SOME of the youth of Thembeni Location in Stutterheim, who have struggled to find employment, have taken matters into their own hands and opened a bakery in their village.
Although the official opening of Khuphuka Bakery was last Friday, it has been operating since 2007.
The 15 founding members put together the capital to start the business before they received financial support from the Department of Social Development in 2009.
Chairperson and one of the founding members of the bakery, Fundiswa Madolwa, 29, said she and the 14 other members had started working from home despite the various challenges this brought with it.
“Thanks to the R500000 from the department we were able to build premises, fence it and buy the required machinery,” said Madolwa.
Madolwa said they had been motivated to start the business after facing unemployment .
They also wanted something for the youth to do to keep them from criminal activities.
“Since there are no jobs around here a lot of young people were getting involved in criminal activity and we wanted to create something that would keep them from that,” said Madolwa.
She said that they wanted to see the business expand in the future so that they could hire more young people.
“Our aim is youth development; we want to see young people make something of their lives ,” she said.
Asked about the bakery’s speciality, Madolwa said they baked most goods “but for now we don’t bake wedding cakes but we are looking into that. We bake bread, muffins, scones, Swiss rolls and various cakes”.
Eunice Maxhegwana, 59, from Thembeni said she was pleased because the bakery meant development for the youth and their community.
“It is great for us; we do not have to travel to town for cakes and scones any more ,” said Maxhegwana.
Siphiwe Mbewu, community development supervisor from Amahlathi District Municipality, said although they had injected money into the bakery, ownership belonged to the youths who had started it.
Mbewu said the bakery catered for 12 schools around the village and provided all the confectionery needs of the community. — ziphon@dispatch.co.za
Bakery gives rural youth new hope in Stutterheim
Although the official opening of Khuphuka Bakery was last Friday, it has been operating since 2007.
The 15 founding members put together the capital to start the business before they received financial support from the Department of Social Development in 2009.
Chairperson and one of the founding members of the bakery, Fundiswa Madolwa, 29, said she and the 14 other members had started working from home despite the various challenges this brought with it.
“Thanks to the R500000 from the department we were able to build premises, fence it and buy the required machinery,” said Madolwa.
Madolwa said they had been motivated to start the business after facing unemployment .
They also wanted something for the youth to do to keep them from criminal activities.
“Since there are no jobs around here a lot of young people were getting involved in criminal activity and we wanted to create something that would keep them from that,” said Madolwa.
She said that they wanted to see the business expand in the future so that they could hire more young people.
“Our aim is youth development; we want to see young people make something of their lives ,” she said.
Asked about the bakery’s speciality, Madolwa said they baked most goods “but for now we don’t bake wedding cakes but we are looking into that. We bake bread, muffins, scones, Swiss rolls and various cakes”.
Eunice Maxhegwana, 59, from Thembeni said she was pleased because the bakery meant development for the youth and their community.
“It is great for us; we do not have to travel to town for cakes and scones any more ,” said Maxhegwana.
Siphiwe Mbewu, community development supervisor from Amahlathi District Municipality, said although they had injected money into the bakery, ownership belonged to the youths who had started it.
Mbewu said the bakery catered for 12 schools around the village and provided all the confectionery needs of the community. — ziphon@dispatch.co.za
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