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Catherine Luthaga, Product Owner
 


Vha-Venda Hills B&B

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First-time visitors to Soweto and South Africa are invariably full of questions, says Catherine Luthaga, owner of the Vhavenda bed and breakfast in Orlando West. They’re often also full of apprehension.

“When we pick up guests from the airport they’re amazed at the standard of our roads,” says Catherine. “And they want to know: do we have things like electricity and running water? Sometimes they say they had no idea whether we had these things.”

Catherine got into the hospitality industry through her husband, David, a tour guide whose customers asked him where they could sleep in Soweto. It was those questions which prompted Catherine to join forces with seven other local women who were starting their own B&Bs. Vhavenda, just off Soweto’s famous Vilakazi Street, opened for business in 2002.
Nowadays three-quarters of guests are from overseas. “They come from all over the world,” says Catherine, “the US, the UK, Germany, Sweden and Australia.”

Vhavenda is in a house which belonged to David’s parents but which he and Catherine have owned for more than 20 years. Vhavenda’s unique selling point, says Catherine, is its hospitality. “We make sure that people feel really at home,” she says.

Those who stay for more than a couple of nights invariably feel right at home, not just at Vhavenda but in Soweto. Catherine says that staying in the township is quite unlike sleeping at a hotel or guesthouse in the suburbs. “In Soweto, guests can walk around and the locals will talk to them, ask them where they’re from, tell them about their lives. You can even visit people in their homes. That doesn’t happen in the suburbs. And Soweto is actually safer than the suburbs.

“That is the other thing most visitors want to know about. They’re anxious about security. They all want to know how safe Soweto is. After a few days they tell us that what they’d seen in the media, on TV, about South Africa, was nothing like the reality.”

At night, says Catherine, her guests sometimes walk to restaurants or just stroll around the neighbourhood, chatting to people. Not everyone staying in the township hires a car, she says, adding that the minibus taxi networks mean that it’s easy – and cheap – to get around. “We teach our guests the [hand] signals [used to flag down taxis] and off they go. Sometimes, if someone is staying with us for a while we will go with them, say to the Maponya Mall, to show them how it’s done but most of the time people don’t need to be shown. It’s really easy using taxis.”

Catherine prides herself on her full English breakfasts but for those staying for a while she sometimes prepares something special: vetkoek and smoked snoek (a traditional South African fish delicacy) with achaar, a spicy sauce. Or she will serve up soft maize porridge. “People appreciate the personal touch, and I think that’s why so many of them keep coming back and why a lot of people recommend us to their friends.”

Several of Catherine’s guests have become regulars – and friends – who come back year after year. A group of French artists, for instance, have been staying for two or three weeks a year since 2004. During the day the French group train young performers from a nearby squatter camp who then take part in one of South Africa’s leading arts festivals.

Catherine – who sold pots for 15 years before opening Vhavenda – says her dream is to see the “house full” signs going up at the B&B year-round. Helping her to achieve that goal, she says, is TEP. “They are the only organisation that can help us get where we want to go,” says Catherine. “They’ve helped us with marketing; things like brochures and business cards. And they’ve helped us get training, for instance in presenting ourselves at exhibitions and how we interact with clients. I’ve been to [travel trade show] Indaba for the last five years.”

Catherine is an enthusiastic supporter of TEP’s Soweto tourism cluster. “Oh yes, I do believe it’s going to work,” she says. “It’s much better to market together. Many ideas are always better than one idea.”
 
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