Groutville gets pizza!

Raised by his Gogo in the remote rural area of Nyangane outside KwaDukuza while his father was in prison and his mother working in Groutville, Qiniso Gumede has long dreamed of owning his own Shisanyama.

Last Tuesday his dream became a reality with the opening of ‘Runner Eat Local’, a shisanyama and pizza hut in a container behind the Groutville train station.

Pizza is a rarity in the townships, so Qiniso’s shisanyama is already a hot topic of conversation on the street.

There are wooden benches to sit on while waiting for your order and a veranda to provide shelter. Qiniso uses a wood fire for the braai, giving the meat a delicious smoky flavour.

Qiniso said his Gogo, Ntombiyenkosi Gumede, played a huge role in motivating him to always work hard for what he wants in life.

“My Gogo taught me to accept every situation that I may find myself in and if I do not have something, I must work to get it.”

When he was in school, unlike other pupils who were thinking about how to avoid homework, Qiniso always knew that he wanted to own his own business.

“It all started when my mother, Nana Gumede, bought me a cell phone (Samsung E250) which was very expensive and fancy at that time. Instead of carrying it around and showing off, I traded it in for a camera and I started making money as a photographer at school,” said Gumede.

Every cent he could he put towards his dream.

But when his mother died in 2010, he was forced to put his dream on the shelf in order to put bread on the table.

“I had to find a job because the money I made from my photography business was not enough to live on. So I found a job at a restaurant in Ballito.”

That’s where he got the nickname “Runner”, as waiters-in-training are called ‘runners’.

In 2014 he attempted to start a pizza restaurant in KwaDukuza (Stanger) but the business quickly folded due to the high rent.

Now, without the high overheads, Qiniso hopes to offer something unique to the residents of Groutville and the daily train commuters.

He is busy training two Groutville locals, Siyanda Kheswa and Bongani Dlamini, to run the Shisanyama with the hope of expanding his business in the near future.

“I want to go back to work so that I can raise more funds to open another Shisanyama somewhere else,” said Gumede.

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