Anet Matakala is a Law student who recently had a brilliant, sensational experience when she received recognition as an up-and-coming entrepreneur by Shoprite through their Hustler of the Month Entrepreneur competition.

Matakala is the owner of Nettah Organics, a personal healthcare-product company which uses food-based products to handcraft products for the skin, hair, and body. These products include healthy foodstuffs such as avocados, coffee, green tea, and cinnamon.

She says due to the lack of organic products on the market, she initially made products only for herself. However, in 2017, friends and family started showing interest and she decided to distribute her products among them.

Matakala, who hails from Limpopo, says she formally registered the company in April 2018, while continuing with the same business model.

Making bold moves

The 24-year-old says a friend encouraged her to enter the Shoprite competition after seeing a promo run on social media.

She says signing up for the competition was a leap of faith which yielded results that she hardly expected.

“I was actually playing when I entered. They only responded to me after two months, and at first, I didn’t know that I won; I thought I was just a finalist. A week after that, they told me that they have arranged a photographer to take photos of me and my products. When I asked what it’s for, they told me I had won,” she says.

Her prize as the Shoprite Hustler of October includes a cash prize, sponsored radio marketing, social-media coverage and a crowdfund page for Nettah Organics.

“It [the competition] increased my sales. The competition actually helped me, because a lot of people became interested in my stuff and they started enquiring about them," she adds.

Looking forward, Matakala says she would like to see her products on shelves in retail stores.