While digital transformation is on the rise, micro-business entrepreneurs in communities like Alexandra are proving that some business models are timeless.
By: Alulutho Siboma
Every day before sunrise, Nozuko Ngxazisa begins her morning routine by plucking traditional free-range chickens that were delivered the day before. By 10 AM, she has already set up her stall at her regular spot at Alexandra Plaza in Johannesburg, ready to serve her customers. By the end of the day, she’s usually sold out, as she has been for the past 12 years.
“I started this business in 2013, and I have since built a loyal relationship with my customers,” Ngxazisa explains. “My customers come to me because they know me. Sometimes during the month, my customers run out of meat and ask for chicken on credit. I write their names down, but this is not a contract; it’s trust between us.”
Seven streets away, Babra Mandeka runs a business from a small container at a busy corner. At dawn, she’s already selling freshly baked scones to people going to work, taxi drivers, and school learners. Later in the day, she switches to vegetables and clothes.
“I started my business with sweets and snacks, and later expanded,” she says, as she chops spinach for a customer. “Now I bring small home necessities closer to home.”
Mandeka doesn’t have a signboard, social media, or business promotion. Yet her shelves are always stocked, and by 11 AM her scones are sold out.
TRADITION MEETS COMMUNITY NEED
Traditional business practices aren’t outdated; they cater to the real needs of the communities they serve.
“I don’t need a big sign or a physical store for my stall,” Ngxazisa says. “My customers know where to find me.”
Ngxazisa started her chicken business in 2013 after she lost her job. As a mother who had to hustle for her children, she noticed that many people eat meat daily, but freshly plucked chicken was hard to find. She used her savings as start-up capital and never looked back.
With the money she makes from sales, she’s bought a car, built her own house, and sends her children to private schools.
Neither woman works alone. Ngxazisa’s sisters help her run the stall, and when business is slow, they understand they may not be paid. In Mandeka’s case, her sons help during school holidays or after classes.
Neither has a formal business plan, formal workers, or formal working systems. What they do have is commitment and a close understanding of their customers’ lives.
LOYALTY AND TRUST AS CURRENCY
“People take products on credit,” Mandeka says. “They pay when they can. They don’t give me problems.”
Traditional business practices in townships and rural areas are thriving because they adapt quickly and are anchored in decades-old systems of trust and loyalty.
They don’t follow the same rules as formal businesses, but they operate within a logic that reflects the lived realities of millions of South Africans. They build personal relationships with customers, offer flexible pricing, change what they sell based on what people need, and provide services when formal businesses can’t or won’t.
“It’s not about fancy stores or having big supermarkets,” Mandeka says. “It’s about showing up every day and knowing your customer.”
Simply put: traditional business owners operate outside of formal systems because their methods work. They don’t need apps or marketing teams; they rely on word of mouth and long-term relationships.
And sometimes, success looks like a sold-out stall at 11 AM and customers who always come back.