RLabs BPO aims to turn township jobs into social impact
By Staff Writer
IN a bid to create a sustainable revenue stream for its social impact work, RLabs is launching a business process outsourcing (BPO) venture in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, with the ambitious goal of creating 1,500 jobs within 18 months.
The move is part of a strategy to reduce reliance on grant funding and commercial consulting work by building an owned asset that can fund the organisation’s sprawling entrepreneurship and training programmes across South Africa and the continent.
“If we get this BPO thing right, it will sustain our labs as long as that BPO is running. It will fully sustain all our operations in South Africa,” said RLabs founder Marlon Parker.
The opportunity fell into RLabs’ lap. The space, in a building owned by the government’s small business finance agency SEFA and based close to the group’s campus in Mitchells Plain, was previously occupied by a nightclub that was “causing problems.” When the previous tenant left, RLabs negotiated with the landlord to repurpose it.
The model relies on stitching together a network of partnerships to minimise upfront costs. The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), which funded the main RLabs campus, agreed to fund the renovations for the BPO facility into a call centre.
Telecommunications provider Vumatel has committed to providing high-speed internet through its existing infrastructure in the area.
RLabs is also leveraging its own investment portfolio. One of its companies, a security firm, will handle site security. Another, the ride-hailing service Loop Taxi, an early RLabs investment, will solve the critical transport challenge for call centre agents.
Aside from supporting businesses, it also offers a wide range of training courses, enabling it to have a considerable reach when it comes to recruiting call center agents.
“We’ve got all the pieces now,” Parker said. “We train people for BPO. We’ve got a huge database of people. The only thing that we need to find right now is just to get a client or two or three.”
This remains the core challenge. The BPO sector is highly competitive, dominated by established players like Transaction Capital’s Nutun. Parker is banking on RLabs’ community roots and existing training pipeline to attract clients, with initial outreach focused on the UK market.
The rollout is phased. The first 200-seater phase is set to open in June, with subsequent expansions planned through the year. The ultimate target is to become the largest employer in the area, with 1,600 to 1,700 staff.
For Parker, the BPO is more than a business; it’s pragmatic infrastructure for impact. The revenue generated from what he hopes will be a “cash cow” will allow RLabs to experiment freely with other community-focused initiatives without the constant pressure of fundraising.
“The quickest way to get a client is you must be set up,” he said.
“So that is why we’re going to leverage our existing infrastructure… set up a space, and then we’re just going to go and sell.”
