Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Matabeleland South Bureau Chief
SEVENTY-YEAR-OLD Gogo Lakheli Ndlovu from Gwanda has found a good business niche – selling indigenous fruits which she collects in her rural home.
Gogo Ndlovu, who is from Mtshatsheni area in rural Gwanda, travels to Gwanda Town three times a week to sell her products. She also sells produce that she grows in her garden such as tomatoes, onions and other vegetables.
Gogo Ndlovu said she moves around the town selling her products in order to make sure they move fast. She mainly targets office spaces and shops.
Gogo Ndlovu, who is staying with her three grandchildren, said she realised a business opportunity as people in the town don’t have indigenous trees in their homes. She said while her children support her, she also had to chip in and buy the basics.
“We have a wide variety of indigenous fruits in our area and I figured that I could start a business selling them to the urban folk. People in the urban areas don’t have these fruits, but they love them and some miss them. I sell different fruits that I can collect such as uxakuxaku, umnyi, umtshwankela, umpumbulu and umviyo,” she said.
Gogo Ndlovu: “It’s more effective when you move around selling to people because as they are sitting in their offices they will just be nibbling on the indigenous fruits. Most people have the desire to buy just by seeing the product and then they pull out the loose change in their pockets and buy.”
She said she also grows traditional crops in her garden such as ibhobola, amakhomane, ulude, idelele and ground nuts which she sells.
Gogo Ndlovu said on a good day she can realise R200 after selling her products. She said she then goes to the shops to buy groceries. Gogo Ndlovu said she started her business last year after she retired from her job as a domestic worker. She said she realised that she could not just sit at home and wait for her children to spoon feed her.
While most elderly people of her age are unable to move around a lot because of old age, Gogo Ndlovu said she spends her selling days moving around the city centre. If she is not selling, she will be collecting indigenous fruits or working in her garden.
“When I left my job I realised that I would sometimes run out of food supplies which would force me to seek help from neighbours. My children support me but sometimes they can face challenges which may delay them in sending money. I realised that I couldn’t just sit at home and be a part time beggar whilst I’m able bodied. I’m able to cater for some of the needs of my grandchildren that may arise such as need for books or packed lunches,” she said.
Gogo Ndlovu: “When it’s selling day, I arrive in Gwanda Town at around 7AM and I start moving around the town until I have sold everything then I go back. I’m not as strong as I was before but I can manage to move around. My grandchildren help me to collect the indigenous fruits.”
She has regular customers that she visits every time and then she also gets new customers every day. Gogo Ndlovu said business was low in her community as most people were operating gardens and they could access indigenous fruits. — @DubeMatutu
Online Reporter
derick.khumalo