By Nkhensani Mthombeni
- Refilwe Malatji, 35, from Phalaborwa started Refie Harry Cosmetics after her father died and left her family with no income.
- Her products include hair food, body scrubs and perfumes, sold at her Phalaborwa shop and couriered nationwide via Facebook and TikTok.
Refilwe Malatji was 22 years old when her father died. She had wanted to study medicine. That plan ended the day he did.
As the eldest child in the family, she stepped in. Her mother, Juliet Phakula, had no income. Refilwe started doing hair and worked at a local spaza shop for R1,300 a month. It was not enough, but it kept the family going.
She did not stop there. She enrolled for a six-month sewing course through the Phalaborwa Foundation, then studied computer science and graphic design at Sir Val Duncan College, graduating in 2018. She also approached SEDA, an organisation that helps aspiring entrepreneurs set up businesses, and registered her company with SARS.
Last year she opened Refie Harry Cosmetics in Phalaborwa, named after both her names, Refilwe and Harriet. The shop manufactures hair food, body and hand scrubs, inner thigh cream, perfumes and heel balms. She runs it alone for now.
The competition in the beauty industry in her region is her biggest challenge. When sales are low, her income drops, and her family feels it.
“If you fail to make enough sales, it means low or no income and the profit is the same money I’m using to provide for my family,” she said.
But she keeps going.
“Poverty is not a life sentence, but is actually an opportunity to establish oneself,” Refilwe said.
Her products are available at her shop on Selati Road in Phalaborwa and can be ordered through the Refie Harry Cosmetics Facebook and TikTok pages for courier delivery.
Pictured above: Refilwe Malatji with some of her Refie Harry Cosmetics products.
Image source: Supplied
