By Buziwe Nocuze
- Bad weather forced a 45-year-old Lusikisiki woman to cut the price of her 5-litre traditional beer from R35 to R20.
- When the Lusikisiki woman’s beer sours, she earns under R200 instead of R300, making it hard to feed four children.
A 45-year-old woman from Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape supports four children by selling traditional beer. Bad weather has forced her to cut her prices.
She used to sell a 5-litre container for R35. Now she sells it for R20. Smaller containers dropped from R15 to R10, and R5 for small containers.
Some customers asked to pay only R15 for a 5-litre container. She agreed.
“It’s either that or it goes to waste. Lightning, too much heat, and cold at the same time cause the traditional beer to be sour and it doesn’t taste nice. It gives my customers heartburn and a bloated stomach,” she said.
On a good day, she makes more than R300. But when the beer sours, her income drops sharply.
“I am losing a lot of money because when the traditional beer is sour I hardly make R200 even though I have reduced the prices. That’s why I ended up giving my customers credit,” she said.
Her customers did not ask for the credit. She offered it herself, knowing they will take time to pay.
Brewing the beer costs her around R800, depending on the kilograms of maize meal and sorghum malt she uses.
A community member advised her to use a herb to protect the beer from lightning. She tried it, but it did not help. The lightning strikes almost every week, at least twice a week.
“I am stressed and I am praying that if it’s raining then let there be no lightning. I am losing money and that means I will struggle to provide food for my kids and there’s nothing I can do about the bad weather,” she said.
Pictured above: Traditional beer.
Image source: File
