Shoe stitches breeds business

Learn a skill and wherever you go you will never go hungry.

“My job will only come to an end the day human beings stop wearing shoes but at the moment I won’t have a problem in making a living,” says Mr Christopher Manyengavana, who survives on manufacturing different kinds of shoes on the roadside.

Mr Manyengavana hails from Zimbabwe where he learnt the expertise of shoe manufacturing.

He said prior to shoemaking he was employed as an accounts clerk at job he landed thanks to his formal education in an advanced bookkeeping course.

“I was respected as that suit-and-tie guy and many would envy my job. Switching over to making shoes was a move many did not approve of,” said Mr Manyengavana.

When he lost the job at a major courier company in Zimbabwe he found it hard to secure employment in other companies.

“I noticed an employee who was manufacturing shoes for someone else’s business and I approached him with a partnership proposal,” Mr Manyengavana said.

“He had a skill, I had capital and he stood to make more on the deal than earning a wage from his employer.”

He said the man agreed to the proposal put on the table and from there Mr Manyengavana learnt from the man and business was booming.

“I was no longer working for a company but I was working towards a target which meant I had control over the income I made,” Mr Manyengavana said.

He said the money one receives is directly dependent on the effort one puts in towards their work and marketing.

“I was never ashamed of my new line of work.”

He said in 2007 the economic crisis back home drove him to South Africa, where he never looked for a job on arrival but started helping a guy who sewed leather jackets.

He continued manufacturing shoes for the leather jacket manufacturer to sell and he would receive a stipend for his services.

Through that Mr Manyengavana was able to raise money for his own tools, machine and material.

“When I left him I started manufacturing shoes in my own room and roamed the townships’ streets to sell my finished products. After walking for months an acquaintance of mine advised me to find a spot next to Busy Corner restaurant,” said Mr Manyengavana, a husband and a father of three.

“It is busy here, there are a lot of people from different places and this is conducive to my business.”

Mr Manyengavana has been operating on that corner since 2009.

“People know me now and business is good here in summer. I am able to financially support my wife and children,” he said.

In winter he makes the shoes in Johannesburg and he takes a bus to sell them in Durban.

Mr Manyengavana said he is worried about South African youth because they fall into the trap of substance abuse which leads them to crime due to unemployment.

“My dream is to share the skill. I want to teach them how to make shoes so that they can make a living out of it.”

He said for his dream to be realised there needs to be a proper training facility, tools, machines and willing learners.

Individuals who want to learn the shoe-manufacturing skill or those who want to buy the shoes can contact Mr Manyengavana on 076 729 2014.