27 Mar 2014

Vaalhoek casually means a “dry corner” in Afrikaans. This “dry corner” is a small village situated some few kilometers from Bokspits in Kgalagadi South. Without any explanation why Vaalhoek was named that way, one would hazard a guess that it was because the village was without water leading to backwardness in development.

If that was the case, Vaalhoek village is now something different. It boasts a primary school, health post, guest house, kgotla, community hall, Nteletsa 2 facilities and a shop. Although water is not abundant, people are drinking on a daily basis. In addition, it has a vibrant Village Development Committee (VDC).  

But focus here is on the “newest baby” in the village - the SAMAGET bakery. The bakery is the brainchild of three dedicated women who explored ways of how they could put bread on the table. The three women are Sarah Kamboer, Mariah Bok and Getrude Van Wyk. Actually the name SAMAGET derives from the first two or three letters of their names.

It was last year when they hatched the idea and with help from the Social and Community Development (S&CD) Department, they were funded to start their business. SAMAGET is the only main source of bread in the village and it supplies bread to Vaalhoek Primary School two times a week and also sells to individuals.

The bakery which is currently doing well is located in a prime area, where many can easily access it. Adjacent is the main kgotla while opposite is the health post and the primary school is also within vicinity.
BOPA met one of the entrepreneurs, Ms Sarah Kamboer, who was busy preparing dough and baking at the same time The other two were said to be in Tsabong for stock.

In an interview, Ms Kamboer, who was beaming with a smile, said the fact that there were no other competitors in the village, the business was doing well. Ms Kamboer, who was interviewed through an interpreter because she could only speak Afrikaans, said the bakery had made significant change to their lives as it was now their source of income.

Dedicated and focused as they are, the SAMAGET owners, with the little that they make from the bread sales, they intend to buy a vehicle to run their business. But like any other business, SAMAGET has its own problems. Although the Department of Social and Community Development helps them with transport to buy stock from Tsabong, the challenge is transporting gas cylinders which they have to bring by themselves from Tsabong.

“S&CD provides transport when we go to Tsabong, the problem is they do not transport the gas cylinders, so we end up hiring buses, which they charge P100 for that,” said Ms Kamboer. The trio is, however, optimistic that the future is bright and that Vaalhoek will no longer be dry again. With the village growing, hope is that more business entities will trickle in. Ends