It is 11 July 2022 and Stephan Theron is talking excitedly about his next project. He shows me a photo of a crate in a shipping container. Tomorrow that container will set off from China to South Africa. It contains the key to the next Theron family project — to become the electric vehicle (EV) pathfinders in Africa. The crate holds a four-seater EV that Stephan hopes to display at the Johannesburg International Motor Show in August 2022. The EV market is exploding worldwide, but has not yet taken off in African countries. In South Africa, the cheapest EV is the Mini Cooper EV, priced at over 700,000 South African rand (ZAR), which is over £35,000. Stephan wants to introduce an EV at an equivalent price to £9,999. He thinks his Funky Electric 1 will become a sensation.
So who is Stephan Theron? BUSINESS REVIEW first featured him in November 2015, as he opened WaffleJacks — an American Diner in Wimbledon. After winning some London-wide awards for the food and service, WaffleJacks was invited to set up a huge, 200-seater restaurant in a new theme park and resort in Hainan, China. The outlet opened in 2020, though its success was held back in 2021 and 2022 by China’s ongoing struggles with Covid-19. After getting the right management team in place in Hainan, Stephan started thinking about Tesla, EVs and the dynamic opportunities emerging. After watching a TV programme about a young man creating an EV opportunity in central Africa, he decided to look at opportunities in Africa’s biggest car market: South Africa. Car sales in African countries are dominated by Toyota, which sells more new cars in South Africa than in the continent’s other countries added together.
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