By Nkhensani Mthombeni
- Nkateko Mtsenga, from Mariveni Village near Tzaneen, is studying safety management after her education qualification did not lead to work.
- Her small bakery, Katie Yummy Treats, makes up to R30,000 in a good month, before paying for stock and electricity.
Nkateko Mtsenga calls herself a three time graduate, with a retail management degree and a postgraduate qualification in education. She still has no permanent job, so she bakes for a living instead.
The 28-year-old, from Mariveni Village outside Tzaneen in Limpopo, graduated in 2022 from the Vaal University of Technology with a degree in retail management. She could not find work, so she used money saved from NSFAS to enrol in baking classes.
She started a business, Katie Yummy Treats, making custom cakes, cupcakes, biscuits and scones. Cakes start at R750, Bento cakes with cupcakes at R650, scones at R350 and biscuits at R380.
In 2023, Mtsenga completed a postgraduate qualification in education, majoring in business management and economic sciences. She had been told education offered more job opportunities. But some schools are now cutting programmes related to her majors, and she still could not find work.
She was then told safety management had more opportunities. In 2024 she did short courses in the field and took two contract jobs that both ended. She has now registered for a Bachelor of Arts in Safety Management.
Mtsenga hopes to be formally employed one day. But she says she will never stop baking, even if she ends up working in safety management.
She runs baking classes of two to five days for R1,800 each, mostly for unemployed people who want a new skill. Classes are limited to seven people because she bakes and teaches from her mother’s kitchen. She wants to build her own baking academy one day.
In winter, her business makes around R15,000 a month before the cost of stock and electricity. In a good month, that rises to between R25,000 and R30,000, before those costs.
She posts on social media every day to keep her business on people’s minds.
Pictured above: Nkateko Mtsenga as a baker.
Image source: Supplied
