Mbali Mncube and Zodwa Madinane serve their customers from their mobile kitchen. SUPPLIED
Bongani Hans
Most people opt for a job that has set working hours and offers a guaranteed salary.
But Zodwa Madinane from Richmond and Mbali Mncube from Pietermaritzburg who resigned from their jobs in March bucked that trend and took a leap of faith to start their own street food catering business.
Madinane and Mncube’s relationship started as colleagues and developed into friendship at a primary school in Northdale where they both worked for several years as school governing body-paid teachers until they resigned at the end of March.
“For me, it did not make sense to work hard (as a teacher) only to be paid on the 20th day and finish that salary in three days while expected to keep going to work,” said Madinane.
She and Mncube started their business at the beginning of April, without any funding and have so far are doing a good trade feeding workers at construction sites.
They wake before sunrise Monday to Friday to prepare to go to industrial zones to sell fresh cooked meals to workers using Madinane’s bakkie, which they have turned into their mobile kitchen.
On their menu are beef and chicken curries, roasted chicken, phuthu, rice and a variety of salads. They also prepare burgers and spring rolls.
“I must leave home at 6am. I first drop off my children at school and thereafter I go to our customers with my well-prepared food kept in wonder bags to keep it hot and yummy when customers come for it,” she said.
They also sell tea and coffee, bottled water, cool drinks, biscuits, macadamia nuts, amahewu and honey.
“By 12.30, our meals are sold out and we are done with our customers and we go and restock for the following day before I go to pick up my children from school to go home and do my duties as a wife and mother,” said Madinane.
While this is a cycle that Madinane and Mncube repeat on weekdays, they said that they enjoyed being their own bosses.
Mncube said the challenge with their business was catching up with time every day “as we have to rush from one point to another to make sure that our customers get food on time”.
The two are eager to expand their business and their dream is to open permanent restaurants and be counted among small entrepreneurs.
“As women, we have to know that we can do anything to empower ourselves as there are no limits for us just because we are women,” said Madinane.
Mncube said women must take charge of their own lives instead of giving in to their unemployment and sorrows.
“We must wake up and get out there, we must be willing to take risks, be tough and learn to be independent. As women, we need to rely on ourselves,” said Mncube.
According to a Stats SA’s report released in the first quarter of 2024, 39.2% of black women were jobless as compared to 34.9% of men. Another report released last year revealed that there were 7,2 million unemployed women and 4 million men.