Tannie Poppie, the roosterkoek queen of Laingsburg has fallen on hard times. The 68-year-old is battling to make ends meet due to poor sales of her world-renowned breads.
Her delicacy once led her to travel abroad, when she jetted off to Italy. But now, Tannie Poppie – whose real name’s Rosaleen Van As – is falling behind on her municipal payments. The payments is for the use of the municipal facility where she kneads her dough, and prepares her breads.
Smile 90.4 FM spoke to Van As’ daughter, Naomi Etson who shared that her mother’s bills are piling up and that she’s already behind by about R17 000.
A Backabuddy campaign has now been launched to help her raise R50 000 to get back on her feet.
“My mom’s business is down to the ground. Things do not look good, honestly. You can’t use 2,5 kg of flour and then still sit with all of that dough and bread at the end of the day. So how are you supposed to make an income?”
She says that in her mother’s prime, she used about 20 kg of flour daily. The roosterbrood queen of the Karoo is also battling with health-related challenges such as Alzheimer’s disease, high-blood pressure and other ailments.
READ MORE: Tannie Poppie brings her roosterkoek to Macassar
Etson, who is the youngest of six children, moved to Macassar in 2022. Upon her arrival, she opened up her very own roosterkoek stand, because she wants her mother’s legacy to live on.
“I don’t have many clients at the moment but I trust and believe that things will go back to the way they once were. My dream is to open a roosterkoek palace one day. I want my mother’s legacy to live on. She has sacrificed far too much for us as children.”
The family is pleading with members of the public to donate money, in order to help Van As rebuild her business.
“If people can help us, just to get that debt from my mom’s name, that’s all I want,” concluded Etson.
