KaNyamazane’s kota queen’s initiative turns to profit

KANYAMAZANE – With South Africa’s youth unemployment rate being over 40 per cent, some youngsters in this township have taken the initiative to create jobs with their skills.

Michelle Zwane (28), who reckons she’s the next kota queen, recently took over a fast food business at Press Carwash and Restaurant where she sells fish, chips, cold drinks, snacks and the famous, proudly South African kota.

For those who have no idea what a kota is, it is a quarter of a loaf of bread filled with fried potato chips, viennas, russians, cheese and a variety of fillings.

Zwane’s kota menu has a twist to it, compared to other outlets. The prices and contents of each kota are determined by different car brand names. “My business partner, Wandile Ubisi, and I decided that since we’re operating next to a car wash, we should come up with names. Clearly our customers love the idea.”  The car brand names include Polo Vivo and Ferrari, which she says are more popular, as well as the AMG A45, Lamborghini and the Limo which have more fillings.

SEE PICTURES: 

Zwane, who also runs a mobile boutique, added that she was fortunate to have been approached by Ubisi to partner with him in the business. They plan to open more franchises around the province and to involve young people.

“The unemployment rate is high, not only in the province but in the country. There are solutions to the problem, because lazing around and complaining of not finding a job will not help us put food on the table. We must stand up and start using our time properly and start using our skills to beat unemployment in the township,” said Zwane.

Ubisi shared the sentiment and encouraged the youth to follow their passion, to be fearless and to focus less on materialistic things that will not benefit them.  “The aim is to empower ourselves through business and to make money, but my advice to youngsters is to make sure that the money they make is clean and to expand as much as they can,” he said.