It started with a single plastic packet and a permanent marker.
In the thick of Covid-19 lockdown, 35-year-old Tshepo Sethosa from Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni, wasn’t thinking about business plans or product launches. He was thinking about breakfast.
With the country on pause and no gigs coming in from his stand-up comedy career, Sethosa turned to a childhood staple: porridge.
“I used to drop off my father in the Joburg CBD every day, and as I was doing so one day, I realised that the only grab-and-go food for breakfast was fatcakes and scones. I noticed there was a gap in the market.
“Pap was the only way I thought could stand out so I grabbed a pot and my gas stove and headed to the CBD. Luckily it was winter when I started and that was an advantage because I sold two big pots in 45 minutes,” he said.
Sethosa got training and nutritional analysis and a few months down the line, he was supplying pap to local small businesses around his neighbourhood.
What began as a way to make ends meet quickly evolved into a fully fledged food brand now stocked in local stores and filling stations. His porridge can also be bought off the Spar and Roots Butchery shelves.
People don’t just buy porridge, they buy into who I am, where I come from, and where we’re going.
— Tshepo Sethosa
Raised in a Christian household with three sisters, Sethosa grew up watching his mother hustle with informal food sales after church. From the age of 11, he would go out to the streets or do door-to-door selling with his siblings to assist their mom.
Though he pursued media studies at Boston Media House and worked as a comedian and radio presenter, Sethosa's entrepreneurial instinct was always present, waiting for the right moment to activate. That moment came in 2020.
“Even though I saw my mother running her business, it was not a professional one. When I started my own, I realised that there was still a lot to learn, particularly about food security.
“The NYDA [National Youth Development Agency] was helpful in assisting with training and part of the capital. I learnt about writing my business plan and proposals from their programme,” he said.
“My goal is to create something that lives beyond me,” Sethosa said. “I want my product to be in households across Africa.”
Sethosa hopes to supply school nutrition programmes and is developing fortified porridge blends to help fight malnutrition. He's also working on registering his products across the Southern African region.
“My team and I have decided that it is best to take the product from where it is needed the most and tailoring it for its specific market. We are even working towards building a suitable facility in the township, where we are already manufacturing in Thokoza.”
He employs six permanent workers and seven part-time workers.
Alongside his entrepreneurial journey, Sethosa remains rooted in the media industry. He currently hosts a show on Benoni FM, using the platform to motivate young listeners and support small local businesses.
“Media keeps me close to the community. I use it to educate, uplift, and also show people that your passion and your hustle can work together,” he said.
“Understanding how to communicate has been key. People don’t just buy porridge, they buy into who I am, where I come from, and where we’re going. We sell nostalgia.”
That same tenacity now powers his expansion goals. Tebogo dreams of owning a full-scale production facility, creating jobs for local youth, and launching a mentorship programme for township entrepreneurs.
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