WOMEN MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THEIR COMMUNITIES

From making custom dolls to providing freediving lessons, we take a look at women who used a seemingly good idea into a movement for change.

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These inspiring women have turned a simple good idea into a movement for change, transforming the way we think about community and creating opportunities

NONDUMISO GOGEL
Creator of Imibongo kaMakhulu Johannesburg-based Nondumiso decided when she was six months pregnant with her daughter that she wanted to raise a strong woman in a world seemingly hellbent on telling girls who, what and how to be. While browsing endless toy aisles, only to find no dolls or figurines that looked like her daughter, she got to thinking: she would make the dolls she was looking for.


Nondumiso now creates gorgeous custom dolls made to order (often dressed in bright African fabrics), so every child can have a toy that represents them. “We’re headed in a good direction, and that’s largely because makers and creatives are taking it into their own hands and making the toys they want the next generation to have,” she says.



ZANDILE NDHLOVU
Founder of Black Mermaid Foundation Zandile is South Africa’s first black African freediving instructor. As the self-professed ‘Black Mermaid’, she broke barriers when she enrolled in a freediving course in 2019. “Once I qualified, I knew that I could use this piece of paper to create the change I have always yearned for in the world,” she explains.

The award-winning Black Mermaid Foundation has not only been able to create awareness of the lack of diversity in ocean-users, but has also brought children to the sea to show them the wonders of the deep blue.

REGINA LE ROUX
Founder of Re.Bag.Re.Use Regina jokes that her recycled bags are like her two-year-old: the toddler may keep her busy, but working with the 10 creative crocheters who produce the bags brings her meaning and joy. An avid crocheter herself, Regina started experimenting with different materials during lockdown, finding a promising result with plastic.

From there, she showed her plastic-crocheted projects to local women, and the idea gained momentum. With five women cutting the plastic, 15 women now make up this environment-saving project. “It’s a collective of women who have crossed paths and found a way to make more money for themselves and their families.”



SIBONGINKOSI MSIPHA
Founder of Mama Bongi’s Cookies Sibonginkosi, or Mama Bongi as she prefers to be called, started her small biscuit business three years ago and is now stocked in cafés and supermarkets countrywide. Bongi moved to South Africa from Zimbabwe in 2007 “looking for greener pastures”.

Initially a domestic worker, she learnt a lot about cooking and baking, and soon got a job cooking for the staff of Amazing Spaces, a Cape Town company that manages film-shoot locations.

She continued to learn new tips and tricks and one day spoiled the company’s employees with a batch of chocolate-chip cookies. They were so delicious that Julia Finnis-Bedford (the director of the company) insisted on using the biscuits in their catering for clients, and encouraged her to sell them – also providing space at their office for Bongi’s bakery.

Julia says that working with Bongi has enlightened her about supporting black female entrepreneurs and uplifting people of colour in business. For Mama Bongi, this is a success story “because it supports families”.

Compiled By: Saadiqah Schroeder
Photographs: Supplied. Illustration: Gallo/Getty Images