05 Mar 2019

Ingenuity to take Batswana out of poverty through creating employment led to the precept of washing powder production. 

Speaking in an interview at Southern District’s taking services to the people in Ralekgetho on February 28, Ms Tilly Motshegwa, a social worker in Moshupa said the idea for production of washing powder sprung after realising the need and high demand for such commodity.

She said creativity was paramount for businesses to stay buoyant and uniqueness was a marketing tool no man could afford to miss.  

She said for such projects to work efficiently, beneficiaries were grouped to attain mass production because buying machines for each one of them was costly.

 She said in Moshupa they grouped 11 people who were engaged in washing powder production in September last year. 

Ms Motshegwa said washing powder production dubbed Sebokane was doing well. The company traded by the name: Slimbong K3

She said to change consumers’ perception over a product was a process that could not be attained over a night hence the need to persevere and wait for the right time to come for the product to cut a niche into the global market, but however is happy that more people are buying the product.

She shared that feedback that they have received from customers by far is positive and therefore are in the process of approaching Botswana Bureau of Standards (BOBS) to go through an audit process for them to attain BOS ISO 9001 certification.

The certification is a quality management standard that would add value to the product as well as ensure it meets customer needs and expectations.

For their part, Sebokane washing powder producers’ representatives Ms Golebogamang Masala and Mocheri Ramoleele said the urge to graduate from poverty and take other Batswana along triggered them to be artistic as much as possible which landed them on washing powder production.

The duo said they are working on improving product quality in order to break market barriers and transcend boundaries into the international souk. The duo said some of the ingredients concentration are high and therefore are working on correcting them, but without compromising quality. 

They said their product has made clients to believe in it and some are no longer buying in chain stores and wholesalers. They noted that the washing powder performs well more especially on white clothes that would need to be soaked for three days when using any other brand other than theirs, but with Sebokane they need less than an hour.  

A frequent client of Sebokane, a resident of Masokwe Ms Lydia Bathobasele said she was attracted to the product as taking part in empowering women and bought the merchandise to experiment, but to her surprise it was of best quality compared to established brands. ENDS