Training opens new horizons for street traders

Scores of informal traders in Matatiele are setting their sights on building formal commercial enterprises following a pivotal two-day entrepreneurship workshop. Facilitated by the local municipality in partnership with the Wholesale & Retail SETA, the initiative has equipped about 100 street vendors with vital practical skills, from financial management to stocktaking.

For many vendors who have spent decades surviving hand-to-mouth in harsh weather without proper shelter, the programme offers a path towards sustainable growth, inspiring dreams of registered shops, fruit markets, and mobile kitchens in the local economy.

Though Pinky Nkosana, Noxolo Bobe and Ndumiso Luphindo have been earning a living by selling on the streets in Matatiele for years, the idea of one day formally owning a business had never really registered on their minds.

But now the trio are among about 100 street traders who are starting to dream big about becoming legitimate business owners with enterprises behind their names.

This is thanks to a two-day training workshop facilitated by the Matatiele local municipality, which offered hands-on training in entrepreneurship and building a profitable business last week.

Speaking to the Dispatch on Wednesday, 32-year-old Nkosana said her mother had run their household and sent all her children to school on money she made selling small goods on the streets of Matatiele.

As a six-year-old she would join her mother sometimes and help her sell some of her stuff.

“Even after I went to college in Lusikisiki, where I studied electrical engineering, I would often help her sell.

“One of the most enduring memories for me was how she maintained good relations with all her customers,” she said.

“I admired how she related with her customers.

“In all honesty, I grew up wanting to be a nurse.

About seven years ago, she made a life-changing decision to quit her studies after two years. Their financial situation was hard, and her younger sister had completed her matric and was ready to go to university.

Nkosana had failed some subjects at college and their aging mother was struggling to keep the street stall going.

“Instead of staying home and doing nothing, I decided to take up from where my mother left off.

“Now I sell mostly fruit and vegetables and I am able to contribute to my sister’s education.”

On the training this week, she described it as eye-opening for her and other informal traders.

Previously she never paid attention to things like profits as long as she was able to bring in money every day.

She was also oblivious to the importance of counting stock and how much she spent stocking up every day.

“We were taught to the importance of saving and putting your money in the bank,” she said.

“We learnt that you need to count your stock before you sell and why it is important to know how much profit will be derived from each thing you sell.

“Now I think I would enjoy running my own formal business one day –something like my own fruit and veg marke.”

Bobe, 58 and a mother of five, previously worked at a small restaurant in Qumbu and as a domestic worker.

She has been selling fruit and clothes on the street for more than two decades.

But, much like Nkosana, she never thought much about doing banking or having a registered business.

“Mostly it is just hand to mouth because we have children to feed and also you have to re-stock almost daily.

“You end up not thinking much about saving money.”

The training workshop was a real eye-opener for her. Though she would love to diversify, the biggest challenge was that she was limited to selling specified products by the municipal trading permit issued this year.

She said they had been fighting to get stalls from the municipality to shelter them from bad weather for decades.

Like many of his colleagues, he braves rain, gusty winds, cold and heat without a stall to sell from.

He dreams of a container with a solar-powered fridge or at least a mobile kitchen so he can sell in spaces like music festivals and other social events.

“There was a lot I did not understand about business that I feel more confident about now.

“For instance, I did not know anything about a business plan and how it assists with applying for funding.”

Like Nkosana and Bobe, he would love to run his own shop in Matatiele CBD.

Matatiele mayor Patrick Stuurman said empowering informal traders was important for the municipality to build a stronger local economy.

He praised the partnership between the council and the Wholesale & Retail Sector Education and Training Authority in rolling out training programmes aimed at accelerating small business development, broadening economic participation and expanding essential business support services while encouraging the beneficiaries to take advantage of the opportunities presented to them.

He said it was important that those in the informal business sector were also equipped with practical skills and business knowledge to become competitive and sustainable role players in the wholesale and retail sector across the municipality.

“Empowering informal traders is an investment in the local economy, reaffirming the municipality’s commitment to strategic partnerships that enable local entrepreneurs to grow beyond survivalist businesses,create sustainable livelihoods and contribute meaningfully to Matatiele’s economic development,” Stuurman said.