IT TAKES special skill and understanding of inhloko meat to prepare it.
Thuleleni Dladla from KwaMancinza, near KwaMashu, north of Durban is one of the few who knows how to chop up cows’ heads.
The 43-year-old mum said this is how she makes a living at KwaMashu Shopping Centre, where the meat is sold.
She told Daily Sun she has been selling it since 2005, when she arrived in Durban from Nongoma, in northern KZN.
“I had come to look for a job in Durban so when I heard they were looking for someone who would chop up cows’ heads at the shopping centre, I went and asked for the job.”
She knew very well how to do it, because she used to watch her uncles when they slaughtered cows.
“I knew I would do it well.
“I started working for the woman who sold the meat.
“She loved how I prepared the heads. Even her friends asked me to work for them.”
Thuleleni said she works for many people as her skills are in high demand.
“I became famous.
“When people have functions, they ask me to cut up the heads for them.
“Some men who don’t know how to slaughter come to me to chop for them.”
Thuleleni cuts up to 10 cows’ heads a day and 20 or so on busy days. “It takes special skill to take all the meat from a cow’s head.
“Because I’m experienced, I leave the head with only the bones.”
She said although it isn’t a fancy job, at the end of each day she goes home with food for her kids to eat and can dress and educate them as well.
“Women should do things for themselves. I have my baby daddy but I don’t bother him because I work for myself,” said Thuleleni.
