Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Hotel helps unemployed get a leg up in hospitality industry
WITH NO formal training, no financial means to study further and no job prospects, 28- year- old Zoliwe Thame resorted to a life of despair.
The mother- of- two, from Fisantekraal near Durbanville, hoped to become a social worker..
“I was the first to complete matric at home and being a social worker was all I could think about. Not only was it my dream, but it was a means to alleviate my family from poverty.”
After failing to secure a spot at local universities, Thame joined the 27.7% unemployed South Africans.
“I had been looking for work at call centres to help support my family and my two children, but had not been getting any luck. I was frustrated,” said Thame.
She is one of three young women who were selected for a 67-day hospitality training programme as part of a Mandela Day initiative.
Thame, Victoria Jada, 21, and Kwanele Kawe, 23, were selected from the Fisantekraal Centre for Development for training at the Pepper Club Hotel.
“I will give it all I have. I am passionate about cooking, but can only cook the traditional foods I cook at home, so this opportunity will expose me to great dishes and one day I may just own my own restaurant.”
Pepper Club’s general manager Josia Montsho said the trio would undergo training in all the hotel’s departments and at the end of the 67 days would choose a job for which they felt suited.
“We wanted to expose the ladies to something they would not have necessarily been exposed to.
“Hotel schools are expensive and with this project we hope to bridge that gap by offering these passionate ladies an opportunity beyond the 67 minutes.”
Kawe can’t wait to join the hotel’s marketing and sales team so she can start her “global marketing career”. She dreamsof travelling the world and has the gift of the gab..
Kawe could not study further because of a lack of finances. She enrolled at Damelin College in 2012, but her mother could not keep up with the tuition fees.
“This is a life- changing opportunity for me. This training will give me customer services, brand marketing and sales experience which will not only set me well on my way to what I have always known I wanted to do, but also expose me to an industry I never imagined working in before.” .
Shy Jada, who lives in Fisantekraal, said she was “willing to keep an open mind and learn as much as I can in the next 67 days”.
She has no formal work experience and had to leave school because of a lack of finances.
“I never imagined myself in the hospitality industry, but am ready to learn and give this opportunity my best shot.”
Weekend Argus will follow the journey of the women during their training.
asanda.sokanyile@inl.co.za