People Refused To Come And Meet Me Because I Am Indian

It was a 7,559-kilometer journey from India to the heart of Africa through tough times, hatred and taxes.

- Ancillar Mangena

A run Chadha has done well for him-self far from home. He overcame racism, built a company from the ground up and now runs a steel exporter that employs 300 people and turns over billions of rands, in a cutthroat business, in Johannesburg.

It all began in India, 7,559 kilometers from Johannesburg. It was humble fireside teachings from his father, who worked for the government, that led him to a career that took him to Africa 28 years ago.

“The one thing my father gave us was good education. I did my chartered accountancy, took up a job in the Middle East and then moved to Zambia in 1988,” says Chadha.

He was poached by another company and transferred to South Africa as an expatriate. It was here where trouble began.

“I came and took over as the Chief Executive of a British company. I faced a lot of problems because people refused to come and meet me because I am Indian. I used to get phone calls from people threatening me because of the color of my skin or cars following me,” he recalls.

It was hard but Chadha was harder. It took him just three months to show people skin didn’t matter to him.

“Surprisingly these same white guys became some of my closest friends as soon as they realized that our blood is all red, it’s not the skin that makes the difference, what makes the difference is the approach to things and the important thing is work.”