After 57 years, Betty Nduli is ready to pack her Mealie trolley away as she heads into retirement… and the community are ready to give back to someone who has been part of their lives for so long.
Johannesburg, South Africa (23 March 2022) – Betty Nduli has been selling Mealies since 1965 and is well known in Melville, where she can be seen walking the streets of the neighbourhood every day with her “retro” trolley hand-made by a community member.
But after 57 years, Betty is ready to pack her Mealie trolley away as she heads into retirement on the 8th of April 2022… and the community members are ready to give back to someone who has been part of their lives for so long.
“The “Mealie Lady” is a title synonymous with the many hard-working women who walk the streets of South Africa selling their fresh produce… and a familiar sight to most South Africans who have grown up with the well-known sound and the delicious farm-fresh Mealies that they sell (Mealies are also known as Mielie in Afrikaans and Corn on the Cob in some parts of the world).”
Betty has been featured on Good Things Guy before, after Andre van Jaarsveld – founder of Melkweg Design – designed and donated a new trolley to the hardworking South African but this time, it’s the entire neighbourhood who are rallying together to give Betty the retirement she deserves!

Members of the community reached out to Betty’s daughter – Mary Nduli – who was blown away with the kind offer to give back to her mom, who had worked so hard to provide for her family for so many years.
“My mom started selling mielies when we were still very young. She used to wake up early on Mondays at around 5am and then get to Joburg around 8am where she would then sell and deliver her food before coming home very late on Saturdays,” Mary Nduli explained.
Mary shared her mom’s banking details, and the Joburg community have rapidly been doing the same – sending the details to all neighbours, asking to help give back to Betty, “one of the kindest people you will ever meet and someone who is much apart of Melville, as the little suburb is part of Joburg”.
If anybody would like to contribute to Betty’s retirement fund, they can do so via EFT:
Account Holder: Betty Nduli
Account Number: 1399873987
Bank: Capitec