Soweto jewellery manufacturer is bound for London

"I started by selling cakes, ice cream and soft drinks in the township and I saved the profit so that I could open my business," he said. Now Nkosi exports jewellery designed and manufactured in Dube, Soweto, Sowetan Live reports.

Nkosi opened NQ Jewellery Design Services In 2007 and later partnered with a UK-based businessman, Paul Spurgeon, to launch the Cornerstone jewellery brand. In order to get off the ground Nkosi did jewellery repairs and later started manufacturing jewellery using gold, silver and platinum; resulting in a magnificent range of rings, bracelets and other jewellery items, which are all manufactured in the back room of a four-roomed house in Dube.

In 2009 Nkosi won the Jet Community Award and the SAB Kickstart Award in Gauteng. At the moment there is a greater demand for his designs outside the country than locally but this does not trouble him. "When something is still new, you have to give it time," he said. In the meantime, Sowetan Live says, Nkosi is also funding a project in partnership with the Self Help Association for Paraplegics, which will result in the opening of a workshop that will train abled and disabled people to manufacture jewellery at the Shap Centre in Mofolo, Soweto.

Read the full article on www.sowetanlive.co.za.