· Women from Gugulethu and surrounding areas are learning plumbing skills that can help them save money, find jobs and start businesses.
· Mother of four Nomawethu Lingani can now fix leaking taps and earn extra money by offering plumbing services to people around her.
Cape Town women are picking up plumbing tools and learning skills that can put money back into their pockets.
The Women's Plumbing Programme trains women to fix leaking taps, sinks and bathrooms.
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The free programme also gives them skills they can use to find work or start their own small businesses.
Nokubonga Mepeni, a coordinator of the programme from Education and Skills Development, said it started in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Women from Gugulethu and surrounding areas were invited to take part.
At the time, many people were losing their jobs and gender based violence cases were increasing.
"During that time, a lot of people were losing their jobs and cases related to gender-based violence were increasing. We decided to start training unskilled women so that they could work and start their own businesses," said Mepeni.
The organisers also wanted women to have ways of earning their own money instead of depending on men.
The 13 week programme takes place on Saturdays and is open to women between the ages of 21 and 49.
"We are training women on how to fix leaking taps, sinks and bathrooms and giving them new career opportunities," said Mepeni.
She believes giving women skills can also help those who are financially dependent on abusive partners.
"While we are giving them skills, we are also fighting gender-based violence because some women stay in abusive relationships because men are the providers," she said.
Single mothers are among the women being prioritised.
Mepeni said the high cost of living means mothers need more ways to earn money and support their families.
"Our economy is very bad; everything is expensive and no one can survive on their children's grant money," she said.
The programme tries to help participants find work once they have completed their training.
For 36-year-old mother of four Nomawethu Lingani, the opportunity has already changed what she can do for herself.
She said she was surprised when she first heard that the training would cost her nothing.
"When I heard about the programme, the person who told me about it said it was free and I couldn't believe it because lately, it is rare to find anything free."
Before joining, Nomawethu knew nothing about repairing leaking taps or fixing problems in bathrooms.
Now she can handle some of those jobs herself.
That means she no longer has to call and pay a plumber every time something goes wrong at home.
She can also use her new skills to make extra money.
"I can also fix things for my neighbours or anyone who needs my services," she said.
The women are already winning over customers.
Gugulethu community member Zandile Mbotho, 45, hired one of the participants to repair a leaking tap.
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She said seeing a woman arrive to do the job challenged what she had grown up believing about plumbing.
"The programme is changing how we see things because we grew up knowing that this job could be done by men," said Zandile.
She was also impressed by the price.
The woman charged her R200 for the repair. Zandile said she had previously paid between R250 and R300 for similar work.
"To be honest, I didn't expect a lady to fix it quickly and professionally, so the programme is also saving us money," she said.
Zandile plans to continue supporting the women.
For participants such as Nomawethu, learning how to repair a tap is about more than fixing a leak.
It is a skill that can save money at home, bring in extra cash and open the door to work.
