Written by: Hennie Fisher
In South Africa, home-industry or cottage-industry shops are mostly referred to by their Afrikaans name, tuisnywerhede. While some of them have historically sold some crochet work, or the odd knitted cover for clothes hangers, the nostalgia these days is mostly for food items we remember from our youth. In other countries, cottage industries offer handicrafts and home-produced items that are not only food, such as clothes, candles, woodwork, rattan work, basketry, and many more.
Tuisnywerhede were primarily run as cooperatives – a group of industrious women would rent premises and would jointly run their collective operations. Their home-made products would be displayed and sold in their shop, and they would take turns serving as shop assistants. These shops seldom had a “look” – they were mostly austere, and they were there for one purpose only, to get the food off the shelves as quickly as possible.
Long ago, each item also had a number corresponding to the “tannie” who made it; in small towns, people would buzz about number 7’s milk tart, or number 15’s rusks. It would imply that more than one lady may be making, for instance, milk tart, but that customers would be loyal to a certain number because they prefer a particular type of milk tart.
Ouma se Nes
Located in the Waverley Plaza, this is the epitome of a traditional tuisnywerheid - with modern adaptations. The full-time employees manning the shop are well informed and provide detailed information about their available stock, such as Bets’ jams and bottled items, made by a full-time nurse who has a side hustle making preserves and jams. The shop ladies say that Bets’ watermelon pieces (and now and again makataan) are the best.
Ouma se Nes also stocks interesting products such as Black Forest rusks, studded with raisins and red glace cherries; they believe their coffee biscuits are legendary. They also sell those little thumbprint biscuits where a dimple in the dough is filled with jam or powdered biltong, called “lepelsteeltjie koekies”. Apart from many other traditional items such as milk tart (there is a comprehensive selection of baked goods in display fridges), they also sell an extensive selection of large flat biscuits with delightful Royal Icing scenes and messages, as well as tubs of brightly coloured mini meringues.
Die Beskuit Kombuis
This is a less-traditional tuisnywerheid since they also offer items such as cold meats in original manufacturing sizes, as well as cheese, ribs, and bacon – one can even buy some frozen pastry and dough items, such as croissants, Danish pastries, muffin mixes, and doughnuts. Their frozen meals include boboties, lasagna, and chicken pie, to name only a few. That is also why they add "Bakery and Deli" to their name. They sell Mosbolletjies, those traditional soft yeasty buns originally made with the must extracted during wine making, as well as Boerebrood, an oversized white loaf of bread for slices of fresh bread with butter and apricot jam. To keep up with modern trends, they also sell sourdough bread.
Phone: 012 331 5281
Doringkloof Vingerlek Tuisnywerheid
Situated at Shop 84, Pick 'n Pay Centre, 1102 Protea Street, Doringkloof, Centurion, this home industries shop even sells some nice avocados in season, as well as some quirky pewter cupboard handles. They all had the usual fare expected of a tuisnywerheid, including homemade rusks, delightful rice crispy treats, little jam tartlets, and ready-made jaffles.
Phone: 012 667 4781
Groenkloof Home Industry
Located at Groenkloof Plaza, George Storrar St, in Groenkloof, this tuisnywerheid is firmly ensconced among some of the best food outlets in Pretoria. The greengrocer is the go-to place for when you need something exotic, similarly the butcher, the fishmonger, the cheese shop, as well as the liquor store and a lovely coffee shop, Haloa, for when you are thoroughly tired from your shopping endeavours.
Groenkloof Home Industry shop sells “kookkos”, the name for a plate of cooked food, like an evening supper meal. They also stock home-made ginger beer and frozen pies. Their shelves are laden with produce, from very smartly packaged biscuits (wrapped in clear plastic, like a tube of Pringles), fun little packets of biscuits in trays, all very decoratively displayed in baskets. They also seem to cater to people needing food on the go, as you can purchase an already packed slice of delicious carrot cake to take with.
Phone: 065 246 7905
Glenfair Tuisnywerheid
With a dedicated website that expertly highlights this tuisnywerheid’s fare, this is already a step above some of their competitors. They offer classic South African treats such as a selection of fudge, samoosas, bottled items, fresh cakes, meringues, and other baked goods. They also stock some knitted items, including cute, knitted teddy bears.
Website: https://glenfairtuisnywerheid.netlify.app/
Other tuisnywerhede that are loved and admired in the city are the Lynnwoodrif Tuisnywerheid (Phone: 012 348 8733), Lemon Meringue Tuisnywerheid in Garsfontein (Phone: 012 993 0331), Elardi Tuisnywerheid in Elarus Park (Phone: 012 345 3623), Lekker Bekkie Tuisnywerheid in Waterkloof Glen (Phone: 012 993 0640), Lemon Tree Tuisnywerheid in Eldoraigne (Phone: 082 564 1630), and others.
South African tuisnywerhede are traditional, food-focused home-industry shops that have evolved from collective, cooperative setups into diverse, modern retail outlets offering homemade baked goods, preserves, and convenience meals. These popular community stores range from authentic, nostalgic purveyors of home-baked goods to updated bakeries and delis offering both traditional staples and modern items like iced biscuits and sourdough bread. For a glimpse of a modern, organised tuisnywerheid, explore Glenfair Tuisnywerheid's website.