Wonga from Hout Bay

My name is Mzikayise Lucas but i go by the name Wonga, I was born in Port Elizabeth and raised in Cape Town from the age of 3months.

I have a passion for Tourism and run a company called WongaTours, running across the Peninsula but specialising in Township Tours. I studied film and digital Media and then went on to become a chef for 2years before having to stop due to my Epilepsy. I then went into Tourism.

At the age of 28years I bought my first property in Pretoria 60by90 square metre and I see myself pushing operations that side as one of my other farms until we can afford land in Cape Town to run projects closer to townships and within them.

How did you start doing what you are doing now? 

The question is "What am I doing" 😂 I run a Tourism Company now and with the tips decided to start raising and growing my own food in trying to become healthier but also as a means to combat the City Of Cape Town about proper land use— if not for housing then for cultivating produce.

What are you most proud of in this process? 

As a person of colour I am most proud of this process because I've shown actively what it means to use land thats been neglected, to use land NOT for shack farming but for community growing of vegetables, raising of rabbits and chickens, how we can model how we farm around and within the places we call home and our communities, that everything must start small.

What is the most helpful piece of advice you received when you were just starting out?

This piece of advice I was given when I went for initiation in my Xhosa Journey of manhood and it goes "indoda ifa ifunda" which means a man dies but a man dies learning...simply meaning you never stop learning, you must never stop.

What advice would you like to give to others who are younger/earlier on their journey?

Its not attractive, its not pretty but it has got good positive outcomes so keep on going!

Peer pressure is a big one, gangsterism everywhere, friends buying expensive bottles of alcohol on weekends and then Monday back to square 1...it's not pretty saving your money to buy chickens, its not pretty digging in food bins for food to feed to your chickens but everything you do will birth something and this gives you sustainable Township development. So regardless of how it looks, "Keep on!"