African Arts, Crafts and Clothes

Masiqhame Trading was founded in 2005 by Florence Sityata.  Florence wanted to combat the problem of unemployment and poverty in her community. She attended a skills development workshop in Site C at Moses Mabhida where she received some training in crafting. She also received training in basic business skills.  She then forged a partnership with eight other unemployed women in Makhaza, Cape Town, where she lives, to start a beadwork and garment business. Some of the other women were already skilled in needlework, and so they have developed a small but growing business which specializes in creating original beadwork, carpentry and African clothes with a more modern styling.

This is a skills sharing project; where skills are transferred from one individual to another. The project is intended for unemployed people from 18 years of age. The organisation is dominated by Xhosa-speaking women predominantly from Makhaza in Khayelitsha.  Most of the women have little formal education and no further training.  They live in tiny houses and are parents of young children. They work from home, as-and-when their family commitments permit, and eke out a living for their households.