Sipho Khosa – I call him “Silent Dynamite”, here is a Chef who has had not much formal training, yet executes his work with extreme precision, passion, creativity and pride, constantly upgrading his skills.

Sipho grew up in Johannesburg in a place called Tembisa. He went to school at Marulane Primary then to Kusasa in Tembisa and completed his Matric at Madlala High School in Justacia (close to Londolozi). After he’d completed his Matric, he travelled back to Johannesburg to do a Mechanical Engineering course. Due to lack of funds, he was unable to complete this, so entered the Police Force where he worked for 2 years. During this time, after hours, he discovered he had a talent for putting food on a plate so returned to Justacia and got a job here at Londolozi.

In 2003, he started as a Trainee Chef in the main kitchen. It was at this time, he started to enter some cooking competitions that he found out about in the local newspaper! He entered the Mushroom Competition and came 2nd, thus spurring him on to become where he is today.

Sipho has been a chef at Londolozi for 10 years and it was here that he met the love of his life, Thoko Ngobeni. Thoko was also a trainee chef at the time, and Sipho took her under his wing to teach her. They have been married for 6 years and have one daughter called Thokozo meaning “Happiness”. Together Sipho and Thoko, although they are Sous Chefs of different camps, work together as a team in all they do.

Sipho and the Love of his Life – Thoko! Married for 6 years, they have a daughter called Thokozo

Heading up the Founders Kitchen Team, Sipho takes huge pride in ensuring all his guests dietary requirements are met to the highest of standards. He takes personal interest in these guests and meets each and every guest making sure they have exactly what they need. Sipho is also responsible for making the Sauces that accompany most of our meat dishes as well as our Lunch Main Meals. Recently he was integral in the learning process of Indian Cuisine with Jeewan who was visiting us from Delhi, India.

Sipho takes great pride when making each dish

In his spare time, Sipho enjoys watching movies, playing soccer, reading up on new recipes and “googling” new ideas. Sipho is also currently finishing his Intec Professional Cookery Course in the Londolozi Learning Center.

Written & Photographed by: Anna Ridgewell