30 Apr 2015

Moshaweng is hemmed between the Bakwena royal capital, Molepolole, and the mining town of Jwaneng in GaNgwaketse. Its location makes it almost a border post between the two tribal districts.

This is where as a young girl growing up, Ms Nkoketsang Ramotlopi, would curiously listen to her mother and other women in the village talk in colourful language about “a something called Wonto.”

They would talk about how the “thing” produces golden and delicious bread. Even though she had eaten loaves of bread many times before, she never really gave it a though as to how the quadrangular delicacy was produced. As years went by, her curiosity grew even bigger in hat it eventually got the better of her in 1999.

On further enquiry she discovered that the revered “wonto” simply meant a traditional oven, and she decide to give it a try as well. She started by producing a few buns which she sold around the village.

“That was more like a trial effort. Lack of money forced me to abandon the small time business even though I realised there was potential for profit,” says Ms Ramotlopi, as her fellow business partners listen in silence.

From a humble one-woman venture, Mokala Bakery has since grown and now boasts four additional partners. Ms Ramotlopi says after struggling alone, she won a tender to supply the local primary school with loaves of bread twice a week.

Given that she had abide with the tender, she had to recruit more business partners to help with the workload. “That was in June last year, and after the tender the Department of Social and Community Development (S&CD) came to our rescue when they funded us with a few materials such as baking pans, spoons and scales as well as the initial stock,” she says.

However, she says because the S&CD fudning was a once off assistance, they had to fend for themselves the following months to run course of the tender.,“This prompted us to borrow some money from a few people in the village. We needed around P3 000 to ensure that we are able to buy the weekly stock needed for the school tender. We are still paying off that debt but we are hopeful that in a few months’ time we will be able to clear it,” she reckons.

Ms Ramotlopi says after paying off the loan, it is then that they believe their bakery will start realising enough profit from which they can be able to draw their monthly salaries. She says at the moment they work almost on voluntary basis.

“Even though I do not see any chances of the bakery collapsing, my greatest fear is that my partners might desert me because they have been working for far too long without any salaries. Mind you, they are mothers and need to feed their children,” laments the 50-year old.

She says they are able to make around P1 500 profit but argues that because they source their stock far in Molepolole, transportation ends up gobbling the better part of it.
“Our oven is also fuelled by fire-wood, and a load costs P300, so each week we have to cough up that amount because we use a whole load to produce the 100 loaves for the school,” she says.

On why they do not complement the school tender supplying the village, Ms Ramotlopi says they only wish but that because they only use 20 pans, it is too slow and takes time to produce enough bread.

“The problem is that we use firewood which takes time. Just to run the school tender, we have to be here well into the late hours of the night. So we have no chance of baking to sell in the village,” she adds.

She reckons the other problem with a firewood oven is that it has no set temperature, meaning that other days the bread comes out nicely baked in golden colour, while other times it comes out a bit burnt.

Ms Ramotlopi says initially, they were required to supply the school twice a week but since the council ran out of funds they had to cut the supply to once a week, further affecting their returns. She explains that the clay ovens they use are not that durable and have to be repaired time and again.

Conversely, with more funds they could construct cement ovens, and they need more equipment such as bigger pans. Having been the only one who was taken for bakery training by the S&CD, Ms Ramotlopi says she had to impart the skills to her partners.

Despite the struggles they face, she praises the poverty eradication programmes, saying they have potential to emancipate people from poverty as long as there is commitment between government departments that drive them and beneficiaries.

She says the main challenge with the programmes is that material is often delivered late, citing her project which she laments had long been awaiting equipment such as refrigerators and a gas cylinder.

She also decries late payment by the school, saying most of the time they are forced to use personal funds to buy stock for the next supply. Despite such challenges, Ms Ramotlopi says their wish is to one day operate from a proper place which people can easily identify as a bakery.

At the moment they use a one-roomed structure in her home that once served as a kiosk, while the ovens lie out in the open, rendering baking in the rain an impossible task. She says being the only bakery in Moshaweng, they are aware of the untapped market as people currently get bread from as far as Molepolole and Jwaneng.

Despite the job requiring masculine power, especially mixing the dough, the bakery has no male staff. “Men have no interest in joining us. Perhaps it is because of a traditional notion that baking and cooking are feminine but we could really use a man’s strength in some of our daily chores,” she reckons.

Community development officer for Moshaweng, Mr Francis Lekgauwa, says the project is doing well despite the challenges. Its main challenge is poor marketing which is mostly exacerbated by the fact that it is operated by the elderly in a rural village.

He says when the project started, its target market was the village community but after winning the school tender the women shifted focus from their initial market.

“Initially they baked a variety of bread such as scones and buns but after they won the school tender they focused on bread loaves only. The amount of time they take to produce for the school leaves little time to supply the village,” notes Mr Lekgauwa.

He says despite this, the community is aware of the days they bake and often comes to buy a few loaves. Regarding the clay oven, Mr Lekgauwa says the initial oven that the council supplied malfunctioned but they are in the process of replacing it.

In the meantime, the women decided to construct a clay oven. “A proper oven, together with other few materials will be provided soon, although I cannot commit myself to a date,” says Mr Lekgauwa.

He notes that they are also aware of late payment by the school but gave assurance that he had taken up the matter with the education authorities which he was assured has improved, athough not yet fully addressed.

Mr Lekgauwa also says there is no how they can provide additional material for the bakery beyond stipulated items for alternative packages. “There are a number of projects we have to assist and as soon as we have provided material assistance, the support will then be restricted to advising on how the project can stay afloat. It is our belief that such projects should not forever depend on the council but should reach a stage where they are able to sustain themselves,” he advises.

As the school tender is expected to expire in June this year, Ms Ramotlopi and her fellow business partners will keep their fingers crossed that the tender is extended but in the worst scenario that it is not, they still have the community market to fall back on.

After all, it was not a bad market, and perhaps it will give them a chance to weave their skills in producing a variety of bread from the revered “Wonto.” Ends