After learning the ropes at a shoemaking factory at which she had worked for 16 years, a woman from Pinetown, in Durban, decided to start her own enterprise.
Despite early financial setbacks, Bathabile Mkhize decided to pivot.
Today, she is one of the leading school and church uniform suppliers in the area. It was in 2019 that her enterprise, Mthunqasikababa was born.
“At the time I wanted to make school shoes because I had a bit of experience because I had previously worked for a shoe manufacturing business for about 16 years,” she recently told Vuk’uzenzele.
The business started its operation in a humble gazebo, it soon hit a snag after Mkhize realised she would not afford the R250 000 machine required to make the shoes at a larger scale.
Undeterred, she reassessed her approach and decided she would instead make bags, school and church uniforms.
“Because I had been taught to sew at the age of six, something my mother taught me when she was making church uniforms in our area, I decided to rather focus my energies on this,” she said.
Impressed by her work, a local preschool principal approached Mkhize for an order of 200 graduation gowns for her Grade R learners.
After the order was successfully delivered, more work was to come the start-up’s way.
“After we delivered the gowns ahead of schedule, the principal made another order and we delivered those as well. She then requested a sample of school uniforms. We made it and it was approved,” she recalled.
Spurred on by the achievement, Mthunqasikababa decided to focus its energies on these garments.
Today, the business supplies a large section of schools in the Pinetown area, north west of Durban, as well as some schools across KwaZulu-Natal province.
“We make golf t-shirts, dresses, skirts, ties, caps, jerseys, shirts, bags and physical education sets. We sew everything. It’s the same for church attires,” she said.
While Mthunqasikababa employs 32 people, numbers increase in January to meet the new school year demands.
“I started this business with a meagre R1 500, which allowed me to purchase the first material I needed to get me going. However, the business was fortunate to receive funding from a private company that bought the business a small container to operate from,” she added.
Mkhize said plans are afoot to move the business from the two containers into a bigger permanent structure.
“That is my wish. That will allow me to build an office and provide sewing classes, because that is another service that I offer. I often get requests from schools in the area to provide those lessons. Right now we are unable to do that because the space we have is too small,” she said.
For more information
E-mail: bathabilecmkhize@gmail.com
visit the company’s Facebook page: Mthuqasikababa Enterprise
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