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Entrepreneur Sbusiso “DJ Sbu” Leope has encouraged business owners who have been left devastated by the looting spree across South Africa to step up as leaders in their communities, forgive the looters and begin rebuilding.

Businesses suffered a huge blow when tensions rose, resulting in violent protests and rampant looting in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng after former South African president Jacob Zuma’s arrest.

The entrepreneur took to his Instagram to encourage the many heartbroken businessmen and women who are now back to square one after everything they worked for was either stolen or destroyed, to be strong in this difficult time.

“To most of us who have been affected directly or indirectly. We forgive them. They are our brothers and sisters, our children. Condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one. It’s been a challenging 16 months of Covid-19, even longer to us all and now this.

“We choose to learn from the experience. You are a true entrepreneur in times like these. Even if they have destroyed your business, that must not kill your spirit.

“We refuse to give up. We’re here to serve the people. This is a cry for help. We pray for peace and forgiveness. I know it’s not going to be easy. We will recover from all of this. This too shall pass,” he said.

The DJ added that entrepreneurs have historically been associated with leadership and community development adding that even during these difficult times, entrepreneurs ought to take up the challenge and come up with innovative ways to rebuild.

“Entrepreneurs have always been known for solving the most complex problems and taking society forward. It’s time to step up. This is a challenge to all of us to come up with innovative ways to teach people how to make money while you make money. So we can all eat. Let’s rebuild. Let’s help each other even more.

“Let’s be selfless more than ever before. Let’s be more united than ever before. That is my lesson from all of this. God speed,” he wrote. The successful DJ has been topping the Twitter trends list almost every weekend, thanks to his social media initiative that sees budding entrepreneurs use the hashtag to advertise their products and the services they offer.

On Instagram, the entrepreneur has continuously used his platform to give business advice to his followers. He recently completed a young series called #LivewithConfidence on which he partnered with Sanlam. -TshisaLive