It’s been a long journey for Molihobeng Semela, a Free State entrepreneur who took her passion for plants into the beauty and cosmetics space step by step. Now, with the financial support of the Free State government, she has managed to scale up her dreams into an unfolding new reality.
Semela, who developed a passion for natural remedies during her studies at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, began producing sulphur ointments on her kitchen table way back in 2008.
“Fast forward to 2017” Semela told The Sowetan on 23 June 2026, “I registered Mimmie Trading and Projects which then focused on cosmetics. Everything that we do is from plants and herbs.”
Her first boost came through funding from the Free State’s Department of Economic Development, where she secured R200 000 after coming third in the province’s Tabalaza pitching programme for small businesses. This enabled her to develop agri-processing capacity.
In 2024, in a major leap of faith, Semela decided to go into cultivation. She secured a 30 year lease from the Kopanong Municipality for a 200 ha farm in Edenberg in the northern Free State.
That same year, she received a major boost for the business in the form of R4 million in funding from Free State Agriculture and Rural Development Department.
“The funding was for first phase planning which included developing a turnkey business plan. It was to conduct soil and water tests, drill a borehole, obtain licenses and permits, install fencing and a solar system and purchase a bakkie”.
“We grew from just being an entrepreneurial venture into a commercial enterprise” Semela told the Sowetan. “Now we plant the hemp and cannabis plants, which we process and brand for the market”.
Today, Semela has national ambitions for her growing cannabis business which s operating across the value chain.
Mimmie (Pty) Ltd is manufacturing a range of 12 products, including CBD oil, ‘hair food’, shampoos, body oils and cosmetics. It also produces moringa capsules and CBD infused edibles, such as chilli sauce, cookies, muffins, cupcakes, gummies and tonic drinks.
The company is collaborating with the CSIR in testing for quality and consistency’.
Mimmie employs four full-time staffers and takes on up to 24 seasonal workers during planting and harvesting. She employs a number of ‘brand ambassadors’ to market her products at a wholesale level.
“We have a shop in Welkom and we supply other shops in Johannesburg, Soweto, Rustenberg and Bloemfontein. These are private cannabis shops and social clubs that are mushrooming up all over the place, so the demand is very high” she said.
Selema has also been acknowledged by the Department of Science and Innovation for her business, recently receiving an award for indigenous knowledge based technical innovation .
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