3. T
his is an African expression which, loosely
translated, alludes to the notion that we can
only recognise and appreciate our humanity
through the humanity of others. In essence,
this saying asserts that our identity as individuals
is inextricably tied to the identity of others and the
environment we find ourselves in. It suggests that to
enhance our image and identity as individuals, we must
of necessity recognise and enhance the identity and
image of others and our environment.
It is within this proverb that this publication was
conceived. It is within the pages of this publication that
we wish to expose the power of HOPE and the spirit of
UBUNTU. It is within the stories in these pages that we
discover a world of possibilities in terms of what can be
achieved when there is an awareness that humanity can
only be understood and appreciated in the context of
service. It is in the words of the contributing beneficiaries
that we can conceive of the impact of contributing to the
restoration of personal dignity.
This publication showcases a few of the Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) activities Fraser Alexander
undertook during 2012. For Fraser Alexander, these
initiatives are an exercise in giving hope to the desperate;
an intervention that contributes to painting a picture
of what is possible. They are about real people with
real needs: feeding themselves, finding shelter for their
families, feeling that they are part of the human race
and aspiring to leave a legacy. This report is about their
stories, with Fraser Alexander only creating a platform for
them to do so.
The management team of Fraser Alexander feels
extremely privileged to have had the opportunity to share
in the experiences of each of the individuals featured in
this publication, including those whose stories could not
be presented due to limited space. We are really proud
and excited to have come across such incredible people
who have, in some way, made us appreciate our power,
responsibility and ability to make a difference in other
people’s lives.
We wish to extend our appreciation of the contribution
made by all our partners who helped us to bring these
initiatives to fruition. Among these are Mr L Mngomezulu,
the Board Chairperson of the Small Enterprise
Development Agency (SEDA), J Ntshingila and K Ramotso
from SEDA, Siyabongo Mbambo, head of the Rural
Development Unit of the National Youth Development
Agency (NYDA), Jaap Nel, the CEO of Fraser Alexander who
was the main sponsor of many of these projects, the
rest of the Fraser Alexander team who worked on these
projects, namely, Salome Britz, Nthabiseng Pilane and
Kefilwe Rakgogong. We also appreciate the contribution
made by Stephen Read and by Tessa Kruger and her team
in producing this publication.
Trading in hope
BY VUSI SIBIYA
DIRECTOR: TRANSFORMATION AND STAKEHOLDER RELATIONS
“Motho ke Motho ka Batho”
01
4. “
Let me tell you something,” says Julius Miyambo (57), leaning
forward intently over the plastic table covered with a red nylon
tablecloth in Tilly’s Beehive restaurant, his kind brown eyes
growing big and serious: “Dreams can come true”.
A Shangaan-speaking man from Limpopo, Julius is not only referring
to his long-held ambition of owning a business, but to an actual dream he
had in which his grandmother, who raised him, showed him a shop with
high ceilings similar to that of the restaurant and told him he was going
to be a ‘big businessman’ one day. Tilly’s Beehive is located in Highlands
North in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg.
“I didn’t take it seriously,” says Julius about the dream. “But when I was
put in touch with Fraser Alexander, which helped me to buy this shop, I
started thinking about those dreams again.”
His mouth forms a hint of a smile when he tells that he first came
to Highlands North in 1975 from Giyani, Limpopo, where he managed a
general store. He moved to Johannesburg in the hope of finding a better
job, as he earned a mere R20 per month in Giyani. His wish was fulfilled
A chance for
Julius
‘Smiling on the inside’
Tilly’s Beehive has brought a change of
fortune for Justice Mayimbo and his son,
Julius. Its busy kitchen (page 3) prepares
bunny chows and fried chips.
02
5. project manager and I had looked at the old supermarket in Giyani and
another shop in Midrand, I visited this restaurant one day. The owner
told me he wanted to sell his shop and I instantly knew it might be a
good prospect. It was always buzzing, buzzing with people – inside
and outside – it was clearly a good business with good customers,” he
explains with his hands.
Julius and Fraser Alexander entered into tough negotiations with
the former owner of Tilly’s Beehive in the second half of last year. The
owner had initially placed a hefty price on the shop-restaurant, but
Fraser Alexander assisted Julius to work out a better deal.
On its finalisation in December last year, he received a text message
from his bank that the funds for the transaction had been transferred
to him. “I nearly collapsed,” he says with a broad smile. From ‘garden
boy to director’, it was such a shock, I was ‘shivering’.”
He looks to his son, Justice (29), for help with expressing his deepest
feelings and adds hand-on-heart in Shangaan: “I want to go down on
my knees and thank those who helped me a million times.”
Having opened the doors of Tilly’s Beehive with Justice in January
this year, Julius says he spent a great amount of time renovating the
shop during the first month as business was slow. But a couple of
months later, he is making plans to buy more furniture as people are
pouring into the place.
“We have made a great start: our pap and meat, bunny chow and
fried chips are very popular,” says Julius. “We are getting really busy, I
will have to employ another three people in the kitchen,” he continues.
The meals are currently being cooked by four neatly dressed ladies
in the spick-and-span, white-tiled kitchen behind the takeaway counter.
In the other section of the shop, a few people are having drinks on a
weekday, but Julius says it is packed with soccer fans from 2pm on
weekends. “At the moment, some of them still have to sit on crates,
but they are all our friends, they understand,” he adds good-naturedly.
Justice says the crowd includes many of his dad’s old customers that
were drawn to Tilly’s by his dad’s ‘inner smile’.
Although Julius has only run Tilly’s Beehive since the beginning of
2013, his life and that of his family has already changed for the better:
“Things are much, much better than before, I can send R4 500 home
every month and I can afford varsity,” he says. His daughter is studying
accounting at a college in Johannesburg.
“I thank my family for their support,” he adds humbly. “They never
had enough food, but they always accepted whatever I gave them.”
Justice, who is being trained to take over from Julius one day,
comments that his dad did not give up in life, nor did he give up on
his dream. “He worked at the supermarket for 36 years – sometimes
dreams do come true.”
A further testament to the character of the Mayimbos is the fact that
they have not forgotten about the plight of others, despite the family’s
change of fortune. They remain acutely aware of the needs of people in
their hometown and therefore plan to give poor schoolchildren shoes
to warm their feet during winter.
“My heart feels so sore for them,” says Julius, frowning deeply. “As
soon as we can take a break from the shop I am going to Giyani to help
them.”
when he found employment at a supermarket-restaurant down the
road from Tilly’s Beehive, after a short stint of working as a gardener.
A kind man, Julius believes “it is the smile I carry on the inside” and his
willingness “to do any work” that won him favour with the store owners.
He recalls that one of his first challenges as the store’s packer was to
stack 100 crates of Coke bottles on top of each other.
Soon promoted to assistant manager, Julius found there was much
work to be done between 10 o’ clock in the morning and 10 o’clock at
night: “I had to check all the shelves, write down what we needed, phone
the factories and supervise the delivery of stock. After that, I took care of
security; I had to watch the whole shop. If a skelm picked up a chocolate,
I had to fight with him to put it back,” he explains, his expressive face
growing serious again.
Julius was also in charge of the shop’s restaurant, which had four
tables and a takeaway section with fish and chips, ‘vleis en pap’,
and sandwiches. His friendly, open manner with customers and his
competent management of the restaurant and shop caught the
attention of patrons and led to many lasting friendships. “Young,
old, medium, small, whites, blacks – most of them are my friends,” he
enthuses.
Fortuitously, after 36 years of hard work in the shop and working as
a gardener on his only day off, Julius’ good relations with customers led
him to Fraser Alexander. The company has helped him to acquire and
refurbish Tilly’s Beehive.
In Julius’ view it was chance that steered him to the business,
located on the busy Louis Botha Avenue: “After Fraser Alexander’s
03
6. A
t 1pm, a day before Thabong Bakery’s first delivery of 10
000 hot-dog rolls to Tshepong Mine was due, the bakery
was a hive of activity.
The intrepid Annah Lelimo and her six staff members
were mixing, weighing and rolling dough by hand before placing it onto
bread pans and shoving it into the bakery’s small deck oven.
Annah paused for a moment in the searing hot back-of-shop, where
the baking was taking place, to wipe the sweat from her brow. She
estimated that they must have baked about 8 000 rolls and quietly told
herself they were making good progress.
But a few minutes later, the power went off. Annah counted the rolls
and discovered they had baked only 3 150. She immediately realised
they were going to run out of time. “Just imagine, I thought we had
baked 8 000 rolls, when I was still only trying for 4 000!” she exclaims
in her warm, friendly manner. The power came on at 3am the next
morning, but by then she had already started making contingency
plans.
“I called some family members who have consistently supported my
business throughout the years and by early morning I had money in my
account. My sister and I were running around from 7am to ensure that
everything was in place for the delivery,” she laughs heartily.
Annah, a well-groomed woman who smiles easily, stands next to the
Welkom bakery’s new state-of-the art production line that has replaced
the small deck oven and other old baking instruments. “I wanted to
succeed no matter what,” she says by way of explaining their frantic
behaviour.
She says that although she ultimately supplied the rolls to Tshepong
Mine at cost price, she managed to deliver on time and impress the
client, Harmony Gold.
“We had to make three deliveries, as the old delivery van was small,”
Annah recalls.
But although she remembers the challenging incident with humour,
Annah asserts that “it taught us one of our biggest lessons”.
Fortunately, the successful delivery also landed Thabong Bakery
a two-year contract to supply over 1 400 sandwich packs a day to
Harmony’s Joel and Bambanani mines near Welkom.
The bakery is able to deliver these large orders efficiently, as the last
of its new equipment arrived days before the first order was due in
April this year.
The contract represents a big leap forward for Annah, a single-
minded chemical engineer who baked and sold biscuits as a child and
dreamt of owning a business empire – complete with a clothing and
communications company, as well as a bakery.
Restless in employment at a Johannesburg-based company, she felt
compelled to start baking and trading in the back room of her house
in 2001.
Annah explains she fitted the room with electricity and designed
some of the baking equipment herself, which saved her a significant
sum of money. Persevering through ups and downs, which saw her
returning to employment to help support the bakery from 2003 to 2006,
she eventually bought another two domestic ovens and a convection
oven, before moving to the business premises in Thuhlwane Road,
Thabong in 2008. Thabong is a township in Welkom.
“The professional set-up gave me better exposure, but we could still
not produce according to the market out there – we could only supply
to one or two schools on feeding schemes and school programmes,”
says Annah.
Charming her visitors with her brilliant smile, she explains that when
Thabong Bakery was put in touch with Fraser Alexander, the only oven
it had for baking was the small deck oven now being used for very
small orders. Fraser Alexander helped the business to buy the new
The perfect
recipe
04
7. production line and a new delivery vehicle with a grant of R410 000.
“The old oven could bake only 20 loaves at a time. What is more is that we
had to switch the pans around halfway through the cooking process,” says
Annah. Thabong Bakery’s new rotary oven bakes 120 loaves of bread at once
and enables the bakery to cut long working hours and save on electricity.
A staff member throws dough in the electronic mixer at the start of the
production line in the back corner of the kitchen, while another hauls a trolley
with freshly baked bread out of the oven at the end of the line in the front.
Grabbing a loaf pan and turning it upside down to remove the bread from
it, Annah emphasises the importance of the new, modern oven and baking
instruments: “Previously, the bread was handled too much. It took my staff
about 35 minutes to mix the dough and once it was mixed, we had to weigh and
roll it by hand. This could compromise the quality of the product. What is more
is that the heat of the old oven was not evenly distributed, which could result in
the bread’s not being baked through consistently.”
“I believe it tastes better now; the quality is consistent and the bread is nicer
and softer for longer,” she adds with delight.
Fraser Alexander has not only given Thabong Bakery a significant grant, but
has also assigned it an experienced mentor who is helping Annah to optimise
and expand the business.
This comes as the bakery still faces great challenges, despite the fact that
Annah won national entrepreneurs competitions in 2011 and 2012 and received
a grant from the dti.
She says in her spontaneous manner: “Throughout the years, it was hope that
kept me going. But after Fraser Alexander gave its backing, I saw the hope. My
business has reached a turning point.
“Now they can give me all the orders they want – it came about just in time,”
she beams.
• Thabong Bakery’s contract with Harmony Gold is expected to make a big impact on
the sustainability of the business.
• Thabong Bakery prepared itself for the delivery of large orders by implementing a
quality management system in 2012.
• Annah wants to share her success with others. She plans to employ people to
deliver bread with bicycle carts and says they will be as good as part-owners of
Thabong. She also dreams of owning a franchise and factory.
The dynamic Annah Lelimo now supplies
Harmony Gold with sandwich packs.
More on Thabong Bakery
05
8. Sello Masala’s only objective is to get his
business off the ground so he can help
the community volunteers at his side
06
9. T
he gentle, soft-spoken Sello Mosala (43) could be sitting on
a gold mine. If he realises his ambitious business plan, his
company will become the first black economic empowered
group to offer heat treatment services in South Africa.
Currently marketing Mosala and Daughters from a bright Coca-
Cola container on his property in Boipatong, Vanderbijlpark, the heat
treatment technician left employment last year to start his own
business after 14 years of work in the industry.
A red Ferrari flickering on his laptop screen, Sello says he felt
compelled to start the company after his former employer lost three
jobs because his business was not empowered.
He was also encouraged to go into business by a former client who
recognised the quality of his work: “They like us and know the quality of
our work, therefore, they want to use me,” he says.
A respectful man who progressed from driver to assistant
technician to technician supervisor during his years of working in the
trade, he indicates there is a big demand for heat treatment, which
is performed in preparation of welding: “It is a big thing,” he says,
“wherever there is welding, there is heating.”
Since registering Mosala and Daughters last year, Sello has
concentrated on putting formal business procedures in place – he has
compiled a business plan, company profile and safety file and proudly
shows off his neatly framed BEE certificate on the container wall.
He says happily that these are achievements that were made
possible by a R15 000 grant from Fraser Alexander. Our group’s financial
contribution has also boosted the marketing efforts of Mosala and
Daughters. Sello has bought a laptop and fax machine and he and
community volunteers have travelled to engineering companies in
Vanderbijlpark, Krugersdorp and Limpopo to introduce the company
and its services in person.
“Responses are coming in; everybody is interested,” says Sello
excitedly. “We are the first heat treatment company with BEE
credentials, so there are many companies that want to partner with us.”
Sello has not been able to acquire the range of heat treatment
equipment required for the job yet, as it is very expensive. However, he is
ready to do business with rental equipment he has obtained quotes for.
Sello and community volunteers have also advertised for
qualified technicians on a local radio station. The response has been
overwhelming as Sello has earned a good reputation during his many
years of work in the industry.
He says the first contract that Mosala and Daughters has secured
on which to cut its teeth is a sub-contract with Triangle Profiling Steel,
Mosalas set out to succeed
which could lead to another three-year contract with the group.
Currently awaiting the go-ahead to start work on this contract, Sello
says earnestly that he would like to see the company operate in full force:
“I like the job and I know the job,” he emphasises. “If I had three or four
machines, I could start tomorrow.”
But whatever Sello may still lack in resources at this point he makes up
for in vision and passion.
Pointing out the range of framed certificates on the walls, he says he
has sent his wife, Dimakatso Mosala, for a number of business courses
in anticipation of launching Mosala and Daughters. Dimakatso, who is
currently running a catering business, will assist with managing the
company.
“Although it seems far away, I have accomplished so much – I have met
big customers and attended exhibitions in Midrand and Johannesburg. Now
I am on the verge of starting the first job,” Sello says pensively.
“If my company grows up, I would like to build a school which offers
practical training. There are many qualified people in the community who
are unemployed.”
Prompted to explain the significance of the shiny Ferrari on his screen,
he reveals with a slight smile: “My dream is only for my job – to get the
company going and grow it to give people jobs.”
07
10. E
rnst Sekonyela (63) proved to have the industriousness
and diligence of a successful entrepreneur at a young
age. It all started when the farmer on the Môrester farm in
Bloemfontein where he grew up needed someone to watch
over newborn pigs during the Christmas and New Year period of 1968.
“Nobody wanted to do the job over Christmas,” says Ernst. “So I
volunteered for it. I took the babies away from the mother sow during
the night so that she wouldn’t lie on them and crush them to death.
When the farmer came back from holiday and found the piglets intact,
he gave me two cameras and a bicycle for the work.”
Ernst’s willingness to work set him up for his first business
endeavour: On weekends, he cycled over to weddings and parties and
assumed the role of photographer. He was 18 years old at the time and
working as a long-distance truck driver during the week, but it was his
cameras that earned him enough money to buy his first car, an Opel L6,
at the age of 26.
“I have always had the desire to work for myself,” says Ernst, sitting
tall behind the dining-room table of his neat brick house in Boipatong,
Vanderbijlpark. “I drove lorries, but I also did many other things.
business, Vuyani Mogodo, without start-up capital.
“I bought my first white Mazda bakkie on credit and went on like
this until I could pay off the bakkie.” Ernst reveals that he didn’t have
enough money to buy the offal at first, so he kick-started his business
by taking offal to Johannesburg on behalf of a butcher in Parys.
Once he started buying and selling offal, he soon became known for
the quality of his deliveries as he strictly accepts only fresh meat from
his suppliers: “Ek kyk mooi – as ek sien daardie derm is nie reg, sê ek vat
terug,” says Ernst, lifting his brows and widening his eyes sternly.
Ever a business-savvy operator, he also consulted with his
customers who taught him to take ‘supers and A-graders’ from the
butchers and not C-graders, which perish quickly. “Die klein beeste ons
noem hom supers, dis die sagte vleis, mense hou baie van hom. Die
middel beeste is die A-graders en die groot ou beeste is die C-graders,”
explains Ernst.
Typically driving out every day to deliver two loads on Mondays and
one load on other weekdays, Ernst received more and more phone calls
from butchers over time, even from places as far as Wesselsbron.
“From the beginning, my business grew steadily: my bakkie carries
Ernst serves a big spoon of offal
I bought a taxi, then a second taxi that operated in Bloemfontein,
but they [the drivers] drove them to pieces. I opened a tuck shop in
Bloemfontein, toe eet my pa daardie tuck shop flenters.” He continues
in the language he claims as his native tongue: “Ek het baie stories
geprobeer, karperde ook gebou...”
“I want to try everything myself,” he emphasises, adding candidly that
he is not an educated man: “Ek was nooit by die skool nie.”
The sincere and good-natured Ernst is however a wise man, as
he soon realised the key to being successful in business is to run the
business yourself. His cleverness is also evident from the fact that he
spotted a good business opportunity on one of his long-haul drives,
while still in the employment of a transport company.
“I drove long distance to Richards Bay for 33 years. Then I saw that
people were eating ‘beeskoppe’ (cattle heads). They were buying them
for R110 at the taxi rank, but one could get them at cost price for R40. Toe
ek die koppe uitwerk, toe sien ek dit is meer geld as die job, en ek werk vir
myself ook,” Ernst says, explaining his drive to start his own business.
Often starting his sentences with “ek wil nou nie vir jou lieg nie” before
going on to tell his inspiring story, he says he started his four-year-old
08
11. about 35 bees offal at a time – heads, stomachs [maws], intestines and
feet,” says Ernst.
After driving between suppliers in Parys, Vereeniging and
Deneysville and large butcheries such as Roots in Kliptown, Soweto and
Red Bull near Baragwanath Hospital for three years, he paid off his first
bakkie in November last year. He then started planning to buy a second
vehicle. Solemnly offering another of his unique pearls of wisdom, Ernst
says: “Ek het gesien een bakkie is ’n klein lepeltjie, hy kan nie die mond
vol gooi nie.”
Ernst initially didn’t know exactly how he was going to buy the
second bakkie, but an old friend now works for a bank and helped him
to buy a vehicle that had been repossessed.
He was also connected with Fraser Alexander last year by friends
who attended an informal entrepreneurship class in Boipatong. Fraser
Alexander was not only moved by his industriousness, but also by his
humble statement that he could not grow any further by himself and
wanted to make someone with know-how a partner in his business.
Therefore, after an assessment of his prospects, Fraser Alexander gave
him a grant of R178 380 and assigned Ernst a business mentor.
Ever since, Ernst and his mentor have laid the foundation for further
expansion by starting to put formal business processes in place,
securing premises for an outlet where offal will be packaged and
frozen, and most importantly, acquiring a refrigeration box which will
be used either to store extra offal or to transport offal on the back of a
vehicle. Ernst excitedly indicates that the start-up of the box is the start
of big things for him, as it will enable him to load all the offal he can get
on a particular day and keep some in the box for fresh delivery the next
day. “It will double my business,” he emphasises.
True to his inventive nature, Ernst found the new refrigeration box
second hand for only R17 000, while a new one costs about R80 000.
This left him with sufficient funds to help his business along.
Having not appointed his own business accountant yet, he still
needs to calculate exactly how his turnover has improved since Fraser
Alexander gave him a cash injection. “But things are going much better,
I can fill up with petrol and buy new tyres. The maintenance on the first
bakkie is better. I can put R1 500 on the table every day, instead of R800
or R900. During the winter months, I’ll put R2 000 to R3 000 on the table
each day.”
“Ek het nou beter geword nou dat ek die ondersteuning kry – ek sien
nou baie beter waar gaan ek nou,” reveals Ernst. “My gedagte was klein,
nou word hy groot, my gedagte was oud, nou is hy jonk.”
The industrious Ernst Sekonyela
worked as a long distance truck
driver for 33 years before he started
Vuyani Mogodo.
09
12. Claurine Montsho (front), Mirriam
Mputle (left), Annah Sello (right) and
Annah Masikana (far right) are among
the women who are dedicated to
Itereleng’s growth.
10
13. The newborns are acquired in town for R5 each and are kept in a
stand-alone building on the large property, while the older chickens are
sheltered in the main chicken house. Each section of the chicken house is
well-designed and equipped to raise healthy animals. Itereleng typically
sells the chickens when they are six or seven weeks old.
“Our chickens are fresh and healthy. People from the village come to
buy them. They buy one for R40. If they buy 10, they only pay R38 each,”
says Claurine.
The members of Itereleng joined the business after a magazine article
on poultry farming motivated Annah Masikana (63) to start the venture.
She consulted the local municipality’s agricultural department about her
plan and recruited women from each section of the village.
The Bojanala Platinum District Municipality then delegated two poultry
farming experts from Potchefstroom to train the group in running a
poultry business. On completion of the training, the local department of
agriculture gave the group 100 chickens to get the business started.
Annah Masikana dips her shoes into a bucket of juice fluid before she
enters the front room of the chicken house. Fluffy yellow chicks, aged two
to three weeks, huddle together in the sunny corners. “The running of the
farm was a bit challenging in the beginning, but the training prepared us
well, we quickly got used to it,” she says.
Claurine joins Annah after performing the same ritual and says the
most effective way of promoting their product is door-to-door marketing:
“We invite people to come and have a look at our chickens themselves.
When they get here, they see that they are big and healthy – their feathers
are shiny and their necks and legs are strong and straight,” she says.
She fills up a red plastic feeder and places it on the floor covered in
thick sawdust. A horde of chickens with round, sparkly eyes race to the
container, heads held high, and dive into the food. “We buy the food with
the money we make from the sales. We always bank the money,” says
Claurine.
One of the challenges Itereleng faces is that a group of 1 000 chickens
consume as many as 60 bags of food in six weeks. The group does not own
a vehicle, so it also has the expense of renting a bakkie at R350 per round
trip to transport the food from town.
But the women of Itereleng are not easily discouraged.
Claurine says they are fighting for another chicken house in order to
increase the scale of the business or to breed chickens themselves. The
group has received a grant of R50 000 from Fraser Alexander to this end
and is obtaining quotes from three local builders.
“We are committed to this project. We are here every day – even when
we go home at night, we are still thinking and talking about Itereleng,” she
emphasises.
The dedicated women have succeeded in building a poultry business
which serves the community and produces monthly income of R500 for
each member.
However, they continue striving and working to achieve more: “Business
is better than before, but we still want to grow, so we can achieve
something big – sell chickens to Rainbow Chickens or sell them to the
mines,” Claurine says determinedly.
Plucky women carve out poultry business
“
We have been fighting very hard for this business,” says
Claurine Montsho, the 75-year-old secretary of the Itereleng
Poultry Agricultural Primary Cooperative and Vegetable Project.
“At the beginning, there were times when the business had no
money to buy chicken food, so we collected money among ourselves to
feed the chickens.”
The striking woman in a wide blue skirt and cheerful yellow
headscarf speaks for herself and five other tenacious women from
Luka Village in Phokeng, Rustenburg - they have invested heaps of
energy in the poultry business since 2004. Itereleng, located at the edge
of the semi-rural village, buys baby chicks and raises them for sale to
the community.
Claurine sits among the other mature women in the back computer
room of Itereleng’s neat, brick chicken house and recounts how they
started the business.
“We made an application to King Leruo Molotlegi, the kgosi of the
Royal Bafokeng Nation to use the land. The chicken house was built by
Bojanala Municipality so we could work here and make a business.” Her
voice grows passionate as she adds: “Our aim is to eradicate poverty,
create jobs, train some of the ladies in the village and sell quality
products.”
Claurine confers with the other Tswana-speaking women who also
sport skirts of African fabric and thoroughly worn-out, flat shoes,
before she says they keep Itereleng running by buying 1 000 baby
chicks at a time, which they feed and care for.
11
14. O
n the eve of the opening of the Vuka Driving Academy’s computer
skills centre, Melanie van Wyk is set to live her dream.
The well turned-out, goal-orientated 25-year-old, who has
been given the opportunity to co-own and manage the centre in
Welkom says: “I am very, very excited; I have been unemployed for three years,
but I am finally getting started now.”
Melanie explains she has always wanted her own business and that she
is very grateful for the opportunity to run the centre in partnership with the
Vuka Driving Academy. The Academy opened its doors two years ago to firstly
offer driving lessons to disabled people in the Free State, but also trains the
able-bodied.
The dynamic young woman will present basic to advanced computer
training in a neat classroom at the Academy’s premises in Mooi Street in the
centre of town. This classroom has been transformed into a modern, fully
equipped computer centre, with the help of Fraser Alexander, which sponsored
10 brand-new computers and two laptops to the value of R182 900.
Fraser Alexander is also enabling Melanie to realise her ambition in the
sense that our group, together with the Vuka Academy, conceived the idea
of extending the driving school to include a computer centre.
Melanie’s journey to working at the computer centre begun after
she matriculated in Kimberley in 2006. She enrolled at the Advanced
Technology Training Institute (ATTI) where she did the Intro to PCs, A+
computer technician and N+ networking courses for a year. This was
followed by a year of learning at a FET college where she earned the
respected qualifications of Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician
and Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator, before training in Cisco
Networking.
However, she could not find employment on completion of the training,
because there are not many job opportunities for young people in the
Free State and Northern Cape.
A fine start for Melanie
The daughter of a businesswoman who supports her family by selling
salamis, Melanie decided to enrol for an entrepreneurship course at the
Da Vinci Institute, a business school of management leadership. Here she
was introduced to the Vuka Driving Academy and Fraser Alexander, which
were in the midst of planning the opening of the computer centre.
“The idea is that people from the surrounding townships come for
PC training when they come into town for driving lessons,” says Melanie
animatedly.
“Part of the motivation for the computer centre is that research
conducted by the owner of the Vuka Academy, Fezekile Gadi, showed there
is a severe lack of skills among the disabled. Disabled people further find
it difficult to get physical access to institutions of learning – the fact that
they are already visiting the driving school makes it easier for them to
visit the centre.”
The computer centre is also being marketed to primary and high
school teachers in Welkom who need to improve their computer skills.
This strategy too was spawned by both the Vuka Academy and Fraser
Alexander. “Our business idea is based on the fact that technology
constantly changes and that one can never go without it,” Melanie
continues. “There are more people who are interested in learning
computer skills every day.”
Encouragingly, Melanie is not only compelled by the business case for
a computer centre in Welkom. “I like the idea of helping people, boosting
their confidence,” she reveals. “Many people are scared of computers, but
once they have completed the training, that fear should be gone.”
The centre will initially offer training in programmes such as Microsoft
Word, PowerPoint and Excel, while also offering typing and Intro to PC
classes. Plans are afoot to introduce training in subjects such as Interview
Skills and Business English in time. Melanie feels well prepared for the
opening of the centre, as she has completed a ‘train the trainer course’,
which has equipped her to coach students of all levels.
The launch of this new division of the Vuka Academy will be followed
by a six-month sponsorship and mentorship period by Fraser Alexander
and the Free State branch of the Small Business Development Agency
(SEDA), after which the computer centre will be expected to stand on its
own two feet.
Judging by the character of this budding businesswoman, the
computer centre is bound to rise to the challenge: “I am positive and a
hard worker,” Melanie asserts.
*The Vuka Driving Academy is owned and managed by Fezekile Gadi,
who is disabled. He launched the driving school with the support of
Fraser Alexander, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and SEDA
in November 2010. The Academy has since opened another branch in
Kroonstad, thanks to the donation of a light truck and two articulated
manual sedan vehicles by Fraser Alexander.
Melanie van Wyk is elated at
becoming co-owner of the Vuka
Academy’s computer skills centre.
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