Lunga Booi: A Taking Care of Business Success Story | Repair Programme (Cape Town)
My name is Lunga Booi. I stay in Khayelitsha. I am 34 years old. I have 2 children, and I also take care of my father. I joined the TCB Repair programme in February 2023.
I completed my matric in 2009, but I was jobless with no hope. I was depending solely on my R350.00 social grant. I faced the challenge of finding a job. I had a business idea of opening my own contracting company, but I couldn’t register it due to financial problems. I was confused and even considered joining gangsters because they seemed to have money without jobs.
Why did I join TCB? I wanted to gain skills and become financially free!
My journey was not an easy one. When I started at TCB, it was good, but then I lost my mother during the second month of the programme. That was a massive setback for me emotionally. But you know what? Everything I needed to help me during this time was at TCB. I went for counselling, and it helped me a lot.
Coaching is playing a big role in my life. Now, I can think properly before doing something. Business is going well so far, but I’m still working on making more sales. This journey never ends. TCB is helping us onto a better road.
I’ve changed a lot during this time – even my family is not used to my new personality! I like the new me: confident, ambitious, and proud. I want to keep developing myself.
One day, I want to own my own construction company.
It’s tough to join Repair and run your own business (much tougher than just working in an easy job), but it’s worth it in the long run.
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Taking Care of Business (TCB) is a nonprofit social enterprise. We are empowering unemployed South Africans and their families to escape the cycle of poverty through small business opportunities, mostly within the circular economy.