By Buziwe Nocuze
- Cloudy Deliveries started using bicycles in Langa in 2020 to bring groceries to residents and create jobs for local teenagers.
- The business hires workers from 15 years old so the youth can buy school uniforms and escape illegal street activities.
People in Langa who cannot leave their homes to buy groceries are using their phones to call Cloudy Deliveries.
The business uses bicycles to bring groceries and takeaways to residents. Founder Colin Mkosi started the company in 2020 using second-hand bicycles that cost between R150 and R250.
The service charges R30 for deliveries inside Langa and R70 for trips outside the township. Customers use a phone number to order.
Mkosi said he started the business because people were too busy to go to the shops. He also wanted to protect young people from gangs and drugs.
The business employs young people between 15 and 27 years old. Mkosi said teenagers are easily influenced to do illegal activities when they have free time.
The youth ask for jobs so they can help their parents buy food or school uniforms.
Ivani Jack is 15 years old. He works for the business on weekends and goes to school during the week.
Jack uses his money to buy his school uniform, electricity and sugar for his home.
“The job has saved me from smoking drugs and many other illegal activities that my peers are hooked on,” Jack said.
South African law allows 15-year-olds to work. The law stops them from working more than 20 hours a week during school terms.
Langa resident Thandiswa Nkuhlu uses the delivery service when she is sick. She trusts the workers enough to give them her bank card to buy her groceries.
Langa ward councillor Lwazi Phakade said the business does a great job in a community of 52,000 people. He said 40% of young people in Langa do not have jobs.
Phakade said crime in the area is linked to the poor living conditions in the township.
Pictured above: Cloudy Deliveries, a delivery company in Langa, delivers items like groceries and takeaways for residents.
Image source: Colin Mkosi
