3 Show Notes

00:01 Sheryl Sandberg is one of Silicon Valley’s most successful and influential women, known for executive positions at Apple, Google and Yahoo, and for becoming the first female member of Facebook’s Board of Directors. Currently she is COO of Meta and Founder of LeanIn.Org

01:11 Miles Kubheka is the founder of Wakanda Food Accelerator, and a celebrated South African entrepreneur.

06:54 Gcwalisa is a mini retailer that aims to democratise nutritious food and basic household products in low-income communities by selling these items through a weight and pay model.

08:16 The SAB Foundation was established in 2010 in South Africa. Since then it has been dedicated to supporting and empowering small, medium, and micro-sized enterprises in the country. The SAB Foundation has deployed almost half a billion Rand in grant funding, business development support, and interest-free loans to over 5,000 entities.

08:38 Spaza shops are small convenience stores found in South African townships, often run from the owners’ homes

08:57 London Road was renamed Vincent Tshabalala almost twenty years ago, but can’t shake its original name.

13:24 Gcwalisa’s offices are in the Wakanda Food Accelerator offices in the 27 Boxes Precinct in Melville in Johannesburg.     

24:46 Gcwalisa’s promotional video

26:20 Piece jobs, also known as piecework or casual labor, refer to employment arrangements where workers are paid based on the number of pieces or tasks they complete rather than receiving a fixed salary or hourly wage. These types of jobs are common in various industries, including manufacturing, agriculture, and services.

27:52 The phrase 'poverty tax' is often attributed to, and was popularised by, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., an iconic civil rights leader and activist in the United States. He used this term to describe the additional costs and burdens that low-income individuals and communities face simply because they are poor. These costs can include higher prices for basic goods and services, limited access to affordable transportation and housing options, and difficulties in accessing financial services without incurring high fees. One of the best explanation of the poverty tax is given by sir Terry Pratchett through Captain Vimes, as he contemplates the buying of boots. From Men at Arms:

'The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.' - This is the Captain Samuel Vimes Boots theory of socioeconomic unfairness.

29:44 Consol Glass is a glass, ceramic and concrete manufacturing company, and is the largest glass container manufacturer in Africa, with factories in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. While Consol was officially incorporated as Consolidated Glass Works Limited in 1946, it has effectively been in business since 1944 when financiers Anglovaal acquired glass manufacturer Pretoria Glass. In 2022 it was acquired by the Ardagh group.

30:05 In 2009, Uganda implemented a ban on the importation, sale, and use of lightweight plastic bags (less than 30 microns thick). This measure aimed to reduce plastic bag usage and mitigate environmental damage caused by single-use plastics. While Uganda has taken steps towards reducing plastic waste, achieving a "plastic-free" status requires ongoing efforts at the national, community, and individual levels. In 2020, Greenpeace said 34 out of Africa’s 54 countries have either passed a law banning plastics and implemented it or have passed a law with the intention of implementation. Of those, 16 have totally banned plastic bags or have done so partially without yet introducing regulations to enforce the bans.

30:00 A ‘Checkers’, also ‘chekas’ is a plastic bag, preferably with handles. Such a bag may have OK writ large (other large South African retailer), but is still a 'checkers'... Word commonly used by non-whites throughout South Africa.

32:02 SAASA grants in South Africa refer to the South African Social Security Agency (SAASA) grants, which are government assistance programs aimed at providing financial support to eligible individuals and households. These grants are designed to help improve the well-being and livelihoods of vulnerable and low-income individuals in South Africa.

37:28 ‘Best Before’ are ‘one-stop grocery clearance stores’ that was founded by two Johannesburg businessmen in 2017, after noting the success In Europe and Australia of concept stores selling short and past-dated quality food and personal care products at highly discounted price.

40:21 Woolworths is South Africa’s upmarket grocery and clothes and lifestyle goods retailer, and is part of Woolworths Holdings Limited (WHL), which has grown into a leading retail group with a strong presence in sub-Saharan Africa, Australia and New Zealand. WHL consists of two major operating divisions: Woolworths South Africa and Country Road Group.