Chef Siphokazi follows recipe for success

Six months ago Siphokazi Mdlankomo was a domestic worker in Cape Town. Today she is a celebrity chef with a successful television show, a recipe book and a contract as a brand ambassador for a retailer.

Success has crept up on the pint-sized chef after she came second in the 2014 season of MasterChef South Africa.

During the show she captured the hearts of viewers with her infectious laugh. When the show ended, she returned to her employer in Newlands, where she had lived and worked as a domestic for10 years.

"After the show I went back to being a domestic worker because I didn't have anything at that time and had no choice but to keep working while I was trying to find something to do with my skills," said Mdlankomo this week.

"Last year I started working towards what I wanted to do. My ultimate dream was to have a cookbook and a show.

"In June last year I launched My Little Black Recipe Book, which was published in December, and in August last year I was appointed as Pick n Pay ambassador," she said.

In July this year, after Royco sponsored her television cooking show, she quit her job and moved into a flat in Claremont.

The 41-year-old's reality cooking show on Mzanzi Magic is Let's Eat with Siphokazi. She hosted singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka and actress Thembi Nyandeni. The 13 episodes ran from September to November.

"The show is about meeting great South African people who have been through what I have - had nothing but now are doing great things. It's also about learning from them and not only them learning from me," she said.

M-Net's Nondumiso Mabece said: "We are very happy with how the show performed.

"[The] channel would certainly consider a second season."

Pick n Pay executive Adrian Naude said Mdlankomo's role "includes attending events and creating food content for us to use on digital channels and in Fresh Living magazine".

"She is a great ambassador for our brand because people relate to her very well and she is a perfect fit for our brand. People are able to connect with her because she is both aspirational and inspirational. We also love her enthusiasm and warmth," said Naude.

The mother of a 21-year-old son said she was looking forward to 2017 because she hoped to tour the country teaching people basic cooking skills to make money, buy herself a property and start a business in Cape Town.

"Sometimes I pinch myself and ask if any of this is true. It hasn't sunk in that this is my life and I am doing great things, because I had been a domestic worker for the longest time ever," she said.