“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams”
Eleanor Roosevelt
Sewing has been engrained in Lunga Cebekhulu’s blood since he was a young boy, inspired to create original garments out of old clothes from his grandmother’s wardrobe. Recognising his creativity and potential, Lunga’s mum nurtured his budding skills and encouraged him to study Fashion Design at Tshwane University of Technology. In 2018, he went on to start his own brand called CZENE.24 which is inspired by urban street style and features a range of modern unisex garments which are beautifully crafted in environmentally friendly, sustainable fabrics.
Lunga joined Progression’s Sewing Hub as a learner earlier this year to acquire more experience and further develop his sewing skills. He also envisages that the learnership will provide him with the business and management skills required to boost his brand and establish and grow his own business – his long-term goals include owning his own store as well as a clothing factory that uses only sustainable fabrics and manufacturing processes. His designs have recently garnered considerable attention with him being named as one of 8 finalists for SA Fashion Week in October and his collection is also being showcased by Africa Rise, a platform aimed at positioning African designers in prime retail spaces.
With South African youth bearing the brunt of the highest unemployment rate in the world, Lunga gratefully acknowledges the significant opportunities provided by a learnership. He explains, “What I like about the learnership is that I do what I love and at the same time, I get to improve my CV with a qualification. I’m going to use this experience to my advantage and grow through the support they provide.”
Progression’s Sewing Hub is one of a number of SMMEs which has been set up to address the deep challenges of poverty, unemployment and skills shortages in South Africa by creating sustainable employment opportunities, while at the same time providing a variety of solutions for hosted learnerships and enabling businesses to enjoy valuable B-BBEE benefits. “Small businesses represent the lifeblood of the economy and provide huge opportunities to create employment and stimulate economic growth,” says Beth Cook, CEO of Progression and co-founder of Progression’s Enterprise Hub model. “The focus of our hubs is on skills development for previously disadvantaged learners and the intention is that these small businesses can become sustainable and thrive on their own, without having to rely on corporate South Africa for employment.”
The Sewing Hub has also been instrumental in the realisation of another dream – Kristen Hurst, Programme Manager at Progression, had a vision of creating a modern baby range that blends practicality and understated beauty. After many late nights, endless fabric testing, tweaking of patterns and a few initial disappointments, the Mini Mango brand was born earlier this year with Kristen entrusting the production of her new range to Progression’s Sewing Hub.
Kristen explains, “After having my own Mini Mango (my precious baby girl, Kyra) I wanted to give South African moms a baby brand providing must-have baby items that are high quality, luxurious and practical, but most of all affordable. With a vision of a beautiful brand, I needed to find the skills to make this vision a reality. I found those skills in the Progression Sewing Hub – a group of creative, talented and dependable individuals who, when presented with my idea, were as excited as I was to get this off the ground.” Despite some initial challenges around sourcing of appropriate fabrics and getting the patterns right, the brand has been incredibly successful with growing sales, both online as well as at various pop-up markets.
Progression’s employment hubs are all about up-skilling and empowering people for the future and creating sustainable livelihoods; at the end of the programme, learners can continue as employees in the hub or they can choose to take the skills and experience acquired through the programme and apply them to start their own small businesses. The model is therefore designed to support the creation of sustainable livelihoods in order to reduce unemployment and improve standards of living; the end goal is to assist individuals to overcome poverty and earn a living, leading to long-term economic growth for themselves, their families and their communities.
