Zandile Khumalo
Zandile Khumalo a talented female carpenter from Pimville, Soweto is a builder of Wednyhouses - beautiful housing structures made from scratch with wood.
She started a company called Libolethu Wendy's in 2022 with stipends she'd saved up from her internship at a prior employment where she was a volunteer. Initially her interest primarily was in how to make cupboards and similar products but her dedication and tenacity led her craftsmanship down this golden path of building - She is currently a brand ambassador for this company where she interned.
Khumalo, 26, has employed 13 people in her company where she is currently the only female. They build Wendyhouses, log cabins and guard rooms, service neighboring countries and now looking to expand oversees. She hopes to increase her company's success and employ more people including women, "I am looking to employ more ladies in the future".
Advising women looking to work as carpenters to believe in themselves and give their work their all, she says: "As much as it's a male-dominated industry, if they've got an interest or passion for the sector, they should do it. It's fun once you get used to it. Nothing can stop them from being carpenters; if men can do it, so can women".
Zandile Khumalo finds joy in every little aspects of her job: "I love the painting part, even though it's very tiring, but I get to paint most structures, which is one of my favourite things... I have a good team, and we work well together; if one person is busy with the panels, the other is doing the foundation, and so on."
source: Breifly.co.za