(Shamantha Moodley – TEP; Margaret Gribble –
Senior Manager of Operations, Africa!Ignite; Nelisiwe Ndimande, crafter from
the Mphakathi area of Hluhluwe; Gail Westphal of Gooderson Leisure; Trayfina
Gumede, crafter from the Fivosenkosi community; Bongiwe Mlangeni – Production
Coordinator, Africa!Ignite, and in front is crafter Alpha Sibiya from the
Mbhedula area)
Talented
crafters in the Hluhluwe area have just been given unprecedented access to a
new market. Three crafters, each representing a different co-operative
organisation, are showing tourists exactly how they make Zulu beaded love
letters and wire and fabric painted souvenirs. The crafters have just been
given space in the curio shop at the popular Gooderson DumaZulu Game Lodge and
Traditional Village, which is the largest of its kind in the country,
attracting more than 2,000 visitors a month in peak seasons. Visitors to
Gooderson DumaZulu get to see the traditional Zulu way of making spears, clay
pots and beer making at the village and, on their way out, wind their way
through the well-stocked curio shop.
The shop
is 90 percent full of curios from neighbouring countries and Gooderson DumaZulu
- part of the Gooderson Leisure Group’s portfolio of hospitality properties - wants
to change this. Realising that there were talented crafters on their doorstep
who were able to create the same items, they decided to embark on a project to
give local people the chance to access the lucrative tourist trade.
Unemployment is rife in the area and although the crafters have unique skills,
selling their products-and getting access to the right markets, is often
difficult.
Gooderson’s
Gail Westphal, the general manager of sales and marketing, turned to Shamantha
Moodley. Provincial Manager of TEP for support and to facilitate the proposed
project and Moodley in turn, called in another TEP client, Africa Ignite, an
umbrella body, which provides holistic support, including product design and
market access, to 1,000 crafters across the province.
Margaret
Gribble, Africa Ignite’s senior manager of operations, who has been working
with crafters in the Hluhluwe area for seven years, said she was excited about
the plan. Craft and tourism were the entry points into the economy for many
rural crafter groups, she explained.
Westphal,
Moodley and Gribble recently visited the area when two women and one
man-leaders of their co-operative crafting groups-were identified by Africa
Ignite, to be the first to demonstrate their skills at the curio shop.
Moodley
said that the “great thing is that the general manager of Gooderson DumaZumu,
Heinz Fritz, is going to teach the crafters how to prepare stock sheets and how
to price accordingly. They would also be taught computer skills.” Gooderson
Leisure also knows what sells and will advise the crafters, she said. “This is
the first time that this has been done at Gooderson DumaZumu and I think it is
going to be really big. The project will give tourists a more authentic
experience which was missing. There is also the whole excitement of bargaining
and coming to a price that suits both parties. The visitors will also have a
new-found appreciation of what they are buying and it will make them prepared
to pay whatever it costs. The crafters are making small items that the tourists
can pack into their luggage.”
The
first three crafters are Nelisiwe Ndimande from the Mphakathi area of Hluhluwe,
Trayfina Gumede from the Fivosenkosi community and their male colleague, Alpha
Sibiya from the Mbhedula area. Said Ndimande: “I am very happy to be here and
it is even better if the tourists are happy with the craft.” The curio shop
crafters will eventually be housed at the tourist attraction.
For more
information, contact Shamantha Moodley on 031 201 0788 or 073 457 5855 or email:
shamantha@m@tep.co.za
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