Beat unemployment – Bake For Profit

It is almost two years since Snowflake’s Bake-for-Profit programme came to Cato Manor. The programme has produced countless emerging entrepreneurs. Bake-for-Profit is a training programme designed to alleviate poverty and create job opportunities for the poor. Like in the scripture books ‘many are called but only a few are chosen’. This is true with the Bake-for-Profit programme. Many people enlist for the training, but a few have the courage to start their own businesses.

IZWI recently attended a graduation ceremony for the Bake-for-Profit students at Cato Manor Technical College. Three graduates made an impression by explaining how the programme has changed their lives.
Sibongile Ngcobo used to rely on her husband to provide everything for her. But now her husband borrows money from her. Sibongile has opened a mini-bakery from her kitchen. Her day begins at 4 am and when she goes to bed at night she is R300 richer. She boasts an income of R1 000 on birthday cake sales alone every month.
“The programme has taught me how to manage my finances. I have opened a banking account and I deposit money on a weekly basis. One day I hope to teach rural women how to beat poverty by transferring some of my skills to them. Most of these programmes are for city dwellers, and rural people are often neglected."
Philani Mtshali boasts a profit of R4 500 a month. Octavia Thuntwana, a retired school teacher who thought she was at the end of her tether, has got her whole family baking to satisfy the demands of her customers that include schools, clinics and church meetings.
I am not trying to get everyone to enlist in this programme because I get invited to the graduation ceremonies and get to enjoy the drinks and the cakes, but I thought for R100 per course for two months this Bake-for-Profit programme could change your life forever. During the first day of training, trainees are given a starter kit to start their own businesses and a chance to practise what they are have taught.
The starter kit includes a bag of flower, eggs, oil, milk, sugar, baking powder and margarine.

Did you know that it has cost the taxpayer R2 million to wage the war against electricity pirates? Did you also know that seven children have been electrocuted while they were unwittingly tampering with illegally connected electricity? More than 17 tons of electric cables have been recovered from illegal connections since March 2000.

Chris Gower, the Energy Control Officer of the Durban Metro Electricity Department told IZWI that of the 60 000 illegal services, only 12 cases have been brought to court and no convictions have been made yet.
"Because these are test cases we are optimistic that something good will come out of it," he said.
Prosecutions
The prosecutions are taking place under Section 27 of 1997. The act stipulates that anyone without legal right who is caught tampering with electricity shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to a charge of theft.
The minimum sentence an offender can receive is a fine of a R1 000 or six months imprisonment.
In Cato Crest it was discovered that more than 150 homes were taking their electricity from the new sports field in Trimborne Road, and about three kilometres of cable was recovered. More arrests are expected when a joint effort between the Cato Manor Police and Durban Electricity is launched. It is anticipated that the unit will be monitoring the area 24-hours a day.
Anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of electricity thieves will receive a reward of R100 per illegally connected house. This reward is being offered by the Forensic Investigation Department.
If you have information that can lead to the arrest of the ‘connectors’ please dial 0800 006297 on condition that you leave your contact details and are willing to testify in court if necessary.