Sewing the seeds of success
HLUVUKO DESIGNS: PARTNERSHIP WITH NETCARE HELPS WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESS THRIVE
Initial order for 10 000 cloth masks set wheels in motion.
More than 1 500 face masks are being made daily by a woman-owned small business in Alexandra, Johannesburg, in partnership with a private hospital group.
The partnership came about after Netcare director Dr Nceba Ndzwayiba saw the exceptional work being done by women at Hluvuko Designs while it was still operating informally.
Ndzwayiba said due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Netcare requested Hluvuko Designs supply 10 000 cloth masks for their staff members.
He said Netcare also provided the women with linen from hospitals which would be ordinarily be dumped, to make pillowcases and kangaroo care wraps which would be included in baby gifts Netcare gave to new mothers.
“In 2015, however, Netcare recognised the potential of the women’s entrepreneurial model as a promising enterprise development project and assisted it to formally register the business,” said Ndzwayiba.
In addition to assisting the women to register the business, Netcare commissioned the team to create a range of other items.
“We have been so inspired by what Hluvuko Designs has achieved. The women have shown perseverance and eagerness to learn and we have every confidence that they will continue to grow,” Ndzwayiba said.
Hluvuko Designs director Ponani Shikweni said she was grateful to Netcare for seeing the business as an opportunity for investment because having no income and no job could lead people to become desperate.
She said young people were also part of the team and this helped them avoid involvement with drugs and crime.
“I am very happy at the rate business is going now because during initial lockdown we stopped everything because we had no orders. I have helped 32 ladies so far in the township with jobs, many of whom lost their previous jobs due to Covid-19.
Shikweni said Netcare arranged training on how to run a factory effectively, which has helped more young women find work quickly.
The business recently bought two big sewing machines and its own vehicle.
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