It is stories of ordinary people like Zukiswa Mnyanda who are filled with hunger to succeed and determination to build a legacy for generations to come that motivates us.
The odds were against the East London-based Mnyanda Ginger Beer maker. After many years of working as a salesperson, she had to quit her job as sale targets were impossible to attain, leaving her worried about how she’d feed her family.
Growing up in a family that frequently made ginger beer and marhewu, Zukiswa was taught the ginger beer-making skill by her grandmother from a very early age. What she didn’t know though, was that her grandmother was equipping her with a gift that would sustain her family.
Zukiswa started selling ginger beer when she returned back home to East London after working for many years as a sales person in Cape Town. Upon her return home and finding that it was difficult to find employment, she started making unbranded ginger beer, selling it as just something to keep her going. This she sold around the neighbourhood, to teachers and students at schools in 500ml bottles that she recycled.
She later found employment, opting to put her ginger beer business on hold. A salesperson by nature, Zukiswa later got frustrated working in the sales environment when targets could not be met due to the economic changes that were aggravated by the arrival of the COVID-19.
The idea of restarting her business again came when she was chatting on the phone with her friend who was at a taxi rank to buy ginger beer, shares the mother of one. She also shares that her light bulb quickly came on, getting her to design what is now the new logo of her ginger beer brand.
“This was all happening at a time when I was frustrated and starting to be depressed, not sure what exactly to do.” After a friend assisted with her logo design, she then got a bottle supplier, officially going into the market from March this year.
Zukiswa currently makes ginger beer in 5l, 2l, 500ml and 330ml. She gets orders from places such as the Department of Health’s breastfeeding department and sells them around the hospital during hospital visits. Focusing on her Mnyanda Ginger Beer business, Zukiswa also supplies at funerals, wedding, imigidi (home coming of a boy child from the bush), and parties.
Currently unsettling her daughter for turning the home lounge into a “ginger beer-making factory,” the entrepreneur dreams of moving into bigger premises where she will continue to brew her ginger beer to perfection. She also hopes to reach the mainstream market and “hopefully sell outside South Africa” too, says the businesswoman.
An employer to two people, Zukiswa believes that God is at the forefront of her success.
For now, she continues nursing her Mnyanda ginger beer, making sure that it is not under- or over-fermented while building a legacy her grandmother will forever be proud of.
The ginger beer is currently sold in East London and can be requested at 0847263196 and via Zukiswa Mnyanda’s Facebook page.
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