Gulathi Community Development Trust in Matobo is equipping women and other community members with skills in the arts, agriculture, and business to help them develop products, generate income, and build enterprises rooted in Ndebele culture.
The initiative, which officially opened on 10 May 2026 and became operational at the end of June, is intended to provide community members with practical skills that can eventually enable them to produce goods for sale and supply markets in urban areas.
Speaking to CITE in Matobo on Thursday, entrepreneur, business consultant and coach and founder of the trust, Dot Bekker, said the initiative was established to help women develop their artistic skills while creating opportunities for them to become economically active.
“The intention is to help the women here to develop art. If we can encourage them to do art and make things, the centre can become active. The centre started to be active at the end of June 2026, but we officially opened on the 10th of May. The idea is to create a space where women can develop their creativity, learn practical skills and turn what they can make with their hands into something that can generate an income,” Bekker said.
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Bekker said the programme went beyond arts and crafts to include clothing, furniture, fabric production and agriculture, with a focus on developing products that reflect and build on Ndebele culture.
“We are teaching the women to make clothes, furniture and fabric , to also create a unique brand of the Ndebele culture. I believe that the Ndebele culture should develop their own unique brand and style. We need something that they can call their own. We want to develop using patterns that the women here develop. We want to develop a unique design that represents the Ndebele culture. My belief is that no culture stands still, culture moves. We can take what was developed long ago and align it with the new cultural designs we have now. In that way, we can preserve the culture while also allowing it to develop and remain relevant to the present generation,” Bekker said.
The trust is also providing business training to help participants understand how to turn their skills and products into sustainable businesses.
Bekker said the training was currently being offered twice a week and was free for the year, with the long-term goal of helping participants sell their products in urban markets and generate income.
“We are teaching women business skills for them to better understand the business side of things. Currently, right now, we open twice a week and the lessons are for free for this year. Eventually, we would want them to make things and later sell them in the markets in town and make money from the produce they make. It is important for people to understand not only how to make products but also how to run a business, how to market what they produce and how to turn those skills into a source of income. The aim is for the people to eventually become independent through the skills they are acquiring here,” Bekker said.
Gulathi Community Development Trust chairperson Rafaelo Ndlovu said the programme was primarily aimed at empowering women, although men were also welcome to participate.
He said the initiative was introduced in response to economic challenges faced by women in the community, particularly limited opportunities to contribute financially to their households.
“The major aim for this course is to empower women mainly, but men are also welcome. The major thing that was a problem in the community is that women are mostly undermined. This course was for women, but men dominated. Why is that so? If you go to any household, finances are brought in by men. They are the miners and farmers, so we are trying to create a balance. Women should also bring a certain type of income into the household. Our culture also undermines women and children, and we want to change that situation by giving women skills that can help them become economically active and contribute to their families,” Ndlovu said.
Ndlovu said the trust also wanted to challenge the perception that moving to urban areas in search of employment was the only route to economic success.
He said community members could instead develop the skills needed to supply goods and services to businesses operating in towns.
“Our young women want to go to town and get employed by the vendor. Where does the vendor get their supplies from? They purchase it from us, the suppliers. So how do you become a supplier and end up working for your customer? They feel like going to town is a breakthrough, but it is actually not. The breakthrough is understanding how people make money in town. We are trying to teach the people here how they can be suppliers to the people in town so as to create an income for themselves. Instead of always looking for someone to employ you, you can learn how to produce something that people need and become the person supplying that product,” Ndlovu said.
He said the programme was intended to change attitudes towards income generation by encouraging community members to identify business opportunities in their surroundings.
“We are trying to change their mentality on how to make money. The mindset has to change. People need to understand that there are opportunities within the community and that they can create an income without necessarily leaving the community to look for employment. If people understand how the market works, what products are needed and how they can produce and supply those products, they can create opportunities for themselves and their families,” Ndlovu said.
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