Seamstress Noluthando Beja, is at her wits end after the premises from which she works was burgled for the fourth time. The self-made entrepreneur has built her business up over the past eight years, working from a disused municipal building.
However, cable thieves have not only stripped away all the building’s infrastructure, but have also stolen her equipment.
Beja’s sewing and alterations business operates from the front half of the former Sikhulise Skills Centre building in Pascoe Crescent, opposite the Port Alfred Police Station. The back half has been taken over by vandals who use it to melt stolen copper. Talk of The Town reported on this last year (TOTT 11 August 2022 p 4, ‘Fire highlights empty buildings risk’). The municipality does have a plan for the building, but meanwhile, reports of smoke emanating from the building have continued and efforts to discourage or remove vagrants have failed.
After suffering the four break-ins before, a desperate Beja asked Bonani Zweni, who repairs shoes in an adjacent building, for space to work. It was there that TOTT visited her to hear of her plight.
“This back room is very small for me to work in, but I cannot risk going back to the bigger room until more bricks are added to that brick wall to prevent the thieves from breaking into the shop,” said Beja.
All that separates Beja from amaphara who are destroying the town’s infrastructure is a brick partition which has a gap of about 2m from its top to the ceiling. This means not only does she have to endure the smoke from their criminal activities; they think nothing of climbing the wall and helping themselves to her livelihood. “The smoke was so bad that I’d struggle to breathe in the mornings,” she said.
Beja started her sewing business in June 2014, after a 15-year tenure as a sewing assistant for Sew Smart, while it was still located at the Port Alfred Duckpond Centre. “I used to work at Sew Smart in Duckpond Centre back in 1999. I started as a cleaner for two years before my boss, Loraine, taught me how to sew,” she said. “I worked for Loraine for many years, she taught me everything I know about sewing today. She was like a mother to me,” said Beja.
Every time after finishing her cleaning duties in her first two years at Sew Smart, Beja would look at how her employer sewed and she recognized her interest and decided to teach her. “I was a fast learner,” said Beja with a smile. The first items she learnt to sew were small soft fabric bags, and she excelled at it. As a fast learner, she was soon doing alterations, which today is her most sought after service from her clientele.
Beja doesn’t often take time off, so when she got the chance to visit family in Gqeberha on December 30, it meant a lot to her. But the next morning she got a call from a security company: the amaphara had struck again.
“I was so shocked because they had even stolen my clients’ clothes,” Beja said.
This time they had stolen copper cables that were connected to her electricity, along with cups, cutlery, plates and food from her fridge. They also stole sewing equipment, including boxes of cottons and some material.
The thieves also stole some client’s clothes that were brought in for alterations. “I am so worried, I don’t even know how I will inform them when they come for their collections,” said Beja, who has no means of replacing these items. She has opened a case at the Port Alfred police station.
Sadly, that wasn’t the end of it. The thieves broke in again on New Year’s Day.
This time, they had even pulled out the security company’s alarm.“They came and finished taking the other half of the copper and even took the whole electricity meter box,” Beja said. Beja showed Talk of The Town how the thieves entered through the back, climbing up the wall with a tyre, and then broke into her shop through the ceiling.
Beja has built up a strong customer base and while she’s grateful for her space in the shoe-repair shop, she is desperate to move back to her bigger work space. But she can only do that when it is secured.
She believes that raising the height of the brick wall to the ceiling would make it harder for the thieves to break in again and she is appealing for help from anyone who can assist her with bricks.
Municipal spokesperson, Cecil Mbolekwa said the municipality is planning to lease out the buildings. “The building is going out to tender for leasing purposes, it will only be then that council decide,” Mbolekwa said.
From cleaner to entrepreneur
Beja took a brave decision to open her own tailoring shop in the vacant room at the Pascoe Crescent building. “When I started I wasn’t sure if it’s gonna work but because of faith, it worked,” Beja said. And with the seamstress was already well known in town, it was not difficult to build her clientele, who grew due to word of mouth referrals. “The clients who liked my work from Sew Smart followed me to my new shop when they learnt of it,” she said.
She attributes her success to her quality work and affordable services. She uses a domestic sewing machine and an over locker machine to ensure neat patterns in her sewing. “I am very grateful to all my clients who have been supporting me over the years,” Beja said.
Though she said her former employer was initially concerned about her business competing with hers, months down the line she was fully supportive. Beja now even sends her sewing machines to her former employer’s husband for repairs.
Beja said her business has been running successfully over the years, with regular customers coming in for alterations. She has also learnt to sew items such as blouses, church uniform and basic dresses.
Apart from cable thieves, load-shedding is another challenge she has to work around. She cannot use her two sewing machines when there is no electricity, and she does not have a generator. When Talk of The Town visited Beja, Port Alfred was subjected to stage 6 load-shedding. This meant the power was cut from 11am until 3:30 pm. Beja had no option but to close shop early.
Her sewing business is her only source of income. She supports her three grandchildren, who are nine, ten and 15 years old.
Anyone able to assist assist Beja in any way can contact her on 063-140-4461.
