The soccer World Cup in Qatar was marred with widely reported worker’s rights abuses and local chefs Odwa Memza and Faizel Bezuidenhout, who were selected to work during the games, said their contracts had been breached in several instances.
Memza said: “We got paid to go watch the World Cup and meet some of our favourite icons. It was extra- special for me because I got to work with the guy who writes my textbooks and he knows my name now.
“Despite the great experiences, our contract was breached a few times by the hiring company. Some of the girls had complaints about their living arrangements, and we barely got any rest days.
“Some of the students created a union and tried to fight the system, but I felt I was too far from home to get myself into any trouble.
“In the end, our issues were resolved and I was able to learn so much about so many new dishes, how to deal with people and how to manage my time in the kitchen. It felt more like I was a real chef.”
Bezuidenhout said learning to cook for more than 3,000 people as well managing and designing a menu for thousands had taught him invaluable skills.
But it came at a cost.
“Before I went to Qatar, I was promised in my contract that I would have three other chefs working with me, yet in the end I was only given one other chef to assist me.
“Initially, I was forced to share a room with more than 50 other men with one bathroom between us and the condition of the accommodation was not discussed with me beforehand.
“The working hours were difficult because we were working right throughout the day and we worked overtime, yet our hiring company initially did not want to remunerate us for overtime.
“There were days we had worked that were marked on the roster by the company as days off, to avoid paying us for those hours. I had to fight with them for my overtime pay and I was eventually paid out the monies owed.
“These companies go to cooking schools and recruit students who may not have years of experience yet in order to keep wages low.
“These challenges though, in addition to the work I was doing, broadened me as a chef. I was forced to change my perspective so I wouldn’t fixate on the bad and in return I can see how the opportunity bettered my skills.
“Cooking for over 3,000 people takes a completely different cooking approach and isn’t a skill that most chefs have. I had to take the opportunity with all its challenges and make it my own.”
Bezuidenhout’s goal is to open his own cooking school providing culinary training for recovering addicts to equip them with an employable skill.
