Women who beat the odds: Masiphumelele’s Kwa aunty

People from the suburbs visit the place often. It is always busy, whatever the day of the week or time of the day.

Nozizwe Bozo, 46, is originally from a rural area, Embozi, near Willowvale, in the Transkei side of the Eastern Cape. She moved to Cape Town 12 years ago, joining her husband who worked as a taxi driver and passed away in 2010. She came with nothing and is now running three businesses: Nongoloza’s Braai Place, Nongi’s shuttle services and Nongoloza’s Flats.

Bozo grew up with her aunt and uncle in a vibrant and noisy house with 10 brothers and sisters. Her mother was away working and, as the eldest, Bozo had to take care of the others.

“I would wake up around 4am everyday and prepare for school.We shared everything and that made my mornings very hectic. Imagine 11 people sharing one bar of soap,” says Bozo.

In 1991 she first used her entrepreneurial skills to sell cigarettes and chocolate in the streets of Mdantsane in East London. She then sold vegetables from home.

“I first sold cigarettes for 70c each and crunchies for 50c each and between 1991 and 1997I also sold vegetables for R1 a bunch and my first profit was R75,” she says.

Mhizana Bana, one of her employees, says, “When she arrived in East London in 1987 from Embozi I’m one of the people who felt really blessed with her arrival, as she became a sister to me.”

From snacks and vegetables Bozo moved on to sell sandwiches, Russian sausages and homemade ginger beer to factory workers in Wilsonia, East London. She would wake up at 3am to prepare for breakfast and lunch.

Bozo has completed form 2 (grade 9) and contradicts the assumption that if you do not have a university qualification you are uneducated and chances are you won’t make it in life.

Zameka Sikhephe, who has known Bozo all her life, says, “I think growing up in the way that Nozizwe did it makes you understand the value of other people. I watched her as she grew up, she never had it easy growing up and that did not discourage her from chasing after the life she wanted.

“The way she runs her businesses you would swear she is educated. She speaks to people in a very decent manner. She is younger than me but I have to admit that she is more mature than I am.”

After a spell selling clothes that she bought from factories in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town, Bozo moved to Cape Town in 2002.

When she arrived in Masiphumelele, she lived in one small room, where she did everything. She sold trays of chicken pieces.

In 2004 she opened a daycare centre that operated until 2006, looking after children from the age of one month to two years, and in August 2005 she built Nongoloza’s Braai Place.

“I did all the work by myself and only started hiring people in 2005 to help me with the braai place,” she said.

“When she hired me to work for her in Cape Town, she took me in and made me feel like a member of her family because of the way she treats her employees,” said Bana.

In 2006 Bozo bought two taxis to transport school children from Masiphumelele to neighbouring schools.

In 2007 she started building flats and now owns two completed blocks.

She has three children of her own and is seen as a mother by many others, including a niece, Silindelokuhle Mafanya, who lives with her.

Mafanya says, “My mother lives in East London and when I left I thought I would not survive without my mother next to me, but my aunt makes me feel like I’m one of her own.”

“As a person who grew up in a disadvantaged household I’m very grateful for what I have,” says Bozo, “ but I feel like I still need to do more.

“ I’m not where I want to be just yet.”