Spreading Ubuntu Through Play

BUSINESS

B Y B R O W N S E N S E T E A M

Husband and wife co-founders of Toys With Roots Thabo and Mpumi Motsabi are walking with a sense of accomplishment lately, as their three-year business journey bears fruit. Their business was founded in 2015 after they started selling the popular Ntombenhle dolls, upon which they realised that there was a serious gap in the local market for toys that Brownie children can see themselves through. They soon expanded their distribution offering to include other toys, including their own Lali doll, a multi-lingual 10 year old who loves singing. While they initially envisioned Toys With Roots as the much-needed competition to larger, multinational toy shops, they realised that they could use those same stores to distribute the toys and gain a larger footprint across the country, and have since seen distribution to nine different malls in South Africa, including high end tourist and shopping destinations such as the V&A in Cape Town and Sandton City in Johannesburg. Lali was created in 2016, and she is a labour of love for the couple. Like many Brownies, they were in a position of being forced to manufacture in China, and wished to give Lali an African identity. The BrownSense Market, at which they had been vendors for over a year already, provided them with a platform to meet African designers. They discovered great synergies with fellow vendor Millicent Awino, founder and

designer at AfroFrocs, who agreed to design and manufacture an Afro printinfluenced clothing range for Lali. Through such collaboration, the team aims to create more value for Toys With Roots, customers and their collaborators.

Since starting out, they’ve experienced the ups and downs of being in business – including the high of selling units and the social media popularity, and the tapering off of sales thereof. Through hard work, and a focus on marketing and increasing sales, they raised enough money to create a Lali mascot – who has been great entertainment for the children at the BrownSense Market, and makes appearances at kiddie parties to sing and dance with party-goers.

They have remained focused in their goals, and now, Toys With Roots is in launch-mode for their CD, which will change all our road trip soundtracks for years to come. Songs With Lali, an anthology of twenty-seven popular sing-along songs in various South African indigenous languages such as Bana Ba Sekolo, and Izinyoni, as well as original songs such as Grateful List and Ngimuhle, a song of affirmation for children from all backgrounds.

Thabo and Mpumi are hopeful that the CD will change the way African children see themselves, “we want African children to see themselves running the world and its economy from early childhood, ” the couple explains that even Ubuntu should be key to their interaction with their company, “it must be a child that grows up exposed to Toys With Roots believes in the best of himself and his fellow man” .

Pull through to the BrownSense Market in Midrand to meet the Toys With Roots team and jam to Lali at the BrownSense Market 30 September 2018 @ 44 Allen Rd Glen Austin.