Meet Mover and Shaker Thabiso Zitha, Who Is Serving Up Scrumptious Kotas and Inspiring Kasi Youth

• Bringing the people of Nelspruit together with great food and cultural experiences right in their township is Thabiso Zitha
• The young entrepreneur spoke to Briefly News about his love of food and business, which gave birth to his brainchild, KwaMzitheni
• The accounting and business graduate said the eatery is his proudest achievement which he hopes will inspire other youth to go for their dreams

Thabiso Zitha is bringing the people of Nelspruit together with rich Mzansi flavours and cultural experiences right from the comfort of their township.

The entrepreneur grabbed hold of the opportunity to merge his love for food and business by opening his very own Kota eatery, KwaMzitheni, on Thursday, 15 February.

The recent Bachelor of Education in Accounting and Business Management graduate spoke to Briefly News about his new venture and hopes for the future.

Read also

Woman's mouth-watering fruit and vegetables stall has Mzansi singing her praises: "Keep it up"

Why Kotas

"Kota" is a play on the word "quarter," for the quarter of the loaf of bread that is the base of the sandwich. The bread is hollowed out, filled first with a layer of seasoned potato fries, then topped with optional layers of sauce, cheese, egg and meat. The multi-layered sandwich is usually packed into a white plastic bag.

“Kotas basically have everything, you can have them for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. They are an ideal go-to meal in the hood.

“My drive behind starting the business was mostly to avoid unemployment but other than that, I’m very passionate about cooking and making new dishes,” said Thabiso, who runs his business from Matsulu A-section.

Family and community support

He shared that his community and family have been very supportive of his new venture.

Read also

Young beauty buys a new home, SA bows to her greatness: "Congratulations, beypes"

“They share my posts on almost all social media platforms. At the moment, my family assists me, but I’m looking into hiring a few people when the business grows."

Thabiso added that the biggest challenge has been marketing his business. However, with Facebook and supportive friends, he has been able to reach more people.

The vision

The 22-year-old said he wants to give people a sophisticated food experience right from the township.

“I want people to have nice traditional food with a twist from their township. What I love most about what I do is to see the smiles on people’s faces and the disbelief on their faces when they realise that in a place like our hood you can get such tasty food.”

He said building KwaMzitheni with the little he had has been his proudest achievement so far.

“My biggest life lesson so far would be not to be scared. Always unleash your potential and go for whatever it is you want. This was to also inspire that young child from the hood where I come from that you can achieve whatever you want to.

Read also

Female hustler runs bread baking business, Mzansi sings her praises: "May it sell more"

“The time to start is now, remove the negative thoughts and the doubt. That business idea you have will come through if you take action,” said a proud Thabiso.

Chef-turned-businessman inspires Mzansi with his food truck hustle

Meanwhile, Briefly News previously reported on a young Mzansi entrepreneur and founder of GRUB WORX Tiyani Maluleke, aka the "Burger Uncle", who is serving scrumptious dishes and inspiring the youth.

The self-taught chef from Soweto in Gauteng combined his love for food and his business skills when he turned his vehicle into a food truck where he sells burgers in his community.

From repairing the pickup to creating the custom frame for the kitchen setup, Maluleke completed all of the work by himself, Squad Magazine reported. His amazing work was shared on Facebook and online users have saluted the businessman on his success.

Source: Briefly News