Bio
Reality TV always needs a bad boy. Big Brother's Bad Brad and Survivor's Richard Hatch probably epitomise those characters South African viewers love to hate.
And judging by the first few episodes of The Apprentice, 30-year old Mohammed Patel was this show's spice-up factor. But upon closer inspection, there's one vital difference between Mohammed and the rest of the buggers from reality TV shows – his game plan is to be himself.
And that means being upfront, fair, to the point and playing the game with integrity.
"Unfortunately, I am very outspoken. And some people might interpret this as arrogant. But I'm a normal person with normal issues and viewers are able to identify with me."
Sure, he's emotionally charged, but you can't deny a tinge of envy when he makes bullish statements that would rock most boardroom boats. "I don't beat around the bush and I don't stand for BS."
His life motto is: "Everybody can say what they want, but everybody can't do what they want."
"It really just means that most people are grootbek but paralysed out of action because of their insecurities. I'm the type who'll do exactly what I want, provided it doesn't transgress my moral beliefs. Honestly, people wish they had my guts. But it's just part of who I am. Yeah, I'm a little bit rough around the edges, but I won't ever change who I am and what I stand for.
"I believe that you have to stand up and make yourself heard in the business world, and that means not shying away from telling things as they are. And if you set your mind to something, do it. Don't just talk about it."
Mohammed was born, raised and schooled in Cape Town. After matriculating he moved to Johannesburg to study Islamic Studies. He lived and worked there for seven years before moving to Durban, where he's been based for the last three years.
He is a property developer and investor and runs his own import and export business. Mohammed is also a counsellor at an Islamic crisis centre and is regularly asked to act as a motivational speaker.
"As a businessperson you have to give back to the community. My only regret is that I'm not doing more at the moment."
Mohammed comes from a family of entrepreneurs. He cites his dad as his greatest mentor and his mom is still his greatest inspiration. His father was the first Indian businessman to start a factory shop outlet in South Africa.
He was very well-known in South African business circles, was featured in Time magazine and was listed as one of South Africa's 50 most influential businesspeople before he passed away. His mom, who took over the family empire after his dad's death six years ago, is still actively involved in the business at age 65.
"A university degree couldn't give me the type of practical business knowledge my parents gave me," adds Mohammed.
The Apprentice was an ideal platform to make use of the business skills he picked up in the school of hard knocks.
"A major irritation with some of the other contestants was how they were playing up in front of the camera. They couldn't just be themselves. What's the point then of a 'reality' TV show? I went into The Apprentice knowing that my success doesn't lie in the show. This helped me be more natural and I think that's why the camera guys loved me."
Mohammed's advice on starting a business and being an entrepreneur isn't your average 'how-to' of tips, because Mohammed's success can't be attributed to conventional methods. They are:
* Stay away from banks. If you can, work with cash. The interest from a bank costs you money. Rather find an investor or a small investment agency. You can always negotiate re-payment deadlines with an investor, not with a bank.
* Keep your name clean; try to live debt-free and be content with what you have.
* Start young. Learn to control money, barter, budget and finance and start applying it from a young age.
* If you can afford to, save.
* Don't bite off more than you can chew.
* Believe in yourself.
* Keep everything above board.
* Be the first to admit when you've made a mistake.
* Have faith. That's all you have to fall back on if things go sour and all you're left with are your underpants.
* Don't ignore your gut-feel when doing business.
An average day in the Patel household sees Mohammed dropping his two kids at school, going home to have breakfast with his wife and then taking a stroll on the beach. He then spends some time at the local crisis centre counselling, and returns to his home office to spend a few hours on his business interests.
"I'm happy if I make two or three deals a day and I don't believe in working myself to death. You need to work smart and you need to make your money work for you."
Mohammed says being on The Apprentice wasn't easy.
"Being surrounded by a camera crew 24/7 was almost surreal and most of the time we all felt a bit cooped up. It's quite intense to board with a bunch of people from different cultures and backgrounds and to share the same living spaces, but we all adapted and respected each other. The drinking and partying wasn't my scene, but the other contestants respected my beliefs.
"I always had respect for my teammates and although there were disagreements, I didn't hold any grudges. I just got things done and I didn't go into a panic when things went a bit haywire – but I always stayed energetic. I also made myself heard when I felt passionate about a particular approach to a task and the rest of the team respected that kind of courage of conviction. And I didn't pass the buck. If I messed up, I'd be the first to admit it."
The only criticism he has of The Apprentice is not being able to have more one-on-one time with Tokyo Sexwale.
"He's very to the point and concise with his interactions with us. But just considering his background and history made it an honour to be on the show with him. He's a living, breathing example of what can be done if you put your heart to it.
"The most ironic part, though, was the fact that an ex-Socialist was teaching us the virtues of Capitalism", Mohammed says with a daring grin.
Asked about why the camera focused so much of him during the show, he answers frankly: "I make good TV."
Like the incident in episode four, which includes a bit of a brawl and Mohammed being labeled as a bully.
"Yeah, a bully in a China shop!" Mohammed says smilingly. "But Tokyo understood what drove the incident, and he even likened my frustration to that of Nelson Mandela's during his years of incarceration because I got so fired up with certain situations. Even though I was peeved by the person's backstabbing, I was the first to own up that it went too far," he says.
"I also got blamed for speaking down to one of the female contestants, but I just couldn't understand how someone that young and that petulant could make it onto the show to be considered for one of South Africa's top CEO positions! It just didn't make sense to me. But hey, that's just me and my big mouth.
Petulance, physical brawls, bitchiness, back-stabbing, grudges and hangovers. Now that's reality TV about corporate South Africa! But it's the leaders of corporate South Africa that have a few things in common: guts, integrity and the courage to speak the truth.
Biggest inspiration is my mom. She's 65 and still in business. She's run the family empire for the last 6 years. She started working at the age of 12 after she dropped out of school. Family of hard workers. Carried meat packs at 2am and sold meat to venues and clubs still open that time of the morning.
She's never been scared to work, and even after all the money, she still decided to keep on working.