Winner announced in the category for Business Entrepeneurs

31 July 2008

Ms Thabang Molefi has been announced as the winner of the 2008 business entrepreneurs category of the prestigious Shoprite Checkers/SABC2 Woman of the Year Award.

She accepted her award at a dazzling event held in celebration of women in South Africa tonight (Thursday 31 July 2008) in Cape Town. Ms Simangele Cele, Ms Memory Mfekayi and Me Nelia Schutte were the other finalists.

Receiving the 2008 Award in the business entrepreneurs category, Ms Molefi, said that she was grateful for the opportunity to take part in this special event to honor and recognise women achievements in this country.

“I congratulate every woman who is nominated and who remains unrecognised. I am so proud to be a woman and more importantly a South African woman .I realise grace upon me while on earth and need to realise my own purpose and course for which I remain alive,” she said.

She went on to thank the sponsors, her husband and parents who she said have just always been there for her and concluded by saying: “We women must be the change we wish to see in the world”.

Ms Molefi is qualified as a traditional health practitioner and beauty therapist who with the little savings she had at the time opened the first health spa in Soweto six years ago. Today she owns the The Roots Healthcare Centre business with a multi-million turnover and branches in three South African provinces and a neighbouring country.

Her pioneering health centres introduced affordable health care to black communities through the use of the different but effective technique of iridology for diagnosis and herbs as prescribed medicine. It also offers a beauty and detox service for the first time in these areas and is a member of the Ethno Medical Practitioners.

Ms Molefi has since the success of the first centre in Soweto grown her business considerably to establish another seven health care centres in previously disadvantaged areas in Gauteng, Kwazulu-Natal, the Free State and a mobile unit visiting communities in rural and remote areas in the rest of the country.

The Roots Health Care concept was conceived whilst Ms Molefe was training in London to become a beauty therapist and later in managing a Spa on a luxury cruise liner sailing the waters of America. She gained invaluable practical experience in a world more health and environmentally conscious and knew that Africa was calling her.

Ms Molefi returned to her roots with the idea of opening a health centre in Soweto, capitalising on the return to more natural and traditional ways of living and to bring the professional healing powers of herbs to communities in townships. It was important to her to share her knowledge and experience with her community at home.

Her efforts to get a bank loan to open an up-market Spa in Soweto failed but this was no deterrent. She went ahead and opened on a smaller scale with the little personal funds she had available. It was the highlight in her life but a tough time at first and frustrating trying to sell beauty and health treatments to the Soweto community.

Ms Molefi’s answer to resistance in the market was spreading the word that it is important to serve your own body. Her message was that whilst a car needs a service to run smoothly the human body because of the stresses and hardship of day needed more “servicing”.

In reaching out to Sowetans she also realised that there was a huge need for affordable health care. Western medicine was out of reach to a large section of the black population and previously disadvantaged because of high cost. That is when she qualified herself at the Indigenous Medical Plant Taining College and Rituals in Cape Town in traditional medicine and ailment healing with particular emphasis on herbalism.

The first two years of starting The Roots Health Care centres were difficult. In the first six months after opening her first health clinic Ms Molefe paid staff salaries from her savings. She also spent a lot of time giving free talks at schools and churches in a bid to educate and change the mindsets of people in Soweto about health care.

After six years of trading she not only grown her business substantially but has exposed her community not only to health diagnosis through iridology but also reflexology, nutrition, herbs and beauty treatments — all contributing to a healthy and a “feel good about yourself”- lifestyle in previously disadvantaged communities.

She has created 41 jobs for women in these communities and developed some to managerial positions to run the health centres. Ms Molefi has also outsourced services such as accounting, laundry and security to local business. It is her intention to branch out into franchising creating more business and job opportunities.

This dazzling gala event at which the winners was announced will be broadcast in a celebratory television programme on SABC2 at 20h00 on Saturday, 9 August 2008 when National Women’s Day is celebrated.

SABC2 will also broadcast a 48-minute programme in which all the finalists inserts are combined on Sunday, 3 August at 21h00 also on SABC2.

Ends

Issued by Patti Quinton @ (011) 465-5225 or 083 263 6281
On behalf of: Shoprite Checkers/SABC2 Woman of the Year Award

31 July 2008