Shoprite And Checkers Sell Locally Designed Dolls Allegedly Made In China. Checkers and Shoprite have started selling a range of South African dolls.
Checkers and Shoprite have started selling a range of South African dolls. The dolls’ names are Pula, Nandi and Khana. These dolls are reportedly sold for R99 each. The doll are supposedly planned in South Africa by toy makers ‘Toys With Roots’, however, the said toys are allegedly made in China. The owners of ‘Toys With Roots’ , Thabo and Mpumi Motsabi, say that they planned the dolls so that their daughters could have a doll that they could connect with.
Mpumi Motsabi says, “I wanted our daughters to know that they are beautiful just as they are. When I was growing up there was nothing that celebrated me as a child. I wanted a different reality for my daughters.” The couple won the Shoprite Hustle Competition in 2018. The competition was for small enterprises that had a yearly turnover of under R1 million. Shoprite went to the couple so that they could put the dolls in Shoprite and Checkers stores. According to Business Insider, Thabo and Mpumi operated with Shoprite in partnering with a Chinese toy maker that could make the number of dolls that they wanted at a good price.
Tweeps reacted to the dolls being made in China. The tweeps say that the dolls could have been made in South Africa, thereby creating employment in the country. One tweep says, “One tweep says, “They are designed locally but made in China, basically means jobs created in China. Sell locally designed & made products.” One tweep says, “Nice that they’re locally designed, it would’ve been better if they were manufactured locally too for job creation but thumbs up for the designers.” One tweep says, “Made in China. Can we have our locally made black dolls. Surely to make a black doll doesn’t need importation.”
The tweets:
by Alexandra Ramaite
