Catering graduates raise a glass to the future
Eziko hospitality students with, from left, Italian consul Giulio Mignacca, Eziko operations manager Monwabisi Eric Bingo and Eziko founder Victor Mguqulwa.
Twenty hospitality students had reason to raise a glass last Friday after receiving certificates following six months of training at the Eziko Cooking and Catering School in Langa.
The school's director, Victor Mguqulwa, a former teacher, says the school has trained hundreds of young people since 1996 when he established it to tackle unemployment in the township.
Speaking at the certificate handover, Mr Mguqulwa said he was proud of their track record in the hospitality industry.
“Most of our students are working in hotels across the city. Our approach is that you must teach people how to fish rather than catching the fish for them."
Anathi Hada, 19, from Gugulethu, now works at the Cape Sun Hotel as a chef and is full of praise for Eziko.
“I did consumer studies in high school, and when I got the opportunity to study at Eziko, my passion for the hospitality industry grew,” she said.
Ayanda Gqwangu, 25, from Nyanga, said: “I am happy that we finally received our certificates. Eziko has many partners in the hospitality industry. I am knocking at many doors."
The school's operations manager, Monwabisi Eric Bingo, said hospitality establishments were keen to work with their trainees.
Ntlalo Jordan, the owner of Langa’s Jordan Ways of Cooking restaurant, got his training at Eziko before he joined the Mandela Rhodes Hotel in 2007.
“I am proud to say I started at Eziko. I left Mandela Rhodes to be a chef at the then new Taj hotel in 2009,” he said.
Since then, he has worked in Sudan, Sweden, Liberia and Dubai before returning home in 2018 and starting his business as a pop-up restaurant with help from Eziko. He now has 22 employees.
He encouraged the students to dream big but be practical.
The graduation was attended by the new consul of Italy in Cape Town, Giulio Mignacca, who said his predecessor had had good working relations with Eziko, and he vowed to continue in that vein.
“I recently arrived in the country, and I know Eziko is part of the programmes we support. This year, the eighth year, we are hosting Italian Cuisine Week, where we share our tradition, love of wine and passion for food,” he said.
