BOLD YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR SWEEPS CLEAN
From humble beginnings to making own cleaning products, employing staff
Bonanza for teen mom who pulled herself up by her bootstraps
From being a domestic worker and a hawker plying her trade on the side of the road, Mthatha’s Ncebakazi Sobai is now a manufacturer of cleaning products.
With nothing but a dream and the determination to make something of herself, Sobai has registered her company, Cleanex, which offers products such as dishwashing liquid, thick bleach, fabric softener and multi-purpose stain remover.
She even has a product that she says kills bacteria in the fridge and microwave which she developed after the listeriosis outbreak.
Sobai, 30, said she became a statistic – a teenage mom – when she was 16.
“I knew that I had to find a job so my child and I could survive. I went to work as a domestic worker for a couple in Pietermaritzburg and I worked in their factory as well. That did not work for me because my child was left behind in Mthatha and so I returned.
“In Mthatha, I worked as a domestic at a local company until the contract ended. Then I became I street vendor. I sold everything – from earrings, to doeks and cleaning products along the side of the road.”
Sobai used a supplier in East London to obtain her cleaning products, but said when the supplier realised there was a market for the products in Mthatha, they opened their own store there.
“That did not break my spirit because I knew that even though they had a shop here, my customers would remain loyal to me. I began doing research about making my own products,” she said.
She explained she would spend R50 of her daily earnings to do research at a nearby internet café.
She spent months trying to get training, even spending R6,500 on a course, only to find that it was not accredited.
She then found an incubation programme in December 2014 will be graduating in 2019 from Chemin-SA Chemical Technology Incubator.
She would like her products to be regarded of such a high quality that they compete with those of industry giants, such as Unilever and Newden.
Currently she supplies SPARs in Mthatha, Lee Stores and Hardware City in Mount Frere.
When she first started in 2010, she used to mix her products in drums outside her RDP house in Zimbani Valley and now she has machines that do the mixing.
From humble beginnings, she now employs two permanent staff members.
The mother of four wants to leave a legacy for her children. “I want them to learn the ins and outs of the business,” she said.
Her big break came after meeting O R Tambo District Municipality mayor Nomakhosazana Meth.
“Not only did she give me words of encouragement, but she also put her weight behind my business by getting people from the municipality to contact me and help me get funding. I am grateful.”
She was able to secure R750,000 in funding. Now she needs a bakkie for deliveries, a water purifier, as well as raw materials and additional staff.