Founder of Sanani Jewellers - a growing jewellery company based in Johannesburg is Vuyisanani Mavengana, an Eastern Cape born who grew up in different parts of the Eastern Cape such as Engcobo, Umtata, Queenstown, Hofmeyr, East London and Alice. Currently, Vuyisanani is a Johannesburg resident for over 10 years. Her move to Johannesburg was to study Jewellery Design and Manufacturing at the University of Johannesburg. Shortly after she graduated she worked for Brown’s at their Sandton stores and at their head office as part of their sales support and bespoke design team.
We wanted to hear who is her favourite Mzansi brand and this is what she said, “my favourite Mzansi brand is MaXhosa. I am in absolute awe of how Laduma has influenced African inspired luxury. You cannot mistake a MaXhosa piece because he’s created such a rich brand identity and one that South Africans can relate to and identify, with which is in essence what Sanani Jewellers is trying to do”.
Township economy: any thoughts on how South Africans can own it back again? “How I think we can own back the township economy is by making it easier for entrepreneurs to occupy retail spaces in and around townships. A large percentage of consumers use multiple channels during their purchase journey; They use their mobile phones or laptops to search for products online and on social media, to first gain knowledge about how much things are and how to use them, and eventually go to a brick-and-mortar store to make the purchase. Because If you notice, a lot of these brick-and-mortar stores we end up purchasing from, don’t belong to South Africans and there’s a lot of the social media businesses that belong to us and we’re only serving as “inspiration”. I believe that by focusing on providing a seamless shopping experience for customers by taking part in Omni-channel retail and having brick-and-mortar stores of our own in the places we live in, we can gain back not just the township economy, but our country’s”.
Back to your business, when did you commence with SANANI JEWELLERS and what motivated you to start? “I started Sanani Jewellers back in 2020. Because I had studied jewellery and have been working in the jewellery industry, but I did not find myself represented in the space I was in. So, I wanted to see myself as a modern African child in fine jewellery. My African cultures inspire jewellery made in sterling silver, gold, platinum and precious gemstones. I wanted to design everyday jewellery as a celebration of African cultures, modern designs but also respectfully representing our rich heritage”.
What challenges you faced when you were getting SANANI JEWELLERS off the ground? “I chose a career in an industry which is white dominated, male dominated and over 40 (year olds) and I am the complete opposite of that. First, I’m black, female and under 30 and the trust factor is greatly affected. Another challenge is the fact that this kind of business needs a significant amount of capital to start and better compete in the industry”.
Your products are named using different tribes of Mzansi, what’s the thinking around that? “Like I mentioned, Sanani Jewellers draws inspiration from South African tribes (cultures) and creates modern, simplistic, and easily recognizable motifs and names the collections after a tribe which inspired it”.
What are your business highlights so far? “Being part of the Rand Refinery Silver Mentorship program which opened up the industry and also opened a store in Monti Casino which houses all the local jewellers that participated in the program”.
Lastly, when not busy with SANANI JEWELLERS, what do you do to keep sane? “I’m a new mom of a now 3 month-old boy. If I’m not spending time with my family, I am busy on my sewing machine. This is something I have also considered going into in the future, now you know why Laduma is my inspiration”, she giggled.