Doreen Mokgolo
Naledi can be seen every morning at 5am, riding her bicycle to make her door-to-door deliveries.
Driven by the horrible reality of unemployment, Naledi Dhlomo offers free baking skills to the unemployed youth and women around Soshanguve.
She also feeds the homeless and she sells her bread at the lowest possible price so every child in her community is fed.
“I have always been worried about unemployment and poverty but didn’t know how to help beyond donating food parcels,” Naledi told Scrolla.Africa.
When her contract as an SANDF caterer expired in 2019, a friend encouraged her to go on a baking course.
She was hooked.
In 2020 she decided to open a confectionery business from her garage where she sold treats.
When Covid-19 hit, her neighbours encouraged her to start selling bread.
“This is when my business finally took off. People were placing orders and would only stop by to collect.”
As the business surged, she then decided to find a way to give back to her community.
“I knew that if I shared the skills they too would be able to improve their lives by being able to put food on the table.”
So she trained over 500 residents to bake and now many more want to learn more.
Ntokozo Mayisa from Mpumalanga who is now operating her small confectionery kitchen said she is grateful for the skills she acquired from Naledi.
“I was unemployed for years and when I heard about the services I decided to enrol and I am hoping to grow my business into a bakery,” she said.
Thabisile Manana said the support and empowerment from Naledi has helped rewrite her life story.
“After the training she donated her old stove to help me get my business off the ground,”
Naledi plans to formalise and expand her baking academy to reach unemployed women, especially in villages.
“If you train a woman you empower the household and eventually the entire village.”
