Theo Makhathini

Youth in Tourism

Nominee's Province:
Eastern Cape

Age:
35

Project Name/Description:
The Dream Basket

More info:
https://www.instagram.com/thedreambasketsa/

Theo Makhathini’s The Dream Basket, a home-based online lifestyle company and brand, focuses on her passion for all things travel, food, and kitchenware. Based in Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg, the company, which was established in 2017, has a unique approach of inventing ways to make tourism beneficial to small and rural communities. “Through travel, we curate unique experiences and retreats to places not frequently visited - hidden gems and untapped locations,” explains thirty-five-year-old Makhathini. “We currently have a road trip to a remote village of eMdumbi, in the Eastern Cape, a place with beautiful scenery, beaches and warm waters, where like-minded people who are open to trying something new gather. These are people who want to travel differently, have delicious food, and who need that well deserved self-care getaway. Here, no two trips are ever the same!” The Dream Basket prides itself in involving the communities it travels to as a gesture that contributes to job creation. Community members, for example, assist in various requirements such as daily baking of bread for tourists, facilitating sight-seeing and offering on-location skills such as basket weaving and making isiXhosa bread.