Bread of hope a booming business

Luyanda Machava did not have to think twice about what she wanted to do with her life after she completed school.

While others were making their way off to university, she was already thinking about her business.

“I knew I did not want to study further, I just wanted to run my business,” she said. Growing up in Mataffin in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, the 21-year-old was raised by her grandmother after her parents passed away. 

After completing high school, Machava teamed up with three other young people: Meshack Mbewe, Evangelist Nyoni and Tshepo Mashigo. They knew they wanted to start a business but had not figured out the details until a suggestion from a local businessman set their dream in motion. 

He suggested that the budding entrepreneurs sell bread and even offered to help them. He taught Machava and her friends all they needed to know about baking and selling bread. 

“He taught us from scratch and even offered to help us run the business. We did not know anything about baking or selling bread,” said Machava. 

In 2020, the group started Isinkwa Sethemba Primary Cooperative, which means ‘bread of hope’ in isiZulu. “Isinkwa Sethemba is a bakery in Mataffin. We supply and deliver to local spaza shops in the area and run a walk-in bakery. We start working from 5:00 and start delivering from 07:00 to ensure that our customers receive fresh bread,” she added. 
 
In 2023, Isinkwa Sethemba Primary Cooperative received R95 100 funding from the National Development Agency (NDA), which it used to purchase equipment to increase the bakery’s capacity.

The NDA also helped the cooperative to ensure that it is compliant with food, health and safety regulations. Isinkwa Sethemba bakes between 200 and 250 loaves of bread a day, in addition to the orders received. The cooperative has employed three permanent and two casual workers. 

It was also able to fund the studies of two community members and is helping others to get their driving licences.

Machava said future plans for the cooperative include buying a vehicle for deliveries and ovens to increase the number of loaves baked to about 1 000 a day.