Stories of Hope: Episode 18 - Timothy Buthelezi
Timothy Buthelezi shares his experiences and aspirations in the Wholesale and Retail industry, detailing his journey from struggling to find a job after matric to becoming an acting warehouse manager at Vanguard. He discusses his participation in a Wholesale and Retail Operations NQF 3 Learnership, which helped him enhance his skills, in customer service. Read about our Stories of Hope: Episode 18 below or watch the video.
(00:21) My name is Timothy Buthelezi. I was born at a place called eMolweni, that’s where I started my lower classes until such time we moved to a place called KwaNdengezi. So, that’s where I finished my matric. And then, after I finished my matric, I faced a lot of challenges—challenges like not getting a job after matric. So, I was looking for a job since 1996; that’s when I finished my matric.
(01:00) From 1996, I was looking for a job until 2004, when I spoke to one of my brothers, with whom I am working now. He found me a job here at Vanguard. So, from there, I started at Vanguard. I was checking the overall, and then from checking the overall, I moved up to another job, like packing the stuff, receiving, and all those kinds of things.
(01:31) From there, I think it was 10 to 11 years, then I acted as a warehouse manager for 2 years. Acting as a manager, I was facing a lot of challenges because it was my first time doing this job. Challenges like, when the stock is not balancing, when the stock is short, when the drivers are not doing their job, I had to answer all those questions to my manager.
(02:11) When I was acting as a warehouse manager, I was facing a lot of challenges. So, I spoke to my boss to get me a course so that I could gain more knowledge on how to run the stores. Then they found me a school called Edge Training. So, the course I was doing there is a Wholesale and Retail Learnership.
02:45) So, the guy who was helping me there to do that course was Vuyani. That was a good guy; he knows his story, yeah. Then, it was a 1-year course. From that course, I gained a lot of experience because the things that I was doing as a warehouse manager are the same things that I was doing in that course, Wholesale and Retail. The most important thing that I’ve learned when I was doing that course is customer service.
(03:28) From now on, since I’m working for Vanguard, I want to see myself working full-time as a warehouse manager.
(03:40) So, I would like to thank my boss, John Buchan, for giving me a chance to do this learnership, and Roseanne, who was organizing all that. So, I want to thank her as well. And the guy who was teaching me this course, Vuyani Masuku, I’d like to thank him again. And, last but not least, I want to thank my brother who got me this job—without him, maybe I would still not be working. And to all my colleagues, I want to thank them.
Next Steps
Are you interested in changing the life of a student while maximising your BEE scorecard? Reach out to Edge Training today! We are an accredited training provider with over 24 years of experience in the Skills Development industry. We offer various learnership programmes so you can find a learnership that best suits your needs. Reach out to one of our representatives today, we can’t wait to hear from you!