03 May 2022

Finally the dust settles, the thrilling, roaring vroom-vroom-vroom throaty growls of motorbikes which dominated Khawa village in the past few days has subsided. Mattresses and camping equipment are heaped up in 4X4 vehicles as tourists who had flocked Khawa Dune Challenge and Cultural Festival depart the small yet beautiful village of Khawa.

What remains is the banging and ratcheting of pots and dishes as Ms Mary Dibuleleng of Bokspits cleans up her market stall. She is all smiles humming loudly as the reporter approaches her stall. Responding in Afrikaans, “Ek het baie geld gemaak” meaning she made a lot of money.

She could not hide her excitement at the fortune she has made from sale of food such as pap and braai, hot dogs, drinks and fat cakes during the just ended Khawa Dune Challenge and Cultural Festival. 

Speaking in an interview on Monday she said business was much-much better this year when compared to yester years as she was operating from a properly constructed market stall which she paid P500 to temporarily occupy. She appreciated government for constructing the market stalls which enabled her to operate from a hygienic and dust free area. 

A beneficiary of poverty eradication scheme, Ms Dibuleleng said she shall use the proceeds to grow her small business. On the stall next to her, Ms Lydia Suping from Khuis was also all smiles at profit she had made. For her, business was galore, the only challenge was that she had under stocked and had not brought enough manpower to help her.  She admitted that she had not prepared sufficiently for the event as she did not have enough money for the stock, “next time I shall do better,” she said.

Funded by Poverty Eradication scheme with a hotdog machine, she said she shall use the profit to buy a fresh chips making machine to come back better equipped.

Ms Meleko Mosimane from Tsabong was found peeling potatoes perhaps to make fresh chips for the remaining tourists who were busy clearing the Khawa. 

She said she had bought a food stock worth P4 700 but did not have enough meat.  After selling some food she bought a goat in Khawa and made more money. 

She said had she brought meat from the beginning, she would have made more money. 

“Theko e ne e le teng ke gore hela ke ne ke sa stoka thata ka gore ke ne ke sa solofela batho ba ba ntsi,” she said.  

Located opposite the newly constructed market stalls, were temporary stalls where Ms Segametsi Lorekang from Kolonkwaneng who was selling from a temporary stall which she paid P300 for. She said that side business was not good enough as the stalls were congested, positioned far away from the crowd. She decried that some visitors cheated with mobile kitchens placing them closer to the arena where there was a large crowd. “So people could not walk a long distance from there to come and buy from us, they bought from the pirating mobile kitchens which left us with little business,” she said.  

She said she started selling at Khawa Dune Challenge and Cultural Festival in 2013 and she noticed that those who had not paid for the stalls came and sold food without permission, therefore she called for tightening of regulations.  

Also stationed at the same location as Ms Lorekang, Mr Anthony Cloete from Gakhibana was selling food and airtime and called for temporary stalls to be placed in the next event. The stalls are among a list of deliberables President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi promised Khawa residents in 2019. BOPA