Joyce Machete from Nancefield in Musina is very proud of her small business. She says that, although informal hawkers play a major role in the economic development of any community, many people still look down on them, and that this is the reason why many are still hesitant to give this trade a try.
She wants to encourage unemployed people to stand up and create jobs for themselves. "People should not feel ashamed to start their own informal businesses. We cannot all be professional whatevers. Any small amount of money that you generate on a daily basis can go a long way in fighting hunger, poverty and unemployment, and we can all come up with honest ways of making a living. Take me for example. I sell tomatoes, fruits and vegetables here on the streets of Musina. Because of this business I offer, the local people do not have to travel into town. These professional people do not have time to plant fruit and vegetables. It is us, the hawkers, who make sure that they get food. We all play an important role in life; we all need each other," she says.
Machete, who does seasonal work at one of the factories in Musina, says that staying home all the time with nothing to do makes no sense to her. "I do seasonal work from around January to May. In the past, I had to wait a whole year before I could go back to work, but then I realised that I was wasting time. So, I decided to try my luck in starting a small business, and it is much better than doing nothing at all."
She says she is very happy with the support she gets from her loyal customers. "The most important thing is to make your customers happy at all times. Customers want a friendly person who treats them with love and respect. Always remember that these customers are people too and sometimes they run short of cash in these tough economic times. I am grateful because all my loyal customers pay me within reasonable time for products they might take on credit. This allows me to buy more stock, while at the same time I get to save the small profit I make every day. I hope that this will encourage other people to stand up proudly too and find a way to make life a little better for themselves."