Mama is popular for selling vegetables

SIBUSISO NDLOVU Glory Mahlabane, 52, from Mambumbu travels approximately 20 kilometers to Acornhoek everyday to sell her vegetables. Mahlabane started her small business in 2000, a popular hawker is known by selling vegetables. She sells her vegetables across the road near Spar parking. Despite the fact that there are negative stereotypes about hawkers, this mean nothing to her as she keeps on expanding her business every day. People know her as Mama Glory, selling vegetables helps her to generate money to support her family. “Life is too hard as I have seven children who are depending on my small business, my husband is unemployed”, said Mama Glory. Mama Glory says she doesn’t think that working in a hawker stall is a good idea, as people think that she is crazy, “this negative stereotype affect me emotionally because every day when I have to go to work I have to deal with criticism it is painful to know that I don’t enjoy the work that I’m doing”, she said. Lungile Dlamini is a student at Ehlazeni FET College and also Mama Glory’s customer, he says to be a hawker is difficult for many people. Dlamini thinks that the most difficult thing about it is to build a customer base. “I urge people to stop criticizing hawkers because these people they have skills even though they are uneducated but they know how to attract customers”, said Dlamini. Lessons can be learn from country like Singapore where citizens prefers to buy food from hawkers than to buy in big shops, Singaporeans have proved us wrong that our perception and stereotype towards hawkers is false the perception that many people have is that hawker are just uneducated people therefore they don’t deserve support.