a car from scratch.
04:44What is their biggest challenge?
04:46While I arrived here, I saw many things.
04:50I saw many things.
04:51Manufacturing a car from the scratch, speaking of its original chassis,
04:56it's a very big experience.
04:58There are so many things that have been manufactured in my presence here.
05:02I have seen them manufactured, I have applied my hands there,
05:05even my mind has also applied there in the manufacturing process.
05:09So I have grown a little bit, much better.
05:14In addition to the trained interns, Elias also works with mentees
05:18who, like him, have not trained as mechanics.
05:23Elias' vehicles are successfully registered in Lesotho.
05:27He is currently producing vehicles for the military and police
05:30under the brand Tabure.
05:32In this small, impassable country,
05:34he can meet the special needs of the security services
05:37for appropriate vehicles more cheaply than the competition.
05:40But given the fact that very few countries on the continent
05:43invest in, produce or assemble cars,
05:46is there any real hope for Tabure to become a recognized car brand
05:50beyond Lesotho's borders?
05:52To send them to other countries, to export them to other countries.
05:56So we don't have fear on that because we have tested already.
06:02For example, like the other cars,
06:06after manufacturing, assembling them,
06:09they are tested here in Lesotho
06:11before they can launch them in their countries.
06:16The road to becoming a major car brand may be rocky,
06:20but with growing demand for his improving fleet of all-terrain vehicles,
06:24Elias Mutlamela is convinced he can climb it,
06:28like the mountains of Lesotho.