WATCH | How love for baking saved Soweto man from unemployment

The need to be self-reliant as well as having passion for baking are the reasons Tshepiso Lekopa leaves his Soweto home at 4am every day and travels to the north of Joburg, where he stands on the street to sell the scones that he has baked.

Lekopa, 35, developed a love for baking when he used to watch his “aunt bake back in the day”.

But he never took it seriously until 2017, when he started working at a Joburg school’s tuck shop.

He started baking scones and selling them to the learners until the contract to run the tuck shop ended in 2018.

In 2019 he started a new job, but when Covid-19 hit in 2020, he became unemployed.

The pandemic triggered an unprecedented labour crisis in SA, causing 2.2-million job losses in the second quarter of 2020 alone.

Unemployed and sitting at home with nothing to do, Lekopa decided to pursue his love of baking to put food on the table.

However, in early 2022 his business was hit by a power outage.

“In Klipspruit, where I stay, the transformer bust, and we were without electricity for more than nine months,” he said.

Ever the enterprising entrepreneur, Lekopa started operating a car wash.

However, he did not feel fulfilled by that business and last year went full-time into baking and selling scones.

He starts baking at around 7pm and finishes around 11pm. He then puts the scones in clear plastic bags and goes to bed.

He wakes up at 4am and makes his way to Killarney Mall in Johannesburg. He arrives there around 5am and starts selling to passerby.

“When I started, people were not buying as much as they do now; they are used to me now and have seen that I am consistent.

“Most of my customers are people who are heading to their workplaces, and you find that they have had no time for breakfast, but they know that I am there and can buy some scones to have with tea when they get to their work spaces,” he said.

Lekopa makes around R700 on a good day and has since started teaching four friends how to bake as he plans to expand his business. “I do this in order not to depend on my family, and I can also assist my niece,” he said.

“I wanted to be a chartered accountant when I was growing up, but it was something I wasn’t able to achieve because they were struggling at home.

“They couldn’t afford my fees... and also, I couldn’t get proper advice in terms of securing funding. But the people around me inspired me to stand on my feet and be my own person.”

Sowetan