Upcoming hip-hop artist Patricia Mokwena lights up the stage when she performs as Shawdy P. However the 27-year-old Lesotho-born musician who grew up in Tembisa, East Rand, had another hot idea to spice up her business profile as an artist; she launched a sauce named after her stage persona in October.

Mokwena said the idea behind Shawdy P Sauce came much earlier to her, during a 2019 trip for a gig in Zambia.

While still in Lusaka,  she had a shawarma that was served with all kinds of sauces. She enjoyed one particular hot sauce and thought she could make something similar in SA.

“I love food and I am a very business-minded person. I always want to try new opportunities. I already have a business where I make and sell food. I added the shawarma I tasted in Zambia to my menu," she said.

"Shawarma packs good stuff such as pickled vegetables, cucumbers, onion and diced tomatoes, and accompanied by sauces.  During the process of mixing the sauces, I came up with an idea that how about I come up with my own sauce brand."

For her music career, Mokwena says she normally has three gigs in a month, and more during peak seasons. But added the money is not always enough to carry her through, hence the idea for the sauce business.

“My cousin is a chef and knows a lot about ingredients. So, we sat down and brain-stormed until we came up with suitable ingredients for Shawdy P Sauce. Using my savings, I went to the people who make sauces, gave them the ingredients and they put everything together.”

Her sauce is beautifully packaged and is available in varying degrees of heat, from mild to extra-hot. For more variety, there are also flavour options such as BBQ and lemon & herb.

"My brand is versatile as the sauces can be used with any types of meals, with vegetables, all types of meat and chips. Anything you can think of it," she said.

Her clientele are people in Tembisa and surrounding areas such as Ebony Park in Midrand. She also has a big following in Soweto, and gets orders from as far as Cape Town. Mokwena uses social media to advertise her sauce.

The Shawdy P Sauce is prepared and packaged by All Sauce Company, based in Centurion.The company's founder Lesiba Moloko said he encouraged Mokwena to make her own sauces. 

“Shawdy P is in the food business. I told her to package her own sauce to make her food joint stand out, and also sell it to a wider market. She gave me her ingredients and Shawdy P Sauce was born.," Moloko said.

Mokwena said her goal was to see her product as the sauce of choice at shisanyama outlets. She said her target for success was to sell 3,000 units in a month.