From selling food at a local taxi rank, to becoming the proud owner of a restaurant at Durban’s North Beach, along with several other businesses, Vumile Magasela's journey is truly inspiring.
Magasela’s eatery, Vumile Cooks, offers delicious home-cooked meals and has experienced significant growth over time, serving approximately 50 plates daily, seven days a week.
The entrepreneur matriculated from Umlazi Comprehensive Technical High School in 2013 and pursued a qualification in television and screen media production but was forced to drop out due to a lack of funds.
“I set up a table at a taxi rank and started selling because I was unemployed, broke, and had a skill for cooking. I decided, why not use it?”
Magasela, who grew up in an informal settlement in Umlazi, expressed that cooking has always been her love language.
When she recognised a gap in the food market, she seized the opportunity wholeheartedly, especially after her haircare business suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic and lost stock due to looting.
“Every taxi rank is known for ‘umama we-plate’ [the woman who sells food], and that taxi rank at Montclair didn’t have ‘umama we-plate’. So, I became that woman and then ventured into deliveries when I couldn’t apply for the permit needed to continue trading.”
Montclair, located about 13 kilometres from Umlazi in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, became the starting point for her entrepreneurial success. The 29-year-old later relocated and began offering services to office parks in Umhlanga, an area known for its upmarket properties, after promoting her business on social media.
“People working at office parks started supporting me, especially around Umhlanga. When I needed to come up with a new strategy to sustain my business, I went exactly where my clients were.”
Spicy Much
Three years since her first venture at the taxi rank, the young businesswoman has launched another company, Spicy Much, which delivers quality spices and sauces at affordable prices.
She offers nine different spice blends, including Ndlunkulu, one of the few curry mixes in South Africa owned by a black woman.
“This is an achievement and something I’m proud of because it has been my dream since I started cooking. I couldn’t package my food and sell it to everyone, even though people as far as Johannesburg saw me on social media and wished to taste my food. But I could package my taste through spices and sell it.”
It has been a year since she started her spice business, and she recently introduced a new hot sauce.
Magasela shared that she gained resilience through life’s ups and downs, as failure was not an option. She dreams of elevating her brands to even greater heights.
“I would love to franchise Vumile Cooks and get the Spicy Much brands into supermarkets.”
In addition to her business ventures, Magasela engages in charity work, donating school shoes to underprivileged learners every January to coincide with her birthday.
Meanwhile, she has also revived her Yendalo business, which includes organic hair growth oil and a moisturiser.
“It’s tough because all my businesses are self-funded. But if you give up, it will be worse. I’ve been there and don’t want to go back to that situation. My customers keep me going,” she concluded.
For more information about Vumile Cooks and Spicy Much, visit her Facebook page: Vumile Magasela. – SAnews.gov.za
