Art of welding inspires her to run full-time business
Anyone who still believes that women are "the weaker sex" have obviously have not met this capable artisan from Khopo village near Tzaneen.
LIMPOPO – For the past 20 years Grace Shai (47) has been working as a welder.
The mother of two is a well-known welder who specialises in making and selling burglar bar doors and gates.
“I have a lot of experience and my customers are happy with my work. Once you learn how to use a tape measure, welding becomes easy,” she said.
Before Grace acquired welding skills, she was unemployed and relied on her husband to take care of her and their children.
Her husband is a qualified welder who used to make burglar doors and security gates at home.
“I was inspired by his work. One day when he was not at home, I took out his welding tools and started making burglar bars. When he came back, he was so impressed with my work that he gave me permission to work with him full-time.
“Today, he has retired and I am the one running the business. I enjoy every day of my life,” she said.
She has five full-time assistants and as a way of giving back to the community that has supported her for many years, she has taught welding skills to three other women free of charge.
She plans to register her business so she can bid for government tenders and she urges unemployed women to stand up and do things for themselves.
“The days of relying on men to provide for us are over, even our government supports women empowerment. We must learn to create jobs for ourselves,” she said proudly.
