Feeding the community
Anna Kgaretswe is contributing to turning the fortunes of her community around.
A JoJo tank and vegetable tunnels filled with a variety of vegetables fill Kgaretswe’s yard, which she has converted into a vegetable farm for the benefit of both her family and community.
The 49-year-old is one of the beneficiaries of the Sibanye-Stillwater Marikana Renewal initiative, implemented by SocioTech and Umsizi, which for years have worked together to come up with ideas that help empower communities.
Through her participation in SocioTech’s Broad-Based Livelihoods programme, Kgaretswe has been able to grow her business and transfer skills to others.
Kgaretswe, who lives in
Majakaneng in the North West, says someone from Socio-Tech visited her in 2017 and told her how she could grow her then small vegetable patch into something bigger. That visit was the start of better things to come and today Kgaretswe not only has her own business, but enables Majakaneng community members to produce their own fresh produce.
“Through them, I learnt about developing the soil and growing [food] God’s way – organically, without chemicals. I supply street vendors and also supply small catering businesses that sell in the streets,” she says.
The programme gave Kgaretswe seeds, material for a vegetable tunnel and buckets to water the vegetables. She did so well that last year, she walked away with a SocioTech award and used the prize money to build a second tunnel.
Kgaretswe is today able to support her family, while also saving money every month.
Skills transfer
Through the Phinda Phinda project that is part of the programmes offered by SocioTech, Kgaretswe has trained 16 people to start vegetable gardens. These people in turn teach friends, family and neighbours.
“When my business began to grow, people in the community could not believe it and started asking me how I do it. I told them to come to school because Sibanye is here for all of us; we must help each other to put food on the table.”
For more information about the Sibanye-Stillwater Marikana Renewal
initiative visit www. marikanarenewal.co.za
Phumudzo Muthanyi (29) and Mbali Mokgosi (31) from Orange Farm, south of Johannesburg, successfully turn junk into high-end fashion.
The duo’s company, MicGalaw, uses discarded plastic from rubbish dumps and landfills to create bags, accessories, home crafts and furniture.
Recycling is the process of collecting trash and turning it into new products. Muthanyi says they were inspired to recycle plastic after seeing how many discarded bottles and other pieces of plastic were strewn across their township – turning what could be a pretty space into a polluted one.
“It took us about three years to learn the art of working with plastic. Our big break came when we won a pitching competition prize of R12 500 in 2018 during Global Entrepreneurship Week. We were able to purchase our first heavy-duty industrial sewing machine, equipment and materials.” In 2019, the women produced their first collection, consisting of five stylish bags made from recycled plastic. Since then, they have made a name for themselves, with the MicGalaw brand becoming known for its eye-catching designs. All their products are made from recycled materials and are affordable – with most ranging from R50 to R350 an item.
The waste collected by MicGalaw is washed and separated. The recycled plastic is then shredded and melted to become a leatherlike fabric. This is followed by cutting the material according to a pattern and the final product is created. MicGalaw says it managed to recycle over 50 000 tons of plastic between 2019 and 2020 that were smothering
Johannesburg, Mogale City and the surrounding areas. MicGalaw has also created income opportunities for young people through its Clean Up and Popa initiative, in which participating youngsters collect plastic for a set fee.
The company has made gifts for many corporates – including laptop backpacks – and hopes to secure more of these orders. “We would like to grow our business from a micro-business to a small developing business and create employment for more young designers from Orange Farm and Mogale City,” says Muthanyi.
For more information
on MicGalaw, call 078 220 5840 or go to Facebook: @MicGalaw