A Cape Town woman has been helping put food on the table and to pay for children’s school fees by renting out just two wedding dresses to brides in Masiphumelele township.
Now, wedding dresses from across SA, London and New Jersey have been donated to Martha Machinjiri Kamanga to grow her business.
Kamanga, who moved to SA from Malawi seven years ago, works as a part-time helper and nanny.
One of her employers, Emily Sloan, heard about her “side hustle” and made a call for weddings dresses on Facebook two weeks ago.
The post went viral and within a matter of days more than 50 offers of dresses had been made.
“As a female entrepreneur, I know how hard it is and how I wished someone would just throw me a bone and give me a leg up. So when Martha told me of her initiative I was so excited at the opportunity to help. There have been over 50 offers of dresses so far with one coming from New Jersey and another from London.”
“A friend of mine saw the post and, though she has emigrated, she was so inspired that she offered to courier it at her own expense,” Sloan said.
Kamanga cried when she saw the response to the post.
“At first when Emily told me that she would post on Facebook about my dresses, I was not sure because I didn’t think anyone would donate wedding dresses to me. Then I saw post and was surprised to see how people reacted. I was so excited. I didn’t know that there are people who care like that. I was shocked that people were so positive,” she said.
Kamanga explained that she bought two dresses for her wedding in 2019.
“Someone was selling two dresses and they were not expensive. I decided that I would wear one dress for the ceremony and then change into another for the rest of the day,” she said.
Shortly after her wedding, she lost her job.
Her husband, Chancy, is a gardener and his salary could not cover the expenses at home for a family with four children.
Kamanga then began hiring out her two wedding dresses to the local community.
“They are popular because where I am staying, I am the only one doing this business, so people come to hire them. Last month, there were four weddings and people were fighting over the dresses and I only had two,” said Kamanga.
The 36-year-old hopes that her business will grow into a shop for brides in the township to choose from a range of dresses.
“I know my business won’t be the same again,” she said.
