Entrepreneurship

The first time I went to Khayelitsha was on a Sunday afternoon. I had spent the day lazing around, when a friend called to say he was going there to drop somebody off and asked if I wanted to tag along. In a heartbeat I said yes; it had been almost three years since I moved to Cape Town, and I had never been to this township that I had heard so much about. I decided not to have any expectations, but to rather let my experience determine my views of the many good, bad, amusing and appalling stories I had been told about Khayelitsha.

With the elections still fresh in our minds, it is tempting to dismiss the African National Congress (ANC) secretary general Gwede Mantashe's announcement of a small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) ministry as political showboating. Business owners and industry commentators can, perhaps, also be forgiven for rolling their eyes at the likelihood of more growth-inhibiting bureaucracy.
 

Youth-driven and inspired ‘Hillbrow Entrepreneurship Initiative’ (HEI) has decided to walk the talk, and are taking their own spat in the innovative entrepreneurial space they advocate.
 
The nonprofit organisation, which is focused on encouraging and supporting the entrepreneurial spirit in the 21^st Century African socio-economic climate, has taken the plunge itself and opened the ‘HEI Partnership Café (HPC).