As Women's Month continues, the Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality has marked the celebrations with a practical demonstration of its commitment to women’s economic empowerment, handing over essential equipment and resources to two women-led projects in the municipality.
The handover formed part of the Municipality's broader efforts to commemorate and empower women, ensuring that female entrepreneurs were equipped with the resources needed to grow their businesses and uplift their communities.
The first project to benefit is Mdange Awake, a sewing enterprise based in KwaMaqoma and owned by a group of women who specialise in sewing school uniforms, driven by their belief in the dignity of every young child in school. The project received an Industrial Double Needle Machine and an Industrial Sewing Machine, along with a range of fabric materials, including Textrex fabric, Cotton twill, Quantic fabric, and Triacetate roll, to support garment production and strengthen the project's capacity to operate at scale.
With this equipment, Mdange Awake no longer needs to travel long distances to source material, freeing up funds previously spent on transport and materials to be redirected toward other areas of the business.
The second project to benefit is P-3 Piggery, owned and run by a group of young women in Khwezana Village, eDikeni, who are redefining agriculture in their community and creating job opportunities for local youth. The project received feeding equipment and stock feed supplies, including Pig Grower, Sow and Boar meal, Maize, and Pig Weaner feed, totaling about 80 bags of different feed, to support the sustainability and growth of the piggery operation.
Mayor, Nomhle Sango, described the two handovers as a clear demonstration of the municipality's commitment to women's economic empowerment, noting that supporting Mdange Awake and P-3 Piggery reflected the kind of practical, hands-on investment needed to help women-led businesses grow, create local jobs, and build lasting economic independence in their communities.
Nokulunga Mngcongco, a representative of Mdange Awake projects, expressed deep gratitude for the support, explaining that the equipment would change how the businesses operate day-to-day. She noted that they previously had to travel out of town to buy fabric, incurring transport and material costs that ate into their income. With the new machines and stock on hand, those savings will now go towards growing the business further, training more women, and taking on more orders.
The Municipality reaffirmed its dedication to walking alongside women-led projects, ensuring that its commitment to women's empowerment went beyond words to tangible resources that drove real and lasting change on the ground.
