Bonda has roped in her son, James Bonda, who lost his job in 2019 and now operates the pizza oven.
“Lockdown didn’t break us,” James said of the family joint venture, called Lavay’s Good Food (a township take on the Afrikaans word for noise, lawaai).
Lavay’s is one of 10 outlets to make the journey from being illegal liquor outlets to fully registered businesses thanks to the programme led by Supply Pal, development partner of beverage company Distell. It follows a survey of township businesses which identified 532 Khayelitsha liquor traders, of which 151 were licensed. Distell’s formalisation programme aims to empower informal liquor traders to become legally compliant.
“We are committed to empowering our communities to thrive, growing employment and helping to address some of the deep socioeconomic challenges in our country. Being a registered business opens up access to credit and many other benefits that an illegal outlet doesn’t enjoy,” said head of the responsible alcohol programme Clarence Sibiya.
