Domestic worker comes close second in final of SA Masterchef
A domestic worker who captured the public imagination on South Africa’s edition of Masterchef has fallen at the last hurdle in her bid to win the title and prizes of half a million rand (£27,318) and a luxury SUV.
Siphokazi Mdlankomo, described as an inspiration for the country’s legion of underappreciated cooks, cleaners, housekeepers and nannies, was pipped at the post by Roxi Wardman, an assistant train driver, in Thursday’s final.
The hugely popular TV contest came down to a cook-off with Mdlankomo and Wardman challenged by British celebrity chef Marco Pierre White to prepare a roast rump of lamb on the bone with mussels in a white wine sauce.
Mdlankomo received a cheque for 100,000 rand, a fortune in a country where the minimum wage for domestic workers in urban areas is just 2,065.47 rand (£119) per month. She is considering her future options, including trying to launch her own TV cookery show. “That is my biggest dream,” she told a press conference after the results announcement in Johannesburg.
Asked if she would accept an offer to work for a top chef, Mdlankomo replied: “Definitely. Cooking is my life.”
Her culinary talents have won huge admiration in South Africa and she was mobbed by screaming fans at the airport, with many eager to be photographed with her. “It’s been quite amazing,” she said. “When I go for groceries, from eight-year-olds to 70-year-olds, it’s: ’There’s Sipho! Can we take a picture of you?’
“A lot of domestic workers have been supporting me. I’m a role model now! Everywhere I go they ask me, ‘How do you do it? We love to cook as domestic workers but can you just tell us how you do it?’”
Mdlankomo, 39, who grew up in a small rural village in Eastern Cape province with her mother, grandmother and three brothers, said her family did not have a satellite TV subscription when the series began and were unable to watch her, but she had rectified this so they could follow her progress.
Her employers had travelled from Cape Town to support her at the results announcement held in a convention centre in Sandton, reputedly the wealthiest square mile in Africa. Liz Andreasen, who hired Mdlankomo nine years ago, said: “She showed incredible talent from the day she started working for us. She’s always had the joie de vivre and sparkle in her eye.
Source: The Guardian