A women-dominated cooperative, which manufactures toilet paper at Durbacol in Newcastle in northern KwaZulu-Natal says once their product has been approved by the SABS, they will be able to trade with retail shops.
Zamokwakhe Trading co-operative is the first toilet paper manufacturing factory owned by black women in KwaZulu-Natal.
It produces 18 000 rolls of toilet paper per day.
Chairperson of the Zamokwakhe Trading co-operative, Lindiwe Mkhize says their product is already sold to local wholesalers.
“One of our challenges is that we need SABS approval. Some of the retail shops want to trade with us, but we need SABS approval. Once we get a bigger market, we will be able to create more jobs for young people. Our intention is to operate 24 hours as that will create more job opportunities for young people in rural areas so that they will help youth to be away from drugs and women will be able to feed their families. We would like the departments to be our market so that we will generate more money.”
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala visited the manufacturer and called on government departments to support local manufacturers.
Zikalala says they want to prioritise empowering rural women.
“Our office will come to Amajuba and convene a workshop with the local municipality and all departments here train them on how to implement the policies that fast track economic transformation. We believe we must have a decisive intervention to support cooperatives such as this one and others that are involved in such work because they create much employment and they create employment where people are staying. It is very impressive that this cooperative is dominated and is led by women.”
