'This is not a programme for breadwinners': Laduma Ngxokolo responds to Maxhosa residency uproar

• Local luxury fashion brand MaXhosa came under fire this week after the company advertised a two-month residency programme whose remuneration was considered 'exploitative'.
• MaXhosa has openings for 30 qualified applicants to work for the company for a R4 000 monthly stipend.
• MaXhosa founder Laduma Ngxokolo says the programme is 'not for breadwinners'. 
• For more stories, visit the Tech and Trends homepage. 

Luxury clothing brand MaXhosa sparked mixed reactions on social media this week after announcing a two-month residency programme that was deemed exploitative by several Twitter users.

The company is looking for 30 qualified individuals to intern within the fields of marketing, social media, videography, photography, human resources, finance, design, pattern-making, retail and sales – all for a R4 000 monthly stipend.

In the announcement, MaXhosa founder Laduma Ngxokolo said the company was looking for applicants with either a national diploma or a degree in the relevant fields.

Twitter reacts

The stipend did not sit well with many South Africans, who called the programme exploitative, especially for a luxury brand.

"R4000 per month?! That's not even enough to buy one MaXhosa bra. Please, please don't exploit cheap labour to make, market and sell expensive clothes and decor, and call it a 'residency'," said one Twitter user.

"As an intern, in 2011, I was making R5 000 a month and even then my parents had to support me," another user said.

"Please tell your HR department that these terms are unacceptable. It's shameful to pay people peanuts," said another.

But others defended the fashion brand, saying an internship is an opportunity to gain experience, not necessarily gainful employment

"This an opportunity to acquire experience … A stipend is meant to assist with personal expenses ... not to solve your financial problems, feed your family or make up for your parents' failures. If you think R4 000 is too little then good luck finding something else," said one user.

Another echoed this sentiment: "People in the replies are more concerned with comfort than the skills the candidate will learn. Such programmes are designed to not only empower one with skills but to test their commitment."

MaXhosa responds

In an interview with News24, Ngxokolo said the programme is an opportunity aimed at helping those who need experience in formal employment. 

"We decided that, with the special knowledge that we have to offer, how about we get graduates and train them in different fields, where they will be trained by existing employees.

"We're not starting from ground zero, where we don't have an HR person … we are just avoiding the burden of having people who are supposed to operate like professionals operating in an intern-type of delivery," he said.

A R4 000 elephant

Ngxokolo said the programme would pay successful applicants out of the company's coffers, without the help of government organisations.

He conceded that R4 000 may not be the ideal remuneration, but said: "This is not a programme for breadwinners, but it will prepare you to be a breadwinner."

"One of the reasons we opened the opportunity to that number of people is that we don't want this to attract people who are in it for money. We want it to attract people who are in it for value."

He reminisced on a time when he, aged 22, interned at a manufacturing design facility for a month.

"I learnt a lot from that factory and, to my surprise, at the end of the programme I got remuneration… [that was] less than R1 500. Of course that was a long time ago, but the value that I got out of the programme ... gave me confidence.

"That's when I decided that I want to own my own factory. I never had to ask for a job. A month after I graduated, I started my own company because of that programme I had taken up. It added so much value and weight to my qualifications," he said.