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Mandlenkosi Bill (19) is the owner of a bread business named Isonka and he supplies three spaza shops around Despatch with bread and delivers freshly baked bread to people’s doorsteps.
“Isonka is a Xhosa word for bread. We thought of a word that defines who we are as AmaXhosa,” said Mandlenkosi, who saved up money from part time jobs to start his own business. “I bought all the basic equipment needed to bake bread and started on a small scale. My mother who bakes birthday cakes, taught me the skill of baking. That is how the love for baking took over my life for now.”
He bakes golden sweet bread with raisins and is assisted by three persons he employed. He also assists his mother, Phumla Julia Benelwa, with her cake baking.
“I can bake only 30 loaves of bread daily. That is the maximum that our home oven can handle. It is very time consuming to bake in a standard oven owing to its restricted capacity. I am working towards the ideal to earn enough, or to get investors, so that I can obtain a larger premises with larger equipment. Then I can start to employ more people from different communities.”
He said he enjoys delivering bread to people’s doorsteps, “It is good engagement with customers. It also is an opportunity for me to apply the SWOT analysis.”
Mandlenkosi was born and raised in Khayelitsha (Silver Town). When he was aged 11, the family relocated to Despatch. He matriculated at Marymount Roman Catholic Secondary School in 2021.
“My biggest dream is owning a bank and ensuring the whole of Africa uses one currency. My role model is the one I see when I look in the mirror, because he is the reflection of my greatness and how far I’ve come.”
Mandlenkosi said his motto he lives by, is “Never live in your head. Rather be the parents that will tell their children about the things they’ve done in life, than the things they wished they had done.”
Mandlenkosi can be contacted at 063 0980 796, on Facebook, or Instagram @isonkabakery.
