Tracking the News

By Anna Makhubele

Tzaneen - When Kenneth Dube, 35, started making electric bedside lamps using wood and animal horns, he never imagined he would one day receive an order for a 2010 Soccer World Cup tourism project.

Today, Mr Dube is making bedside lamps for five guesthouses which have been built in Muhlava village near Tzaneen to cater for the biggest soccer event on African soil.

The project is funded by Irish Aid, costing R15 million.

"When I was asked to make lamps for the project, I couldn't believe my ears. I know now that to succeed in life, you must persevere," he said.

Mr Dube left school in Grade 11 because of ill-health, and is now living in Sasekani village near Tzaneen with his wife and child.

He started making his lamps in 2002 after many years of unsuccessful job-hunting.

"When I started collecting animal horns to make the lamps, some people laughed at me, saying I was crazy. But I didn't care about them because I knew what I was doing," he said.

Mr Dube sold the lamps in the streets, at social grant pay-points, at government functions and alongside major roads in the area.

His business grew by word of mouth and soon he was receiving calls from curio shop owners from Phalaborwa, Giyani and even as far as Gauteng.

He now sells more than 20 lamps a month at about R50 a piece. "With the money I get, I am able to buy food and clothes for my family.”

Coba Wilsenach, a tourism officer at the Mafikeng Tourism project, said she was impressed by Dube's originality and innovativeness.

"We have asked him to design special bedside lamps for our guesthouses," she said

Mr Dube was one of more than 300 villagers who are going to benefit from the tourism project, including story tellers and traditional dancers.

The project, which is building five guesthouses and an exhibition centre in the area, is expected to be completed by the end of this year. - BuaNews