From SA streets to Jamie's kitchen
7 June 2005
A former street child will soon be off to London to train at Jamie Oliver's restaurant Fifteen. That's where 22-year-old Capetonian Mkhanyiseli Kapa plans to become an accomplished pastry chef - before returning to open a bakery and coffee shop in Cape Town's Philippi township.
Kapa, through sheer ambition and the help of the MyLife Project, left behind a seven-year life on the streets to become a chef - initially at Five Flies, then at Strega, now at Madame Zingara.
Mkhanyiseli - nickname "MK" - and 19 other former street children now have employment and accommodation thanks to the MyLife Project.
"MK is a cheerful guy and he's always eager to learn," says colleague Enoryt Appollis. "He's also very good at food decoration, which is an art on its own."
Project director Linzi Thomas describes MK as a fantastic chef and a great role model to children still on the street.
Managers at Madame Zingara, who "have great faith in him",
have been corresponding with Oliver's restaurant Fifteen on Kapa's behalf. And within the next three months he will fly to London, where Tony Elvin, training and development manager at Fifteen, will take him under his wing.
Fifteen, featured on the hit show "Jamie's Kitchen", employs chefs from disadvantaged backgrounds from all over the world. It is there that Kapa hopes to become an accomplished pastry chef.
Elvin was introduced to Kapa in December while visiting Cape Town to investigate the feasibility of opening a similar restaurant there.
"He wasn't here to scout for chefs, but he was so impressed with MK, he decided to invite him to London," Thomas said.
The only thing standing in Kapa's way now is funding for his trip to Britain. "The time of his departure depends on how soon we can find him funding," Thomas said. "We made a commitment to find him funding in Cape Town, but it's a slow process."
When he returns home, says Kapa, he wants to get
funding to open his own bakery and coffee shop in Philippi, where he lives.
"You don't get those kinds of shops in the locations," he says. "I want to make beautiful and affordable birthday cakes and pastries.
"But I love cooking - it's my favourite thing. I don't want to limit myself. I can get anything I work for with a positive attitude."
Says Thomas: "MK is multi-talented. He does modelling, he's an R&B musician and comedian ... He recently completed a 10-minute documentary that is just hilarious."
He also works hard to provide for his two-year-old daughter.
This article is republished on SouthAfrica.info with the kind permission of South Africa Times
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