- Malawian vendor Alex Kapito sells sausage rolls and drinks to Gugulethu’s Avanza drivers after Covid-19 wiped out his chicken feet business.
- Kapito rents a caravan for R600 a month and moves through the taxi rank serving drivers who even buy on credit.
When Alex Kapito left Malawi ten years ago, he came to South Africa hoping for a better life.
He found it in the streets of Gugulethu, Cape Town – first selling chicken feet and gizzards outside Gugulethu Mall. Three chicken feet cost R2, and business was good until Covid-19 hit.
“After Covid, I switched to selling sausage rolls and drinks – R15 for a sausage roll and R12 for a drink,” said Kapito.
He rents a small caravan for R600 a month next to the road outside the mall. It’s both his kitchen and his shop.
Kapito prepares the sausage rolls inside, packs them neatly in a container, and walks between vehicles in the taxi rank.
“This makes it easier for Avanza drivers to buy without getting out of their vehicles,” he said.
Most of his customers are taxi drivers who buy daily – some even on credit.
“Some take sausage rolls and drinks and pay later. I don’t panic because they’ve supported me for years,” said Kapito.
He keeps his prices low by visiting different supermarkets to compare prices before buying rolls and sausages.
With his earnings, Kapito pays R1,800 for rent, R600 for transport, R300 for electricity, R600 for groceries and sends money home to Malawi.
“I had to stop buying red meat because it’s expensive. Now I only buy chicken,” he said.
Taxi driver Khayalethu Dyido said Kapito helps drivers who leave home early without breakfast. “He’s always there when we need him,” he said.
Pictured above: Alex Kapito sells sausage rolls and drinks outside Gugulethu Mall in Cape
Town.
Image source: Buziwe Nocuze
