By Buziwe Nocuze
• Grade 11 learner Asenathi Yaphi started Elam’s Formal Wear after noticing church members in his community needed suits.
• Asenathi sells suits for R950 and already has customers from Mthatha and East London while continuing with his schoolwork.
Asenathi Yaphi is only 17, but the Grade 11 learner is already dressing customers across the Eastern Cape.
The teenager from Mcobothini, a rural village in Lusikisiki, started Elam’s Formal Wear in June 2025.
His business idea came from church.
“I am a Seventh-day Adventist church member, and in church we don’t wear a uniform, we wear formal clothes most of the time. I noticed that we all needed suits,” Asenathi said.
He searched online for a supplier before asking his grandmother, Noluvo Nozaza, to help him improve the suits.
Noluvo has been sewing since 2006. She could not make the suits from scratch, but agreed to help alter them and give them a special touch.
“Sometimes we would get big suits and have to make them fit the customer, making sure that they look good when wearing them,” she said.
The business has since attracted customers from Mthatha and East London.
Asenathi said his teacher became his first customer and allowed him to use his photo to promote the business.
Some customers have also worn his suits to graduation ceremonies.
Asenathi sells suits for R950, shoes for R550 and trousers for R450. Customers also pay for delivery depending on where their orders need to go.
He promotes Elam’s Formal Wear on Facebook, WhatsApp and TikTok.
But running a business has not changed his plans for his education.
After matric, Asenathi wants to become a business analyst. He also dreams of opening a boutique in Lusikisiki.
“I am balancing it well with schoolwork because I understand that school is important,” he said.
Customer Luthando Nontanga, 29, said he continues supporting Asenathi because young people can be encouraged by his example.
“Seeing a young person thinking big and not letting the place he stays in discourage him is rare,” Luthando said.
Asenathi wants other young people to start working towards their dreams instead of waiting.
“I don’t have it all figured out, but I show up every day,” he said.
“My business is not where I want it to be yet, but it’s not where it was yesterday. It’s growing step by step.”
Pictured above: Asenathi Yaphi from Mcobothini in Lusikisiki started a formal wear business and dreams of opening a boutique.
Image source: Supplied
