How The Social Employment Fund (SEF) Helped Thandeka Mashinini Achieve Her Entrepreneurial Aspirations
How The Social Employment Fund (SEF) Helped Thandeka Mashinini Achieve Her Entrepreneurial Aspirations. Thandeka Mashinini dreamt big, she always wanted to be a beauty therapist and own her own beauty salon. Today her dream has become a reality and she credits the Social Employment Fund (SEF) for being the stepping stone to changing her life and future.
Mashinini joined the SEF project in August 2022, as a timekeeper, with civil society organisation, Solidaridad, one of the 35 Social Implementing Partners (SIPs). During her time on the project, she never lost sight of the bigger picture or her goal of becoming a beauty salon owner. It was during her time with Solidaridad, that she gained leadership and interpersonal skills that helped support her journey.
Using savings from her earned stipend on the SEF project as seed capital, Mashinini took advantage of an opportunity to run a beauty salon at the Khayalami Hotel in Nelspruit. She has since qualified as a beauty therapist and offers massage, manicures and other beauty services at her spa. Mashinini says she lives by the Oprah Winfrey quote: “I have a lot of things to prove to myself. One is that I can live my life fearlessly”. And she is doing this day by day. “This was the first step on my journey to being fearless and I had to grab the opportunity that came my way,” she says. “However, there are a lot of things I still want to achieve.”
Mashinini says she received so much more than she expected from the SEF programme. “Working with different people from different backgrounds and learning how to lead them was an invaluable experience, it was my stepping stone to fulfilling my dream,” she says. “And although my SEF experience was in production and farming, something which I really enjoyed and might pursue in the future, the lessons I learned were more about my own abilities.”
“It helped me hone my leadership skills, gave me the confidence to believe in myself which led to taking up the opportunity to open and run a beauty salon. My focus is now on building and growing this business.” she added.
