For our "do it all" housekeepers, our little camp is a home-from-home

They're the behind-the-scenes stars of Pungwe's show, keeping the camp looking spick and span, creating perfection in each guest tent and generally helping out wherever they are needed on a day-to-day basis... Meet our "housekeepers" - the lovely ladies who do so much more than just keep house!

For Patience Mathebula, Lucky Seya, Emmah Mathebula and Salphina Khosa, Pungwe is not just somewhere they work - it's their home-from-home, where they spend the majority of their time with their Pungwe family, helping to support their families in the process.

Their jobs in camp have changed their lives for the better, and each and every guest who comes to stay at Pungwe has a direct, positive impact on each of these amazing women, especially now that tourism is recovering from the scourge of the COVID19 pandemic and is once again making significant contributions to the communities on the borders of the Manyeleti.

Although housekeeping is their core role in camp, the ladies also help in the kitchen and serve food at mealtimes, working as a tight, well-oiled team of dedicated "do it alls"!

Patience has been at Pungwe for eight years. She wasn't working before she joined the team and had been struggling to support her 12-year-old son and mother who live with her at home in the small village of Gothenburg, just outside the Manyeleti's main gates.

"I am very lucky that I managed to get a job at Pungwe," she says. "I love my work and take enormous pride in making the rooms look lovely and making sure guests have a wonderful time," she says.

Lucky is also from Gothenburg and has been a member of the Pungwe team for nine years, providing for her two children, aged 18 and 12. Being at Pungwe has changed her life, she says. "I was unemployed before I came here. I was afraid of what would happen to us, but now I can support my family and my children have a bright future - my oldest wants to be a teacher and the youngest wants to become a safari guide."

For Emmah, Pungwe means everything. "I am married to Pungwe," she laughs! "Pungwe is my husband and is very, very good to me!" She's the head of housekeeping and has been at camp since 1998. She's from the nearby village of Hluvukani where her family of four boys and "lots" of grandchildren live. She's put all of them through school thanks to Pungwe. Now they all have good jobs. 

Salphina Khosa came to Pungwe in 1992. She's also from Hluvukani. It's her first job, and, she says, she'll never leave. She provides for her five children and two grandchildren and is happy to stay where she is until she retires. "I wouldn't be anywhere else. I love it here and love working in the bush. It's my home," she says.

"Tourism is very valuable to all of us," says Salphina. "This virus has been very bad for all of us, but we are a strong family and take care of one another here at Pungwe." Now that guests are once more filling this wonderful little bush camp, the ladies are confident that the future is looking bright and that Pungwe will go from strength to strength.