The clay brick business is booming in Thohoyandou, Limpopo. Clay bricks are the building material of choice for some people in the area.
Some people are turning to this business to make a living, given the high unemployment rate in the country.
The bricks are made from a combination of river sand and clay soil, without any cement.
This small brick factory has been up and running since 2007. The factory is situated at the banks of the Nandoni Dam, where they get access to water.
Video: Limpopo entrepreneur says the clay bricks business is booming
The bricks are made of a mixture of river and clay soil only. They’re left for about four days to dry after molding them and later put in a kiln to bake for four days at a higher temperature to be durable and have a red colour appearance.
The factory owner says he created this to make a living. Bricks entrepreneur Murena Singo says, “There was no job by the time we came to Dididi. There was no job so that’s when I started to see it’s better to start to mold bricks because there were not enough jobs in the area where we were staying. When I’m alone I didn’t produce enough bricks for my customers so that’s why I started to employ some other people to help me to produce more bricks.”
Singo says the mud-made kiln is carrying 80 000 bricks, which they sell at one rand each. It took them a month to mold the bricks and he has managed to employ six other people on a permanent basis. The employees say they are now able to make a living.
“I am pleased to do this kind of job because it is paying us because even our families won’t go hungry and we have got a lot to buy using the money from molding these bricks,” an employee explains.
“I am grateful to work here because I can support my family with the money I get from molding bricks. I started working here in 2018, and over the years, I have realised that I’m the best at this job. It also helps me to take care of my family,” another employee elaborates.
The brickmakers say their wish is to see their business grow and sell bricks in the international market. -Reporting by Vutivi Maluleke
