Local chef wins the Maponya Mall Community Hub Café Competition
Community Hub seeks to be a vehicle to the betterment of local economy through SMMEs.
Maponya Mall Community Hub hosted their first café business competition on Tuesday July 18 to select the winner who will operate from the vacant café space at the hub.
The aim of the competition was to empower local entrepreneurs from Soweto to transform their dreams into reality.
Out of four SMMEs who each pitched their business plans, Chef Sibu Nyembe from The Food Truck Café in Meadowlands was crowned the winner of the competition.
“We are really happy to be the winners. It was not an easy journey but because of our hard work and dedication we managed to pull through till the end,” said Nyembe.
The competition was open to all food business owners in Soweto who possess the drive, creativity, and determination to operate from the Maponya Mall Community Hub Café.
ALSO READ: Local learner takes part in dancing competition in England
“This is a good opportunity and I do advise other SMMEs to enter such competitions. To get themselves out there, to help build their brand and monitor how far they have been pushing,” Nyembe added.
The winner will run the Community Hub café for five years with two years of free rental fee. He will also receive ten months of business coaching that will help maintain the growth of the café.
Sekga Mojanaga, manager of the hub said, “As the hub we have a firm belief in boosting and supporting SMMEs. Instead of doing normal programmes we felt it is important to do something tangible that will sponsor our winner with a retail space.”
The role and importance of SMMEs all over the South Africa cannot be disputed. It is a known fact that SMMEs are responsible for the creation of jobs in many sectors and that in Soweto specifically poverty alleviation, economic growth and job creation are in the hands of SMMEs.
According to Alef Meulenberg who was judging the competition, entrepreneurs have been instrumental in spurring social change and improving the way people live and work.
“For us entrepreneurship is a key component of ensuring that local economic growth that is generated by local small business,” he said.
ALSO READ: Sasol New Signatures Art Competition: Entries closing soon
The hub aims to benefit the community of Soweto through the upliftment of SMMEs and development of the youth and NPOs.
“We are passionate about supporting the growth SMMEs in Soweto and this competition was a testament to our commitment to the local business community,” Mojanaga concluded.
