Raisibe Maduna struggled with acne, although it is most common amongst teenagers, when she became an adult it did not disappear. After studying pharmacology, she created a skincare product that helped fix her skin and start a flourishing business. Maduna launched her skincare range, Momi Montsho, in 2018.
The Tshwane-based woman told Vutivi News that her products included “black soap”, face wash, a revitalising toning spritzer, moisturising day cream, facial day cream and shea butter. The products are distributed online through Takealot and Shopify. “I had acne since I was a teenager and I was told that my acne will go away when I grow up and have children,” she said.
“I had children, but my acne didn’t go away, so I manufactured this product to see if it would work. I tested it by using it on my own skin for a year, and when I saw that it worked, I introduced it to my family and my friends before I commercialised the product.” The products have been tested by the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications, and she uses shea butter and natural and essential oils for her products’ ingredients.
Maduna said that a persistent challenge in her industry was ensuring that products make the grade. “Products have to be tested regularly, and product testing is very expensive,” she told Vutivi News.
“For example, testing one product costs about R15,000. Thankfully, the Small Enterprise Development Agency helped me by funding the testing for my first three products.” The pharmacologist said she also recently secured a space at the Innovation Hub in Tshwane that would allow her to manufacture her skincare range on a bigger scale.
She said that a reason she was successful during the lockdown was that her business operated online.
“Being able to survive through the difficulties of Covid-19 when other companies were shutting down was a blessing,” Maduna said. “Selling my products online contributed to that. When the companies that I was distributing through physically were closing down, I had to find another way to get my products to customers.” She also said that selling her products online helped people find her more easily.
“I learned that customers are more likely to trust a reputable platform like Takealot instead of an unknown e-commerce website,” Maduna told Vutivi News that her future looked bright and she was set to start distributing her skincare range through a major retailer in the coming months.
