About US
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ABOUT US
Authentic. Afrikan. Experiences.
The Workshop ko Kasi is an eco-tourism hub built using recycled and environmentally-friendly materials and offers experiences in culture, art, food, camping retreats and creative entrepreneurship in the rural township called Mothibistad in Kuruman Northern Cape.
Our services include a restaurant, African spa, experiential tours, tented camping site, laundromat, venue hire hall and lastly our establishment acts as a creative hub which supports local artists, produces eco-friendly crafts and hosts events such as social markets, storytelling and community-building events. Our customer base market is 40% local, 40% domestic travellers and 20% international tourists.
Our Background
After working a 9to5 in the tourism industry for 5 years in Johannesburg, a young woman who had spent most of her young life rooted in the township, got tired of the city and decided to go back to her origins to start the now award-winning business and years later joined forces with other enthusiastic creative entrepreneurs to manage the business. With a very limited budget and an appetite for unboxed projects, The Workshop ko Kasi was born end of 2016 in the same yard of her father’s mechanic and panelbeaters workshop. The business has grown to become home to other small local businesses and artists and has been graced with visitors from different parts of South Africa and the world. It is contributing towards solving the problem of unemployment and having limited quality offers to market Northern Cape as a preferred tourist destination; to preserve the culture and heritage of its African people; and mostly to solve a social challenge of using either natural or non-biodegradable material such as tyres to recycle and build with so our environment is taken care of. We engage in cultural tourism and it is about the people and place, and we welcome visitors, whether leisure or business visitors, on a journey of harmonious experiences.
How did the business idea come about?
The force behind founding The Workshop ko Kasi was the after-effects of exploring the small town of Kuruman and discovering the hidden gems around which led to us hosting an event called Baagisani Pop Up Market (neighbourgoods market) to showcase local businesses and their craft. The event resulted in attractive numbers of visitors and we saw the potential for township and village tourism in the region. Further than that, it was a dream of having a place where people regard artisans for what the term really means. A place where we make things with our hands. A place where authenticity and social bonds truly matter, just as it did with the beginning of Humanity. Revisiting a place that was occupied by one of the first nations, a place where there is a sense of belonging and where strangers can easily and eagerly become friends. A place where we embrace our own unique cultures. A place where we all remember the ways and little things of how our forefathers used to live. But also, a place where we understand that times have changed and it is time to create a new reality for the current generation and ones to come: a sustainable place. The Workshop ko Kasi operates on love and values/passions about the human culture and doing things differently to adapt to the everchanging environmental, social and economic affairs in our communities.