Streetwires is a South African company that was established in 2000 in order to create and market contemporary African wire and bead craft art, blending First World resources with traditional Third World craft skills.

Streetwires focuses on the unique and dynamic genre of wire art, and, through its Proudly South African project, is providing the skills training, support and raw materials necessary to enable over 100 formerly unemployed men and women to earn a constant income. Streetwires currently exports to 14 countries and also supplies to several large domestic retailers.

Having established a sustainable business in Cape Town, Streetwires is now expanding its business. It has already established one wire art center in Clanwilliam, a small rural South African town, and the plan is to expand operations further by setting up several such rural wire art centers.





The Grassroots Business Initiative is currently assisting Streetwires in a variety of areas to increase their long term profitability and sustainability:

• Production Management and Management Information System (MIS) Assistance. GBI has provided a grant to train Streetwires’ production manager, hire a production management consultant, link the production systems to the accounting and cost management systems, and upgrade Streetwires’ management information system. The initial work has been completed and Streetwires’ production capacity has already increased by 30%. Apart from generating direct benefits for Streetwires' current enterprise, this work will generate models and templates that can be replicated in the new rural manufacturing hub and future “franchises”.

• Human Resource Management. GBI has provided a grant to train management in designing and implementing a comprehensive human resources policy, leading to the development of an operations manual to reduce time spent on new staff integration, which is critical to the rural manufacturing hub expansion plan.

• Business Planning. GBI is working through the University of Cape Town’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to provide assistance in the business planning process. This work includes the provision of a mentor who is helping Streetwires evolve their costing model, as well as the development of a comprehensive marketing strategy.