Founded by Dingaan Nzeke, an Eastern Cape born from Cofimvaba to be precise. Alafa Organics is a health & skincare company that targets Africans and uses African sourced herbs to solve Africans skin issues. It’s founder and CEO Mr Nzeke grew up in Kokosi, a small town in the West Rand, Gauteng. We wanted to hear which is his favourite brand in Mzansi besides his own before we commenced with his interview and this is what he said, “My one-time favourite has to be ILanga Labantu, they're about conscientizing African people towards healing through herbs and to rely on their ways of life”.
First, tell us about the meaning of your company name: Alafa is a Setswana word which means to "Heal", the reasoning behind this name is that, my interests in the company is to heal Africans, to heal their psyches on how they think about themselves and to heal our bodies”.
When did you commence with brand and what inspired you to even start? “Initially, I started the business with just selling non-GMO vitamins as a distributor for Olayinka company - which is a black owned vitamin company. I started distributing for them in 2021 while I was doing my Postgraduate studies at the University of Pretoria, and to fund the business I used my bursary allowance.
Early 2022, I decided to start Alafa Organics, and to grow the business I introduced organic/natural African made skincare. This was after I realized that most over-the-counter skincare and health products are filled with synthetic and often toxic chemicals that do not cater for the melanated people, a need for an alternative and natural approach was developed”.
What make your products stands out? “We, at Alafa-Organics pride ourselves about African made products, these are products that have been mastered by African women using ancient traditional techniques, hence I believe that my products standout from the rest of the products from over-the-counter shelves”.
Challenges you faced since you started and how are tackling those? “Like any other small black owned business, I experienced challenges that almost made me want to give up the business. Like I mentioned earlier I did not have funding to start the skincare business. I, therefore had to use the profit made from selling the vitamins to establish Alafa Organics, but more problems kept coming through. Secondly, Shea Butter needs to be melted and packaged, the melting part of it requires electricity and in my township we have loadshedding and load reduction every now and then. We have been experiencing that since beginning of the year, this therefore requires me to travel to my brother's place in another town where I have to melt shea butter and package it. And this is a problem that is still continuing, but to curb it, I melt it in huge bulks so that I do not run out of stock”.
In your own experience, why do you think it is important for one to take care of their skin? And does your products accommodates all genders? “Because I believe in the vision of the business, I have strived to continue with it because it is an alternative for African people, and to pull them away from over-the-counter cosmetics and from health products that are synthetic. I believe it is crucial that Africans consume a product that caters for their genetic make-up. I also believe that health isn't a "one size fits all", we're biologically different people with non-Africans, Africans therefore require a skincare that will nourish their melanated skin and that is crucial for their skin as their skin needs protection and nourishment. Shea Butter and African Black soap are natural products that have been used as cosmetic products for centuries in Africa and have potent nutrients that soothe, condition and treat the skin and hair. I believe our products are essential as they're naturally made and address skin problems such as, dry skin, cracked skin, stretch marks and helps to sooth and eliminate blackspots and all our products are beneficial to any skin type and any gender including infants”.
Highlights of your business thus far? “My highlight would be for African people to love their malanated selves, and to realise our natural products that have been created for us by African women, and this made me realize that we have been inventors since the beginning of time”.
What’s the next step to grow the business? “The next step as a business is to work with more African people from many African countries, to source more natural products. Currently, we’re in a process of getting herbs to be packaged by Alafa Organics and made available to African people that is the next step as the business”.
Lastly, when you are not directly working on the business, what do you do to keep safe? “I am a lover of pan- African books to keep sane, I either read books as I believe that what we read we need to apply it in real life, so I read to apply learnings into my business. I also enjoy watching historical documentaries, I draw a lot from former leaders like Marcus Garvey, Thomas Sankara and Steve Bantu Bonke Biko among others, and the learnings from the doccies I watch I make sure to incorporate into my business”.