About Us
The Team
The Founder and CEO
Ronel Botes was born 15 June 1971, and is the founder and CEO of Touch by Africa Pty Ltd.
Over more than 20 years she has worked as a therapist, spa owner, corporate wellness coach, spa consultant, national sales manager and assistant product developer at a medium to large producer.
Working in different fields and at both ends of the supply chain when it comes to both services and production, she found a lack of ‘new ideas’ in a stagnated industry with a lot of the same old same old.
From there comes the inspiration to create something unique, ethical and local. Inspired by Africa, its fauna and flora, sounds and smells, she has created an organic, vegan friendly local brand of body and face care, as well as a hospitality range.
Senior Therapist, Spa Manager and Shareholder at the Touch by Africa Pamper Rooms at Bloemendal 360, Durbanville - Nicole Driver
Senior Therapist and Shareholder at the Touch by Africa Pamper Rooms at Bloemendal 360, Durbanville - Melody Ndlovu
Senior Therapist and Shareholder at the Touch by Africa Pamper Rooms at Bloemendal 360, Durbanville - Sheilla Chamunorwa
Senior Therapist and Shareholder at the Touch by Africa Pamper Rooms at Bloemendal 360, Durbanville - Stella Chitau
Our Rituals:
A new ritual does not just happen, it evolves over time.
Working as therapist for many years, Ronel knew what challenges each working therapist faces with each service, have experienced each treatment as therapist and as 'customer', with high expectations on quality and value added services.
As therapist, offering a service, has a physical and emotional affect. We do not only connect as a therapist but as one human toward another. It affects us in ways you cannot imagine.
Keeping this in mind, each Rituals has been formulated with therapist and customer in mind. Every movement, the sounds, smells and even what you see, is directly linked to creating an emotional connection or response.
Step one in each ritual is 'choice'.
You get to choose what is used during your pamper sessions. Each pamper session offers you a variety of products to choose from, used during your ritual. You get to customize your treatment to fit your personal prevenances and needs.
You are allowed to choose products and pressure during your massage. The music is designed to relax and sooth your senses, combined with organic, vegan-friendly products and fragrances to create a truly unique experience.
From Reflexology, herbal remedy pamper sessions to Facials, each treatment will offer you more than the expected
Our Products:
Natural, Organic, Vegan-Friendly & Locally produced
from Ingredients sourced from Africa.
Touch by Africa source our ingredients locally, from the African continent, with the focus on natural, naturally derived and organic essential oils and base products. We purchase direct from the suppliers and small business ensuring the best possible prices for our product.
Our product containers are either glass or PET recyclable and re-usable plastics. Our reward program for customers who choose to recycle includes a credit to their purchases for every container returned.
We focus on indigenous fauna and flora, known for its healing, calming or soothing properties, using ancient local remedies from the Khoi, “boereraad’ and researched ingredients, used for centuries as natural remedies.
Key Ingredients include:
Buchu
Buchu is an indigenous fynbos plant, that grows only in the Western Cape of South Africa.
This amazing natural remedy is known as a powerful anti-inflammatory. Locals used the leaves to brew a tea, as a remedy for digestion, and for pain in joints.
African Sage also known as “Khoi Goed”
Used by the Khoi as a natural tonic, for any discomfort including insect bites, wounds and tummy remedy. It is known as an anti-inflammatory.
African Wormwood also known as “Wilde Als”
Knowledge past down from relative to relative, over hundreds off years, this Khoi remedy is used as a general “fix it all”, hence the name “Als” meaning Everything. Used as a ‘go to’ remedy for every ailment at any age.
Baobab Oil
Used in most of the Touch by Africa product range this is an ingredient known as one of the best natural antioxidants, high in Vit A, D, E and F as well as Omegas 3, 6 and 9.
This is used as a base oil in our body and massage blends and added to our remedy range for its healing abilities.
Natural Clays
Natural clays are used in especially our body ranges as colorant and as detox and it is rich in minerals.
#Fromshack2shareholder
As a girl, growing up in a home with an alcoholic father, Ronel took 9 years to realize that what she had been program to believe, is not the truth of the world.
She worked as legal secretary, out of need, not by choice being trained in house due to lack of money, and absolutely hated it, but believed that the world require women to work, earn just enough to pay the bills, until they marry and have children. They are dependent on either a parent or a man to support them, and cannot make it on their own.
Through her work as legal secretary, she met all kind of people and situations, where women in difficult situations believe they are stuck due to traditions, religion or financial restraints.
It became her mission to get out of the situation, find a trade and study, create a new reality for herself. Over the years, she started realizing that she could influence and inspire those around her, using her own pain and experiences, from there #women4women and #fromshack2shareholder was born.
Their Stories
Imagine being made to marry a 46 year old man at the age of between 13 – 15, sold off by your ‘elders’ or parents for a cow and R500 cash.. The transaction is made and you are now the property of a man you do not know, with 2 other wives who are seen as your superior.
You are introduced to womanhood and motherhood way to early, and exposed to abuse from both husband and wives, working hard to get water to your home, cleaning cooking and wifely duties.
Even if you run away, there is nowhere to run, as you cannot go home, even if you know where that is. By closing the ‘contract’ and accepting payment, you are now property to your husband, and your parents would have to return you to him.
You have no birth certificate, no Id and no ‘legal identity’. You cannot contact your family to provide these basic documents, to open an account or seek a job.
Now that you have run away, what do you do? You cannot speak English or Afrikaans, you cannot read or write well as you have been taken out of school early, you have nowhere to stay and nothing to eat?
Your options are limited to cleaning houses, washing dishes in a restaurant for cash payment, or you take on another man, to support you for ‘services’, hope and pray he doesn’t force and hit you, and this is the reality for to many rural African women.
Our mission and focus is to offer these women the option of choice, by not only teaching them a skill, but to show them how to utilize those skills into money, which offers them choice.
Learn more about our projects, services and products by contacting Ronel Botes at info@touchbyafrica.co.za and become a part of this initiative, meet the team and see firsthand how you may be involved.