{"id":835620,"date":"2025-08-28T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=835620"},"modified":"2025-08-29T08:53:59","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T06:53:59","slug":"the-domestic-worker-turned-business-owner-taking-on-one-of-south-africas-most-iconic-brands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/835620\/the-domestic-worker-turned-business-owner-taking-on-one-of-south-africas-most-iconic-brands\/","title":{"rendered":"The domestic worker-turned-business owner taking on one of South Africa’s most iconic brands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nelia Ngulube, known by many as Yaya, has gone from working as a domestic worker to forging her own rusk business empire that is quickly becoming popular across South Africa: Yaya’s Rusks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What started earlier this year as a way to earn extra income has now grown into a business that has the potential to disrupt iconic brands such as OUMA\u2019s Rusks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to BizNews<\/a> about her story, Yaya said her journey began in April when she spoke to her employer about financial difficulties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yaya recalled talking to her boss about how she was struggling financially, and her boss suggested that she try selling her delicious rusks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt first, I thought, no way, who is going to buy rusks when there are so many brands in the big stores\u2019 but we decided to give it a try, bought the ingredients, and that\u2019s how everything started,\u201d Yaya said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her ability to bake came from her time working for a family in Craighall Park years earlier. \u201cThe granny there used to teach me, and she even gave me her recipe,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver the years, I edited it, added my own touches, and eventually came up with my version.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her current product is a single flavour, muesli rusks, which she said remains her best seller. \u201cPeople always ask me for the recipe, but I haven\u2019t given it away yet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After posting about her baking on Instagram, the response was far greater than she expected. \u201cWithin weeks, I had 10,000 followers and orders pouring in,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was shocked. I couldn\u2019t believe how quickly it grew; it was a lot for me.\u201d Messages of support and offers from companies followed, with some providing free goods or looking for ways to help her expand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the growth, Ngulube has kept her job as a domestic worker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll always be a nanny,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m looking after two little twins who just turned two. They keep me busy, but during their long nap, I manage to bake.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yaya’s story not so different from OUMA Rusks<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Nelia Ngulube, known by many as Yaya.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Over the past 16 years, Yaya has worked with four different families and continues to balance childcare with her rusk business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At present, she sells between 60 and 100 bags of rusks per week, either through direct collection or by courier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her current employer, Kate Wilkinson, who works as a social media consultant, played a role in getting the word out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I heard Yaya wanted to sell rusks, I knew it would be a success if we could get her online and tell her story. We started taking videos, posting daily, and it just took off,\u201d Wilkinson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The speed of the response surprised both of them. \u201cThe support from across South Africa and even internationally has been incredible,\u201d Wilkinson added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yaya\u2019s Rusks has now partnered with Mamamac\u2019s<\/a>, a small food business, so even more people will be able to enjoy and support her rusks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The small business said it noticed Yaya was struggling to meet demand and suggested they work together to increase production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The partnership, while still in its early stages, is expected to help Yaya scale up without having to do all the baking herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Yaya\u2019s business is still relatively small, her story isn\u2019t so different from the story of the country\u2019s most beloved rusk brand, OUMA Rusks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OUMA\u2019s Rusks also began as a small-scale project in the 1930s, in the small town of Molteno in the Northern Cape. Ouma Greyvensteyn began baking rusks to raise money for missionary work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orders quickly spread beyond her town, reaching Johannesburg and other parts of the country, eventually turning the product into a household name. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For over 85 years, OUMA Rusks has been a staple in South African homes. OUMA\u2019s growth shows what is possible for small ventures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the brand is owned by RCL Foods and continues to dominate the South African market, holding a 60% market share at the end of 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Yaya\u2019s business is not as large, OUMA\u2019s Rusks shows that an idea can grow from small kitchen batches to a nationally recognised product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite its potential, Yaya noted that the business has already made a difference in her personal life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a big help. I managed to buy myself a big oven for baking, I have savings in my account, and now I\u2019m working towards buying my first car.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yaya’s Rusks <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Nelia Ngulube, known by many as Yaya, has gone from working as a domestic worker to building her own rusk empire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":835697,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[18849,20548,853,23422],"class_list":["post-835620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-biznews","tag-ouma-rusks","tag-south-africa","tag-yayas-rusks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=835620"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":836329,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835620\/revisions\/836329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/835697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=835620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=835620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=835620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}