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Nonhlanhla Manganye spent almost ten years working as a journalist while quietly grinding away behind the scenes and feeding crew members on South African film sets.
Although splashing headlines at the country's national broadcaster paid the bills, a passion for filling bellies was what really drove her, so much so that she has now gone from not only catering, but also building her very own culinary school, Kushinda Training Academy.
The academy in Florida, west of Johannesburg, which offers accredited culinary courses, is named after her lifelong efforts to make a success out of her catering journey. Kushinda, in Swahili, means to win.
“I learnt how to cook with heart; you don’t have to use the fanciest of ingredients; you should just cook with heart and soul,” Manganye said.
Speaking to City Press on Saturday at her school, Manganye, who has catered for various SA film productions, told City Press:
“My love for cooking comes from the taste of natural ingredients at home. I was raised by my grandparents for the first six years when my mom was finishing college and my dad was trying to figure out his life.”
Manganye explained that she enjoyed seeing the lushes, the greens, and the mangoes. Growing up in Phongola, Kwazulu-Natal, Maganye used to love eating isinkwa sombila (cornbread).
“My other grandmother would come from Eswatini, bringing leeches. We would feast as children and that is what we knew, and then when we moved to town, the taste of food was completely different.”
Being spoilt with the natural sweetness of harvested foods back at her home, Manganye thrives on bringing that nostalgic sense to every dish.
“My grandmother would spend hours cooking porridge, and she would squeeze fresh lemon. I still remember the lemon tree she would get lemons from while she was cooking in the kitchen. She was a great cook, even when she got blind. She would make the most amazing vetkoeks as if she could see and ask us to take her to the stove,” added Manganye.
The culinary star also spent 10 years as an editor and programme manager for SABC.
“I was still a journalist while working in the catering space. I majored in print journalism but did not practise it. I did broadcast journalism then I became a video editor. I worked behind the scenes and in postproduction. That is how I got introduced to catering in the film space,” she said.
MaNganya registered her company in 2010 and in 2013, she started doing business and ventured into the eventing space.
“I did two weddings, one did not go as envisioned, and I managed to do the other one well because I wanted to exit the eventing space properly,” she explained.
When asked why she started her own school, Maganye said:
In addition to that, Manganye expressed that she wanted to curb unemployment and turn dreams into reality: “I want people to love traditional food,” she elaborated, adding that she was liaising with institutions for funding opportunities so that matriculants from all backgrounds could access her course.
“We have a lot of industry partners who are willing to make sure that the youth who want to study culinary arts can enrol in it,” she added.
