By Thabisa Ndzindzwa
Namhla Dotwana was drawn to the beauty and cosmetics industry by a thought that struck her during loadshedding in 2020.
The idea of making candles containing the impepho plant, called the African sage, came to her in Cape Town while she was melting a sun-damaged cinnamon candle to reshape it.
She developed the concept from there, and her innovative use of African traditional plants recently landed her the R1 million prize at the National Summit of Co-operatives and SMMEs, held in Johannesburg.
The 31-year-old woman from Gwetyibeni, Tsolo, in Eastern Cape, handmakes the African traditional cosmetics and spa products in her mother’s garage.
“It was a week after I had a dream about my late brother showing me open fields, saying: ‘This is what you have been looking for.’ I thought: Why don’t we have impepho candles?” said Dotwana.
“It was because of the African belief that when we use impepho we light candles that I wanted to fuse both these elements,” she said.
Her Namhla Collection began just with the candles. But in her research she found out that the plant had medicinal properties to treat skin care issues. She started making hair treatments, bath salts and soaps infused with impepho.
She is a BA Honours graduate in media studies and does not have a formal background in cosmetics formulation. She learnt everything from online skin care schools that gave free recipes that she customised by adding impepho.
She says her business will remain in Tsolo because she wants to develop her community.
“In 2020, when I moved back home, I did not see myself working in the job space any more, I knew that here my business had better chances of growth,” she said.
With her prize she plans to buy equipment and technology to help her work faster and efficiently and to produce more.
Currently she supplies two stores, Lotsha Onaka in Mamelodi Pretoria and Planned Gifts in Woodstock in Cape town.
The demand for her products is growing, but she cannot supply all the stores that are looking for her products until she buys equipment.
“I also want to transfer this skill to others so they can help me produce more while ensuring we do not compromise on quality,” she says.
Pictured above: Namhla Dotwana
Image source: Supplied
