Chef Kabelo Segone: Food and Faith

For chef Kabelo Segone, food and faith go hand-in-hand, as he told Daluxolo Moloantoa.

Before they eat a meal, most Catholics pray: “Bless us, O Lord, and these, thy gifts, which we are about to receive from thy bounty. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.”  For Kabelo Segone, this prayer holds great significance in both his personal life and in his professional career as a chef.

Kabelo is a seasoned professional chef who has achieved great milestones in his career — one he didn’t dream of when he was growing up near Rustenburg. Born the second of two sons to parents who were both catechists in Chaneng village near Rustenburg, Kabelo and brother Tumiso spent their earliest years under the watchful eye of their grandmother. But while still in primary school, Kabelo went to live with his parents in Swart-klip, a small mining town in Limpopo.

“With my parents both being very active church members, we were taught that prayer is the first thing to start our day with. Bible-sharing was done once a week. The holy rosary was our daily bread. Come rain or shine, we would not miss reciting it,” Kabelo told The Southern Cross.

Growing up with this type of focus on prayer led him to become an altar server at his parish, serving under Redemptorist Father Anthony Hunt. During his spare time, he would join the other children at the church to watch films about the Church and the saints. He was confirmed by Bishop Kevin Dowling of Rustenburg.

For his high schooling, Kabelo moved to Krugersdorp and attended Town View High School. “During this time, I began working on weekends and school holidays as a kitchen hand and waiter at various restaurants in Krugersdorp. It was during this time that I discovered my passion for food and the hospitality industry in general,” he said.

Learning to cater

After completing his matric, Kabelo moved to Johannesburg to study for a diploma in Hospitality Studies in Hotel Management at Birnam Business College. Upon the completion of his diploma in 2003, Kabelo began an apprenticeship as a sous chef at Damark, a catering company in Johannesburg. After a three-year apprenticeship, he was employed by the Hospitality Trainers and Associates (HTA) as a lecturer to teach the very same apprenticeship he had undergone.

Kabelo has worked with some of the most renowned chefs in South Africa, including Stephen Billingham, Bruce Burns, James Khoza and Heinz Brunner. Some of the flagship events he’s been a part of include the DStv Delicious Festival at Kyalami racecourse in Midrand in 2017 and 2018, and the Vodacom Walk the Talk event in Johannesburg in 2016.

He has been featured on a number of television cooking programmes on SABC channels as well as the DStv Home Choice channel. He has also appeared in a number of lifestyle magazines and websites showing new recipes and menus, and demonstrating his culinary talent. His epicurean exploits have taken him beyond our shores. In 2013 he represented South Africa at the Seychelles Fret Africa Food Festival.

Today, Kabelo is a managing director of the HTA training and development division.

Infused with faith

For Kabelo, it has not always been about building a career. “I serve as a volunteer at Meals on Wheels, a non-profit organisation. I give cooking lessons and also help in the distribution of meals to the needy,” he said.

In 2019, while he was a parishioner of the Holy Spirit church in Sandfontein in Rustenburg diocese, he attended a six-month marriage preparation course to marry his wife Dineo in the same year. He is now a parishioner of the church of the Resurrection in Bryanston, Johannesburg.

Kabelo’s faith has played an important part in his growth as a person and in his career. “My Catholic faith has taught me how to be compassionate towards others; it has taught me the spirit of giving without expecting anything in return; it has taught me to be helpful… I have very much infused this into my professional life as well,” he said.

He advises young people who are hoping to follow a career in the hospitality industry to do anything and everything with hospitality attached to it. “Read food-related magazines, watch cooking shows, practise cooking while at home. Above all, always work hard, stay humble — and never forget how to pray.”

Published in the December 2022 issue of The Southern Cross magazine