ANDILE MOSHOESHOE

“BELIEVE in yourselves as women because you are a pillar of this country, and you can do it…”

This was a message delivered by KwaZulu-Natal Legislature Chairperson for the Multi-Party Women’s Caucus Celiwe Mdlopha who gave the keynote address at the Kokstad town hall on Tuesday during a women’s empowerment and development programme.

The programme was organised by the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature in conjunction with the office of the presidency and the Women’s Empowerment Fund in celebration of Women’s Month.

The purpose was to bring emerging and independent, successful women in business together to shed some light on how to succeed and become renowned.

Vumile Magasela (30), a former street vendor who now owns one of the best restaurants on North Beach, Durban, was among the guests. She said she loved cooking from a very young age:  “I am a person who likes to be commended when I do something. My grandmother taught me how to cook delicious traditional food and used to praise my food.”

That was when she fell in love with cooking and came up with the idea to sell a plate of food at the taxi rank.

“Through my efforts of saving money and knocking on different doors for help, I decided to open up a restaurant,” she said.

She said she maintained the standard of paying homage to the recipes she grew up with, cooking with her grandmother, to make customers feel at home since they regard them as a taste of home.

The KwaZulu-Natal Legislature’s deputy speaker Mmabatho Tember said it was very important for women to be courageous in taking part in such opportunities so that they could access government programmes designed to assist them in their businesses.