Local butcher carves new future in France

A YOUNG KZN butcher is carving out a global career and paving the way for other KwaZulu-Natal youth to work at South Africa’s first Club Med resort.

Sifiso Mdumba from KwaDukuza is based at Club Med La Rosière in the French Alps, where he will be stationed for the next few months, gaining hands-on experience in the global hospitality industry. Several of his peers are also doing internships in various towns in France. 

“The first three weeks have been exciting and amazing. Day by day, I’m learning so much because it’s very different from the way we do things in South Africa,” Mdumba said this week. 

When he returns home next April, Mdumba and many of his peers will begin working at the new Club Med beach resort opening on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast in 2026. “They forecast the resort will open in July, so from May and June, we’ll be working there on team organisation, bonding, and understanding each other’s strengths so that when the resort opens, we’re ready,” he said.

Apart from mastering hospitality skills, Mdumba is also learning French to communicate with visitors at the French resort. A former logistics student from Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), Mdumba struggled to find a job after graduating with a diploma. He then trained as a chef and baker at NukaKamma before discovering his niche as a butcher. He expected it to be a quiet job in the background, out of the public eye, but in France, apart from cutting and marinating the meat, he is also expected to interact with clients and sometimes even grill their meat. Doing an internship in France is something he could never have imagined.

“I thought maybe I'm going to be there at the back, doing only the meat, but here they say,  go there and be around the guests, and have a nice experience with them, and explain to them what kind of meat this is.” 

Mdumba's international exposure was made possible by French entrepreneur Laurence Armand, who has lived in South Africa for 15 years. He established the NukaKamma Talent Development Centre in the Eastern Cape in 2022 to empower youth through skills development.

“When I arrived in South Africa, I saw the enormous potential in young people, but also the barriers they face. NukaKamma was created to bridge that gap. Today, we are not just training students; we are opening doors to global careers, and doing it faster than anyone imagined,” Armand said.

The academy’s programme combines intensive hospitality training with practical placements and full cultural immersion at Molo Lolo, a fine-dining restaurant in the Eastern Cape that hosts French chefs who then help students gain experience in France. The programme also includes the “Kamma Money” system, teaching financial literacy, business skills, and leadership to help students thrive as professionals and entrepreneurs.

When Emmanuel Nolanzi, from Etete near Ballito, saw an advert calling for those interested in learning to be a chef at NukaKamma, he grabbed the opportunity. He told the Independent on Saturday, "I was lucky to be accepted there and found it very interesting. Now I want to learn more and become a top-level pastry chef." He went on to intern at Molo Lolo.

“A few months ago, I had never left my town. It still feels unbelievable," he said.

French Ambassador David Martinon praised the programme as “the very best of Franco-South African collaboration, offering opportunities to those from communities where access to such experiences is rare. The pace of transformation is staggering. Students move from application to training, provincial placements, international travel, and preparing to work at South Africa’s first Club Med resort on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast, all within a few months. Many had never left their province, let alone their country, making each step both thrilling and transformative.”

The programme aims to have a measurable socio-economic impact: 90% of the new Club Med South Africa beach resort workforce is being recruited from KwaZulu-Natal, directly tackling youth unemployment and creating sustainable careers.