Eziko Catering School Graduation 2019

The Eziko Catering School in Langa has been training up young keen foodies to be chefs and supplying chefs into the trade for over 20 years.

I attended their most recent graduation last week - and another 35 students are now ready to take on the world of work and many of them already have jobs.  The Cape Grace has taken on a number of graduates and we heard from Venise Crossley, an alumni who works there, how the students need to keep working hard. 

There were plenty of inspirational speeches, from founder Victor Mguqulwa, to Councillor Zimkhitha Sulelo (the youngest councillor at 32), who iterated that the Western Cape has the lowest unemployment rate in the Country, to MEC for Safety and Security for the city - Councillor JP Smith, to Peter Kruger from Crown Foods, to Zukie from Spar - who showed the students that food can incorporate Retail, and she is ready to take on energetic Lulu Nongogo, who started Lulwazi Lwethu, which works with many industries, including the hospitality sector, to place graduates in the right jobs.

“I want to help fund the education of future pilots and engineers from black and rural areas''

One of Lulwazi Lwethu’s goals is to reach other parts of the continent, especially the rural areas, as she says that is where the youth with the most talent are found.

“I really wish that I could help the entire youth of the country, but with limited funding from stakeholders I am forced to restrict my intake. I am humbled to announce that about 2000 young people are employed in Cape Town through my organisation.

Well done to Eziko to continue producing sought after.graduates in the food and hospitality sector, and now also partnering with Tsogo Sun.