{"id":865588,"date":"2026-07-21T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=865588"},"modified":"2026-07-21T15:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T13:42:08","slug":"the-woman-who-makes-r720000-braaiing-chicken-pieces-in-one-of-south-africas-most-populated-townships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/865588\/the-woman-who-makes-r720000-braaiing-chicken-pieces-in-one-of-south-africas-most-populated-townships\/","title":{"rendered":"The woman who makes R720,000 braaiing chicken pieces in one of South Africa’s most populated townships"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Miss Mafumo has built a thriving small business in Diepsloot, Johannesburg, by serving braaied chicken, steak and pap to local residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her business generates about R60,000 in revenue each month, or around R720,000 a year, which highlights the role of the township economy in supporting households and creating jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miss Mafumo\u2019s business, Hile Kaya, is one of thousands of informal businesses operating across South Africa’s townships.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These enterprises form part of the country’s informal economy, which provides employment for millions of people while supplying affordable goods and services to their communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scale of this economy has become increasingly apparent as traditional trade continues to outperform many formal retailers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to NIQ South Africa’s latest State of the Retail Nation report, traditional trade outlets generated R43.1 billion in sales during the first quarter of 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By comparison, modern retail channels, including major supermarket chains and online platforms, recorded much slower growth, with unit sales increasing by just 1.7%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditional trade includes spaza shops, township traders, informal food vendors, taverns and independent wholesalers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sector alone is estimated to generate around R190 billion in annual turnover. When viewed as part of the broader township economy, analysts estimate the market could be worth roughly R900 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The informal sector is incredibly difficult to track because it operates primarily in cash, consists of fluctuating “gig” or survivalist jobs, and is largely unregistered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without formal registration, business licenses, or commercial lease agreements, these enterprises are often omitted from official corporate or government databases. However, because the informal economy is difficult to track, some analysts have suggested the true size could be closer to R1 trillion or even R1.125 trillion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The challenge of measuring the sector has fuelled debate about the state of South Africa’s economy and labour market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capitec has previously argued that its merchant and transaction data points to millions of entrepreneurs and small businesses that are not reflected in official employment statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A thriving business<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Businesses such as Hile Kaya are an example of this hidden economy. Located in Diepsloot Extension 7, the business was founded by Miss Mafumo and is run together with her husband.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diepsloot was established in 1995 to house people relocated from informal settlements around Johannesburg, and features a mix of formal government housing (RDP houses), brick homes, and dense informal settlements comprised of metal and wood shacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Official baseline data from Stats SA counts 138,329 residents, while recent estimates and non-profit reports indicate the actual number ranges from 350,000 to well over 500,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Diepsloot is not one of the absolute biggest townships in South Africa by geographic size or overall population, it is widely recognised as one of the most densely populated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is because its borders are locked in by surrounding agricultural land, a nature reserve, and high-income estates like Fourways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A representative visited businesses in South African townships to learn more about them, observe how they operate, and see how much money they make, including Hile Kaya in Diepsloot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It specialises in braaied chicken, steak and pap, with chicken meals starting at R60 and steak meals at R80.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The couple said their signature flavour comes from a closely guarded family braai spice recipe that has become popular with local customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patrons from a nearby tavern regularly buy meals there, while Sunday churchgoers often place advance orders to avoid missing out after services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a typical day, Hile Kaya generates between R1,000 and R1,500 in sales. On busy days, daily revenue ranges from R2,000 to R3,000. Customers pay either in cash or through Capitec bank transfers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The business employs four people, including Mafumo, her husband and two additional staff members. It operates from a small building where food is prepared over an outdoor braai, with a small seating area for customers who choose to eat on-site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mafumo hopes to eventually expand the operation into a fully fledged sit-down restaurant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos of Hile Kaya in Diepsloot<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A woman and her husband have built a thriving small business in Diepsloot, Johannesburg, by serving braaied chicken, steak and pap to local residents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":865953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2079582430063624304","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[25790,19911,853],"class_list":["post-865588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-diepsloot","tag-informal-economy","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865588","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=865588"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":865957,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865588\/revisions\/865957"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}