Food vendors flock to honey-pot conference

Thobile Ntombela did a roaring trade selling plates of pap, roast beef and green salad at R80 a pop on the first day of the ANC's 55th national conference.

She started selling her food on Thursday, to an average of 30 customers, after travelling from her home in Mayville, Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal.

“I start selling from around 10am until around 8pm. The people of Joburg love beef and chicken. I am getting great support from them,’’ said Ntombela.

Ntombela, one of several traders who is hoping to make a killing during the conference at the Nasrec Expo Centre, has set up a stall outside the perimeter of the precinct due to restrictions on trading inside the conference venue.

She said she spent R4,000 this week to buy stock such as mielie meal, beef, chicken, vegetables, cooking oil and cooking utensils, among others. Other expenses were travel and accommodation.

Ntombela said she booked herself and two sisters into a hotel in Joburg until Wednesday.

“My sisters and I hired a taxi to come here. A lot of people will be here at this conference, and I want to make a lot of money so that I can support myself financially and pay my child's school fees,’’ said Ntombela.

She said they agreed that they would pay the driver of the taxi after the conclusion of the conference. 

Ntombela lives with her sister, Thando Ntombela, 21, and 15-year-old child in Mayville.

Apart from selling food, Ntombela makes a living sewing clothes in her Mayville home.