The old adage made us believe that women belonged in the kitchen, but Rebecca Mofokeng turned it on its head. She has turned every stereotype upside down becoming the only woman to manage Bosasa’s catering unit. In fact Matshidiso Rebecca Mofokeng is one woman who is highly driven when it comes to the kitchen. She has taken her role in the kitchen as a profession. She is a unit leader in Krugersdorp Prison and her love for working with people and developing talent put her to where she is now.

As a young lass Rebecca saw her métier in food production. Her first love was farming after she matriculated. It was unfortunate for her that she could not continue with her studies due to financial difficulties. However that didn’t put her down, instead it motivated her to search for other avenues.  She was appointed as an assistant teacher at her local Primary school. She became a treasurer during that time and assisted with teaching grade 1 learners. Her passion and commitment of being a hard worker was established from there. Teaching was never her first choice but through that job she developed a sense of passion for people.

Her journey with Bosasa started when she met an old man who told her about a company that wanted female workers.  Dyambo was that company before it evolved to being Bosasa. One member of the panel of interviewers was Director Ishmael Mncwaba. She was then appointed in the position of bookkeeper.  Being in the office was not challenging enough for her. She wanted to learn more and explore. When her job kept her busy till 10 am she would not let herself sit idle. She then went to the Kitchen floor where she interacted with people more and got to share some of her experiences with them.

She equipped herself with a lot of knowledge. She helped the kitchen staff with cleaning drains, pots and cooked for the mine workers. She assisted the supervisor there (planning for the day ahead and issuing the stock). Her interest led her supervisor to teach her more about the stock sheets. To his surprise she was more advanced with paper work and learned how to do the daily analysis issue book, where they captured the invoices and stock taking.

She says: “I was hungry to learn more about the Kitchen and its people, after all my interest was to work with people.  One thing that motivated me was the relationships I built with the staff and clients.” She adds, “To this day, my team works extra hard and I never feel like I’m doing things on my own, they are always on point.” Her thirst for knowledge has been quenched by the Watson Institute for Business Leadership and Business English Communication Training at Mogale Business Park.