The culinary arts hold great opportunities for those prepared to work hard to develop their skills. Chef Thandolwethu Emery Mhlokomfana has done just that and today his culinary skills are growing from strength to strength. He is a talent to watch.
UNEMPLOYMENT HAS HIT the Eastern Cape particularly hard. For some young people, finding a job means migrating elsewhere in the country.
‘Growing up in the small rural town of Whittlesea near Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, I knew that finding employment would be difficult. With limited financial means, studying was not an option,’
Mhlokomfana explains.
‘My aunt lived in the Western Cape so I decided to move there to try to get work. There I found out about an internship programme offered by government, so I applied.’
His internship took him to the African Pride Arabella Hotel & Spa, Autograph Collection near Kleinmond, bringing him into the culinary field. He started off with kitchen basics – peeling vegetables and cleaning up. After six months, Mhlokomfana approached the hotel to find out about study bursaries and the hotel agreed to pay for his studies.
Studying required a huge commitment– waking up at 3am every Friday to travel between Kleinmond and Cape Town using public transport. Today he has a certificate and a diploma in cooking as well as a diploma in pastry from the South African Chefs’ Academy.
His latest venture takes him to the United States. He will join the J-1 intern/trainee programme, run by Marriott International, the international parent company of African Pride Hotels. The programme will expose Mhlokomfana to the skills of other, more experienced colleagues in the US.
This is a work-based learning programme, and he will work in different kitchens at various restaurants in Marriott’s Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Centre. He will also have the opportunity to travel across the US as a tourist.
Mhlokomfana’s enthusiasm and positive attitude, coupled with significant talent, is bound to lead to great successes.
