Inspirational entrepreneur Samane Molwantwa is now exporting her skincare products, thanks to the assistance she received from the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller (GEP).

Molwantwa is the founder and CEO of Krugersdorp-based Ya Sama Body Care, a cosmetics manufacturing business launched in 2020.

When she couldn’t find skincare products suitable for her eczema-prone skin, she decided to make her own.

“I launched the company to fulfil my vision of creating a cosmetics range made from natural products, which have been used for centuries for body care,” says Molwantwa.

“Many people have sensitive skin and many others struggle with acne-prone skin. This wasn’t only a business opportunity, it was also an opportunity to make a real difference in people’s lives.”

She attributes much of her company’s success to the support she has received from the GEP, which provides unique and tailored financial support services to propel small, medium and micro enterprises into the mainstream economy.

“Before I approached the GEP for assistance, my business was almost nowhere. We did not have access to the raw materials we needed to produce our products.

“The GEP helped us to get more raw materials so that we could produce more products. This is how we got to where we are today. Now, we are meeting the demand for our products,” she says.

The GEP also helped the company to get specialised packaging for its products.

“The new packaging is a big improvement on our first packaging and labels, which were not good quality,” she says.

The GEP provides grant funding to small enterprises that do not meet the qualification criteria for loans.

– This article first appeared in GCIS’s Vuk’Uzenzele