Chuene creates jobs while realising his dream

As an ordinary street cook with no professional qualification in the culinary arts Tumisho Chuene, has hustled his way up in the Tembisa kasi dishing up African food for a living.

Chuene, who spent 11 years working as a street vendor, knows what he is doing in the culinary business.

Also read:

• Nelson Mandela’s favourite oxtail recipe

Along with his six employees, Chuene prepares pap, chicken, beef and mala le mogodu for his customers in Moriting section.

Since he started his business, Itumeleng African Food, in September 2005, he has learned that nothing in life comes easy – he had to push until he made his dream a reality.

“Most people have ideas on how they can start small businesses but do nothing about them. You cannot just have a dream and do nothing about it. I always had an attitude of working for myself and being my own boss. And I am happy because I made my dream a reality,” said Chuene.

Chuene emphasised that it was not easy at the beginning, when he launched his cooking business; but he persevered and worked hard to attract more customers.

“After I passed my matric, my family did not have finances for me to further my studies. I had to look for a job and secure my future. I spent quite some time looking for a job without any success. I then decided to open my own business. I am that kind of person who hates begging people for money. I believed in working for my money and doing things for myself,” he added.

Chuene said his cooking business taught him how to care for people and respect them.

“It is not easy to please customers every time, but I’ve learnt how to tolerate my customers and serve them with love, care and respect. I’ve learnt so much self-discipline out of serving different people having different perspectives on a daily basis,” said Chuene.

Apart from being a cook, Chuene is also a father of five children, a husband and committed family man.

The 42-year-old originally hails from Mogodi village in Ga-Mphahlele, Limpopo. He said his secret for keeping customers is to prepare soft pap that is loved by most South Africans.

“I use pots that attract heat to keep the pap warm at all times. My meat is only prepared with salt. However, some customers love chillies in their food but that is their optional choice when eating. Over the weekend, I prepare mancina beef bones. These are foods that are mostly loved by most men in the communities. Mancina beef bones are my weekend specials. To make them delicious, I follow my secret recipe,” added Chuene.

Chuene thanked members of the community for supporting his business and said he wishes it to grow bigger.

Chuene urged young people to work on their dreams and become better people.