With the festive period around the corner, informal traders are getting busier by the day as families are starting to stock up to ensure they will have enough in terms of food to enjoy the December holidays together.
Agnes Muluri (31), a Zimbabwean woman who resides in Elim, is in the poultry business, and she is already making a great effort to supply her customers around Elim and Bungeni with as many chickens as possible.
Agnes and her husband, Takesure Tirivanhu, and their children first came to South Africa in 2009, but the first few years in the country had not been easy for the family. "In Zimbabwe, we really struggled to let our children go to school, so we decided to migrate to South Africa in search of a better life. At first, it was very difficult for us, but we kept trying for anything that could generate an income for us," she said.
In 2014, after many years of hardship, Agnes rubbed shoulders with a local informal trader who runs a food stall next to the four-way stop at Elim Mall. Together, they hatched a plan to see Agnes and Takesure start selling chickens to local small businesses. "When we started, we used to buy around 200 to 300 chickens a month, because we still had very little income to handle more than that. But as our customers increased, we were gradually able to buy more chickens. Today, we have over 900 chickens," she said.
Looking back now on how they started their business, Agnes is proud of what she and Takesure had accomplished. "We never looked back or lost focus. We really went into this business wholeheartedly. The trick is to communicate with your neighbours and everyone around you, whether locals or foreigners, and you may end up grabbing some form of work to earn a living."