Imiza Moyethu

Imiza Moyethu

Scott and Jen (left) talk with Nobandla (right)

Toward the end of the project, one of our co-researchers mentioned that she knew about an existing sewing centre in Harare, a formal settlement adjacent to Monwabisi Park.  This sewing centre is called Imiza Moyethu, which means “Our Effort” in Xhosa. We visited the centre twice and spoke to Nobandla, the manager of the project. She told us the project was founded in 1987 by the Catholic Welfare and Development (CWD) organisation, but Imiza Moyethu is now completely financially independent.

The sewing centre works by taking in about 12 people each month to be trained to sew.  The manager or other skilled seamstresses do the training, starting people on the easier machines and working up to the industrial strength ones.  After their month of training, the newly skilled workers are given fabric with which they need to sew something they can sell on their own.  Once the seamstress sells the product, she must pay the sewing centre back for the initial cost of the fabric.

Training

Woman sewing at Imiza Moyethu

The trainees start learning to sew on hand sewing machines, which are much less powerful and easier to learn on than an industrial-strength machine like the one we purchased.  Nobandla says she has people practice sewing on pieces of paper initially, just to get used to the machine.  They start off practising straight lines, then move on to circles, and then triangles.

In addition to training the seamstresses how to sew, they also train them in simple business skills, since all the women will be running her own micro-business.  They stress budgeting and accounting skills, so they have the financial foundation to keep running a healthy and profitable business.  Once they have moved passed the training stage, a good seamstress can earn in the vicinity of R 2500 to R 3000 a month (which is equivalent to roughly $330 to $400). This compares very favourably with the average R1600 monthly wage of many domestic workers who must travel to work closer to Cape Town centre, often requiring a 1-2 hour commute each way.

Management

Nobandla stands in the Imiza Moyethu sewing centre

Nobandla told us that, as the manager, she has to record how many people show up to use the machines every day.  She must also keep track of the project’s money and report its financial status to a steering committee at the end of each month.  She is also the person who typically performs the training, although some of the other seamstresses that work there are also qualified to teach.

Potential Relationship with the Indlovu Project

Our co-researcher, Bongi, (left) poses with a seamstress from Imiza Moyethu (right)

Since Imiza Moyethu is so close to Monwabisi Park and appears to be very successful, establishing a strong relationship with this centre could be very helpful in the successful launch of a new sewing centre in Monwabisi Park.  One idea is to have them establish a second centre as a satellite to their Harare initiative in one of the community centres run by the Indlovu Project.  The manager of this centre could be either an experienced seamstress from Harare or an individual from Monwabisi Park who could be trained at the Harare centre.  Monwabisi Park residents may be more inclined to work under someone else from Monwabisi Park, even though they might not have as extensive training as someone from Harare might.

A collaboration like this between Imiza Moyethu and the Indlovu Project could be very successful.  Imiza Moyethu has the knowledge, skills, and experience to run a sewing centre, and the Indlovu Project has physical space, equipment, and demand for goods. By allowing an already successful operation to run the new sewing centre, it avoids re-inventing the wheel and cuts down on the possibility of mistakes due to inexperience.

Even if Imiza Moyethu is not interesting in setting up a sister site, there is still much the Indlovu Project can learn from how they run the organisation.  They can be turned to for advice and could perhaps train some people from Monwabisi Park who could be in charge of setting up the new sewing centre.