Sibongile Mongadi, a young South African trailblazing entrepreneur creating prosthetics for amputees — Lionesses of Africa

What does your company do?

Uku’hamba (Pty) Ltd produces light weight prosthetics to improve the conditions of amputees living with disabilities thus giving them back their independence and dignity. The demand for prostheses each year exceeds the supply by a very large margin and the cost of prosthetic’s is unreachably high especially for the underprivileged. We investigated the use of 3D printing technology to address the identified need of amputees, in a cost-effective manner also using affordable environmentally friendly material. And the result is, the custom made, low cost, water resistant Prosthetics. Our core business is in the bio-technology and health care manufacturing industry.

What inspired you to start your company?

My entrepreneurial talents started from a personal experience after interacting with an amputee at a health facility in Johannesburg. It inspired me to want to make a positive impact and improve the quality of life for amputees by giving them back their independence. My business means that we can provide solutions for those underprivileged amputees using 3D printing technology to produce prosthetic limbs at low cost with the usage of affordable material.

Why should anyone use your service or product?

Uku’hamba creates aesthetically pleasing prosthetics that allow amputees to display their prosthetic proudly and change the way others view disability and prosthetic legs. What’s more is that our solution is more than a tool, and allows amputees to walk with our prosthetic, giving them the opportunity to help overcome their disability at a practical and psychological level.

Tell us a little about your team

We are team of young individuals with a background in digital fabrication and industrial product design. We are computer science graduates and we are also surrounded by a powerful board of advisors.

Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?

I was raised by both uneducated and self-employed parents and from a family of eight siblings, yet that didn’t stop me from pursuing my dreams. Today I’m also known as a multi-award winning young female entrepreneur. I have represented my country, South Africa, across the African continent and internationally. I am a role model in my community, and I believe that your background should not determine your future. You should not live in the past, and in every challenge you are faced with, you should be enabled.