An outspoken, fierce and courageous elderly woman, who appears unshaken by her socio-economic circumstances, is pioneering several ways of generating an income post retirement.
Edith Thozama Mfazwe, a former employee of the City of Joburg, spends most of her time at her former employer’s offices, Thuso House, selling a delicious and mouth-watering atchaar that has everyone queuing for more.
The astute and smart Xhosa entrepreneur who doesn’t want to be taken advantage of, jumps straight to “uzaw’benefita ngantoni wena apha”, she says wanting to understand if the writer has something to gain in profiling her.
She exudes a sense of control and power of a woman who fights for her business to excel in whatever means necessary. “Feel free”, she says as she relaxes and opens up her heart for an amazing interaction about her business venture.
Mfazwe started working for the City on 22 April 1986. She took an early retirement in 2014 to focus on her entrepreneurship because she needn’t have to bring up her grown children anymore. She decided to put more energy and time into establishing her business of selling atchaar.
She was employed in the early years of the City, working at the defunct Urban Bantu Council (UBC) for 5 years in the filing department, where she was responsible for organising employee and councillor files alphabetically and numerically.
Mfazwe worked her way to the top until she became a supervisor. She was eventually promoted to Operational Manager in the cut-off and reconnection unit as well as outbound collections department.
The idea to sell atchaar came from her neighbour, Zuki Mabutho, who encouraged and taught her how to produce and sell atchaar to survive in her retirement.
Mfazwe didn’t know that she was being propelled into a business that she would dearly love and enjoy. She created her own style of product by tailor-making her product to fit her clients’ requests.
She says she travels to Pretoria to buy mangoes, which comes with seeds and leaves. She then cleans out the seeds, its leaves and cuts it into tiny pieces that would fit into her small containers (800g).
Then she pours zeal into the mango to divide it into different flavours (mild, plain, with garlic, hot and extra hot). She adds the oil after it is transformed by adding dye to it for the content to be edible.
Mfazwe charges R150 for a 3L container and a small containers (800g) cost R50. She claims the ingredients she uses for her atchaar are not available in Johannesburg and she has to “import” them from Tshwane.
Although her daughter sometimes helps, Mfazwe hopes to grow her business into a successful venture that can employ people in the future.
Mfazwe has studied various business modules to help jerk up her entrepreneurial skills. She is currently in the process of branding her product.
Her five-year plan includes working with the Funda Business Forum, an organisation in Diepkloof, Soweto, which helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
She encourages people who are retirees not to feel discouraged. “Retirement isn’t considered the last stage of living as many people seem to think. It is a new stage of life where one is given a chance to rebuild, renew and re-establish themselves in taking risks rather than settling to only living to die,” she says.
To support Mfazwe reach her goal in becoming a successful atchaar entrepreneur, place your order with her on 083 959 6818.
