SA Elderly Couple Build Double-Storey House Selling 3,000 Fat Cakes a Day

• An elderly couple sells 3,000 fat cakes daily outside the Carlton Centre in downtown Johannesburg
• The couple earns around R1,000 in daily profit and is building a double-storey house in Meadowlands
• Informal economy expert GG Alcock used their story to highlight how South Africa's system leaves millions behind

An elderly couple running a fat cake stall, also known as magwinya, outside one of Johannesburg's most recognisable landmarks is quietly building a life most formal employees would envy — one vetkoek at a time.

The husband and wife set up on Von Wielligh Street, just outside the Carlton Centre in the Johannesburg CBD, where they sell amagwinya for R1.50 each to the thousands of commuters and workers who pass through daily. By the end of each day, they move roughly 3,000 units and walk away with a profit of around R1,000.

With that income, the couple is building a double-storey house in Meadowlands, Soweto, paying cash.

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The woman who works but has no job

Informal economy expert GG Alcock came across the couple and was struck by something the woman said when he asked whether they had formal work or were registered as a business. Alcock said on the Pat on Brands podcast:

"She said she works but does not have a job. She considers having work as having a payslip."

That single exchange captures a much larger problem, according to Alcock. South Africa's economic framework does not count people like this couple as employed, because they lack payslips and formal registration. Their thriving daily business, built on hard work and consistent demand, exists entirely outside official economic statistics.

A system that leaves millions out

Alcock argued that this is not a failing of the entrepreneurs themselves, but of a government unwilling to extend services and infrastructure to informal traders in inner cities and townships. He said:

"To work is to have a payslip in South Africa. We have built a society that thinks that way and leaves these people out."

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Without formal recognition, informal traders cannot access bank financing, modern payment systems, or industrial facilities that could help them scale. In some cases, Alcock noted, the grey area is exploited by people who claim social grants despite running functioning businesses, because the state has no mechanism to verify informal income.

He said the Johannesburg couple perfectly illustrates the paradox. They run a successful operation, support themselves, and are investing in property, yet on paper they are counted among the unemployed.

Alcock believes the solution lies not in chasing tech startups, but in recognising and growing the millions of small businesses already operating in South Africa's informal economy. He said:

"We have millions of businesses and entrepreneurs in this space. It is about scaling these businesses and growing them."

His work through Kasinomics Unleashed is focused on doing exactly that: changing how South Africa defines, measures, and supports work beyond the payslip.

More Briefly News stories on small business

• Pretoria-based Lindiwe Shibambo went from working as a domestic worker to building Maid4U, a R50 million business bringing structure and dignity to the sector.
• See inside the new Pantry at Fourways Mall in Johannesburg, where a bakery, ice cream bar, imported groceries, home décor and a restaurant have shoppers buzzing.
• At 22, a Soweto entrepreneur built Revive Day Spa from a back room, overcame hardship and created jobs for young women, inspiring praise across South Africa.

Source: Briefly News