Editing About

Behind the Brand

We are sensible and practical, passionate about the environment and uplifting disadvantaged communities. We believe in prospering with others, and therefore pride ourselves on our women empowerment initiative which provides skills training and enterprising opportunities to previously unemployed women, thereby encouraging a culture of self-?sufficiency which in turn alleviates poverty. We partner with households and encourage them to consider their impact on the environment by recycling at home and using our recycled drawstring [http://www.supamama.co.za/index.php/about-the-brand bin bags].

Vision - To build a business that contributes towards preservation of the environment, social upliftment and enterprise development, whilst optimising stakeholder value.

Mission - To pursue practices which will help the environment and sustain natural resources, while uplifting disadvantaged women through entrepreneurial opportunities.

The Supa Mama Story


Back in 2012, Mike Maziya, CEO of Verigreen saw a woman collecting plastic rubbish from the streets of Pinetown. Being in the plastic business he was curious and stopped to talk to her. The woman explained that she was unemployed. To make money, she gathered waste to sell to recycling plants in the hope of earning enough to feed her children and send them to school. These were the same recycling plants Verigreen bought its recycled plastic from to use in the production of the refuse bags.


That night Mike retold the woman's story to his wife, Thina, Managing Director of Verigreen. Being a mother, Thina was moved by the story and the woman's struggle to provide for her family in such trying circumstances. Being a business woman, she believed that there was an opportunity to assist unemployed women in earning an income by cutting out the middleman.


So began, The Supa Mama Project.


The project is a waste-?to-?product initiative. Verigreen invests in a team of people who go out into rural areas and meet with women who are currently unemployed. They are offered training in terms of what plastic Verigreen uses in the production of the Supa Mama bags. They are taught how to source, sort and grade the plastic so as to achieve the best quality in the final product.


Support is offered to these women through the provision of pinafores and hats so that the women feel part of a bigger family instead of as an individual. The women are trained in SMS banking, which is a safer option for them than carrying cash.


Verigreen further realised that the distance these women have to travel to drop off the plastic collected is time consuming, draining and where transport is required, expensive. To offer further support, Verigreen set up collection points in strategic areas where they collect the plastic directly from the women.


To date, Verigreen works with over 100 women and is working to increase this number to 500.

Supa Mama is the only company to manufacture drawstring ba