Gran sells homebrew to survive

Patricia Mantla is one of many poor and unemployed people in Glenmore. She has now turned to making and selling home brewed alcohol to feed herself and her family.

Mantla (54) grew up in the homelands of the Eastern Cape. Pushed by poverty, she left for Port Elizabeth, where she worked as a domestic worker to support her family. In 2001, Mantla left her four daughters behind and settled in Glenmore where where she hoped to find peace and freedom to farm.

Since then Mantla had to find different ways to earn an income for her and six grandchildren, some of whom are at school. She bought a small plot in the community’s crop field, from which hoped to feed her family. But this didn’t provide enough of an income.

Instead, Mantla focused on a more lucrative business – selling alcohol. Home-brewed mead or iqhilika is the community’s most popular and affordable drink and is sold for only R2 a pint. This business has become a last resort for many people living in underprivileged communities.

According to Mantla the drink also has medicinal properties. She believes that since bees extract nectar and other juices from various flowers and plants, honey – a key ingredient in iqhilika – contains healing properties that keeps her customers healthy.

“Even the next morning after drinking it there is no babalaas [hangover]and it encourages your appetite and sometimes cleans you out inside. My customers drink my iqhilika because they like it and none of them has reported sick from drinking it,” says Mantla proudly.

Not only are her customers satisfied but it serves to relieve the family from strife. She has had several warnings from the police about operating hours as she sometimes sells late at night – but her determination for survival is strong.

Do you think township entrepreneurs like Mantla should be able to sell alcohol without a licence?