Case Studies

Mpumalanga

Owner Spaza Shop, Violet Mhangani

Background

Violet Mhangani was born in 1955 at Welverdiend Village. She grew up in a family of six with her parents and four siblings. She only passed standard one. “It was not important for girls to
attend school during my generation,” Mhangani says. A year after she passed standard one, she married Taxon and they were blessed with seven children: three daughters and four boys.

Four of her children are married while two of her sons are still staying in the family home. She also has two grandchildren bringing the total size of the Mhangani family to 13. One of her
sons is a police officer, her husband is a pensioner and she is a hawker. She says she started selling when she realised that her husband’s salary was not enough for school fees, food and other basic family needs.

Economic activities

Mhangani started her business with the money from her husband’s pension fund. She spent a great deal of time trying to sell her fruit and vegetables, but without any signs of financial improvement. She says the problem was a shortage of funds. Then she heard about the WDB programme and, in 2003, decided to join. Her first loan cycle was R300; she is currently in her sixth loan cycle of R5 000.

Mhangani now owns a spaza shop that generates approximately R15 000 a month. She employs one person who is responsible for selling fruit and vegetables and who earns R300 a month.
She specialises in selling maize meal and orders 40 bags of 80kgs and 20 bags of 50kgs every three weeks.

Achievements

• She went from being a hawker to the owner of a well-known spaza shop
• She paid for her two sons’ schooling
• She bought new furniture for her house

Future plans

She wants to extend her spaza shop as there is not enough space in her house to keep stock.

KwaZulu-Natal

Traditional Zulu Dress Maker, Irene Lethiwe

Background

Irene Lethiwe is a 45-year-old married woman with two children. Niether of her children matriculated and are looking for temporary employment. Her husband is working on a farm near Richards Bay and sometimes gives her R500 to support the family. Before joining the WDB programme in 2008, Lethiwe wove traditional grass mats to supplement her husband’s income.

After joining the programme, Lethiwe was able to make a profit and used this money to buy material for making traditional Zulu dresses. She has recently applied for a second loan of R2 000 from the WDB Micro Finance programme.

Economic Activities

Lethiwe’s traditional Zulu dress-making business is very successful. She makes a profit of at least R1 000 a month and is able to save between R300 to R500 every month.

Limpopo

Owner of a Craft Business, Mabunda Khombomuni

Background

Mabunda Khombomuni was born in Ximange, in the same village where she lives today. She is a single parent with one child who has passed Grade 12. After joining WDB in 2007, Mabunda realised her dream of starting a community craft business where she uses her talent, and that of the community, to create beadwork.

After successfully repaying smaller loans, she is currently repaying a WDB loan of R3 000. She has registered the project with the Department of Social Development. The family depends on the profits from Khombomuni’s business and she uses the income to pay her daughter’s school fees.

Economic activities

The core of Kombomuni’s craft business is beading, especially hand-beading and adorning different items for decoration. Mabunda’s project has generated employment for 10 people.
In addition to creating a source of income for the other staff, she also provides them with design skills and business training.

The participation of other staff in the project also helps Mabunda as it allows her to go to Gauteng to buy stock or to leave when she has other commitments.Mabunda says that she generates a profit of at least R2 000 a month from her business. During special events, traditional shows
and at Christmas time, her monthly profit increases by around R1 500, meaning she can make up to R3 500 a month. Mabunda is able to save a monthly sum of R600 to R1 000 through her own initiative and financial discipline.

Achievements

• Successfully registering the craft business project
• Working with other women in her business
• Offering training and business development skills to those women who want to learn beadwork
• On 05 July 2008, Mabunda entered the Giyani Arts and Culture Competition. She is currently waiting for the results and is very confident that she is going to win a prize.

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