Cape Town - There’s nothing better than being greeted by a warm smile, and Gloria Mzele has a fabulous one. From growing up in a small town in the Eastern Cape to working as front of house manager at Two Oceans Restaurant at Cape Point, she has worked hard to create a career for herself. Gloria explains why she loves working in the Peninsula’s top nature reserve.
I am Gloria Mzele. I come from a small town called Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape.
I went to school there before moving to Cape Town with my mother. I studied at a tertiary institution here, but it’s not easy to study without money.
In June 1996 I started working at the Two Oceans restaurant as a bar assistant.
I also had to clean tables, remove plates, set up the restaurant and assist the hostess. Then I became a runner, then a waitress and then head waiter.
Now I am the front of house manager.
I have to wake up at 5am to travel from Khayelitsha to Cape Point.
Most mornings I first have to sort out my two kids to make sure they are safe, and then travel to Fish Hoek to catch one of three shuttles to Cape Point.
I normally get home at about 8pm, and then I have to cook for the family, bathe my children and get them to do their homework.
It’s late, so I don’t catch the train, the taxi is quicker.
As I am tired I sometimes get takeaways like fish and chips for supper, otherwise I cook something quick like pasta.
Something funny that happened here once was when a baboon called “Sugar” (because he liked the sugar from the tables) came down with the baby baboons.
They arrived at the restaurant at closing time. They let themselves in because the doors were still wide open.
At first we only saw the babies until Sugar saw us, and we had to hide behind pillars like hostages, hoping he wouldn’t see us.
We ran to the bathroom with him chasing us and had to lock ourselves in for safety.
The tourists sometimes think it’s funny when the baboons take their food, but it’s not funny for us, we have to replace the food on their plates.
I dislike roadworks and crime in the city, but on the other hand, Cape Town has so many chances for people to further their education at the universities and colleges, and there are restaurants for people to get jobs.
Some regulars come every two weeks, but some locals only come in September when entrance to Cape Point is free for some days.
We only serve fresh, sustainable seafood, not frozen, so the visitors get upset if they look at our menu online and then we don’t have crayfish in stock because it’s not crayfish season. But we know that the food we serve must be fresh.
I’d love to go to Italy if I had the chance, Italians are passionate people – so am I – and they dress well. I haven’t travelled, though. It can be quieter in winter, and it’s very busy in summer.
Meeting with new cultures and people is an advantage and, with a view like this one, what more could you want?
l This holiday season, the Cape Argus in partnership with Cape Town Tourism is introducing a weekly feature of some of the fascinating characters in tourism, in their own voices.
Cape Argus