Ndimnyama brand is the brainchild of both Sibahle and Simamkele Wole. These wonderful young entrepreneurs grew up in Peddie before they moved to Uitenhage in 2009. “We grew up in an environment where our mother was selling ‘Imiqolo’ to put bread on the table.
One of the brands that we very much adore is ‘Malume Playground’ because it’s a very unique business, one that introduces gaming to locals. We asked the duo what do they think should be done to bring back the kasi economy and they replied by saying, “It’s simply by supporting each and every in growing our businesses and open up to collaborations, i.e photographers should partner with clothing brands or musicians to promote one another”.
When did you commence with your clothing apparel business and what motivated you to start? “The idea came in 2019, but at that time we didn't know which name to use for the brand. Simamkele then suggested the name NDIMNYAMA, a name that came about bringing light into a place of ‘darkness’, as we all know that literal dreams comes at night (ebumnyameni), then we had to put everything into personification of one’s character, and NDIMNYAMA not because I’m black but I’m also the start of great things”.
Have you ever been funded by any funding institution in SA? If no, what would you use the funding for if you could get one? “Not yet, we have not received any funding simply because we never applied. We wanted to fund the business on our own so we can know the struggles of starting without funds. But, If we could get funding we will increase our stock and also buy machines for sewing as we are suffering from outsourcing some of our products”.
What are your business highlights so far? ”Being nominated in #MAMA'S 2022 awards is definitely one of our biggest highlights as we enter our second year as a business".
Which company would you be interested to collaborate with in future and why? “We are keen to work with any company as Ndimnyama Brand, for as long as it would be beneficial to local economy”.
When you're not working on your brand, what do you guys do to keep sane? “We everyday work on the strategy to improve the brand. Otherwise, if we are not busy with the brand we are doing photoshoots or busy helping with interior designing”.