Marang Cake, Bread, and Catering Co-operative
Name of the Co-operative
Marang Cake, Bread and Catering Co-operative. Marang is a Setswana word meaning the “dawn of the new day”.
Date of Incorporation
14th July 2001.
Economic Activity
The co–operative is engaged in cake and bread making as well as catering services. It operates in both the manufacturing and services sectors of the economy.
Organisational Form
The co-operative is organized as a worker co-operative. All its members are full-time employees and owners of the co-operative.
Area Served
The co-operative operates within the geographic area surrounding the Mafikeng District Municipality in the North West province of South Africa. It also exports its products to Botswana, the neighbouring state.
Story of the Co–operative
The initial conception was to create a business entity to produce bread and cakes as well as providing catering services to the community developed during the festive season of 2000. The idea came about as a result of four young unemployed people, highly skilled in baking, realising that there was a market in the community for quality baked goods. This realisation came about after they had baked for, and catered to, a local wedding ceremony.
These four young men then decided to pursue the business idea by consulting with their first client (the wedding groom) to discuss the feasibility of their business idea. This client, who possessed a diploma in Human Resources Development in Business Management, decided to join the group, together with his wife, who was also unemployed at the time.
After its first meeting, the group consulted government officials in the office of the Premier of North West Province for advice and assistance with the formulation of the business plan. A number of meetings and consultations followed, after which the group agreed to form a youth worker co-operative with the support of the Department of Agriculture, whose mandate was to promote and support co-operative development in the country. The group had by now grown to seven members and had started a process of recruiting an additional seven young people.
On May 14th 2000, the group held the formal co-operative founding meeting. The minutes and resolutions from that meeting were then sent to the Department of Agriculture for filing, along with further requests for help in training of the newly elected board of directors. The board of directors, composed of five youth leaders, then went through a one-week course of leadership and basic management skills offered by the Department.
Vision / Purpose / Goals
The vision of the co-operative is to provide good quality baked goods for the community through initiatives that create jobs in the community and fight poverty.
Mission Statement
The mission statement of Marang is: to bake and distribute bread products through cost effective methods that will ensure maximum job creation through co-operative enterprise.
The co-operative model was chosen because of its emphasis on equality, equity, and solidarity, and – above all – its commitment to democratic values and principles. It also fits with the needs and aspirations of the members as it empowered them to understand democratic values whilst at the same time insuring economic empowerment. These values have been shared with the broader community.
Starting the Co-operative
As indicated above, four pioneers combined their business concept with their existing baking skills to start the co-operative. Other support has been as follows:
| Organisation | Type of Support |
| 1. Premier's Office | Initial workshops and linkages |
| 2. University of North West | Training on Basic Business Management Skills |
| 3. Department of Agriculture | Training of Board Members |
| 4. Department of Economic Development per cent Planning | Initial Funding and Capitalisation |
| 5. NCASA | Training on the co-operative concept |
| 6. Umsobomvu Youth Fund | Capitalisation of the co-operative and skills development; mentoring support through NCASA; training through the Department of Labour |
| 7. PRASCO (Progressive Association of Co-operatives) | Continuous training on co-operative concept[s] and linkages. |
| 8. Entrepreneurial Support Centre (ESC) | Location and security of an operational place for the co-operative; drafting of the business plan |
Member contributions also helped fund the first production circle.
Organisational Structure
Members elect the board of directors, and it is accountable to them. In addition to the members and the board of directors, two committees have been established. The Financial Committee provides an oversight on financial practices and the Disciplinary Committee monitors adherence to the Co-operative Statute and Code of Conduct. The general administration and management of production is administered by co-operative worker members.
Initially, co-operative members were not able to draw a salary and worked for the co-operative on a voluntary basis as they wanted the business to grow to a level where it would generate income in a sustainable way. The expectation of members was that once the co–operative had grown to the desired level, they would begin to reap the benefits.
Links to Community
The co-operative has currently provided substantial benefits to local communities by supplying small shops with affordable bread; it has provided 14 young people with some means of a livelihood, and it has assisted in demonstrating the value of the co-operative model to other young people in the community. Today, Marang is assisting in the development of 14 youth co-operatives in the Mafikeng area.
Future plans
In the short term, the co-operative would like to purchase some additional equipment for the bakery and a vehicle to ensure that it is able to produce in greater quantity for sale on the premises or for delivery within a wider market area.
Lessons learned
The lessons learned in the establishment of the co–operative are as follows:
The co-operative members have learned during the process of establishing their co-operative that there is a need for a collaborative and integrated approach to co-operative development by all stakeholders, such as government departments, municipalities, local educational institutions and civil society organisations. In addition, they have learned the value of co-operation among co-operatives, as they have been able to assist other co-operatives starting up to become established by developing the necessary skills to ensure effective management.
Umsobomvu is a Nguni word for "a rising dawn". The Umsobomvu Youth Fund (www.youthportal.org.za), created in 1998 with a fund of one billion Rand, exists to encourage youth employment, to help young people organize and secure the training to enter into the labour force. Unemployment is a major issue in South Africa, where 7.8 million of the 19 million young people are unemployed - and the numbers of unemployed grow by 400,000 a year. The Fund has helped many young people in South Africa to start new co-operatives.
