From Qholaqhwe To Southern Africa: How One Man Is Turning Indigenous Knowledge Into Jobs, Livelihoods And Community Wealth


  • By Brand News 24
  • |
  • March 31, 2026

Ahead of the annual Sacred Roots Healers Camp 2026, Thabo Mofokeng Founder of Lanky's Muthi Shop and Lanky's Herbal Training Institute reveals a community economic model that is already creating livelihoods across South Africa and Lesotho

From Qholaqhwe To Southern Africa: How One Man Is Turning Indigenous Knowledge Into Jobs, Livelihoods And Community Wealth

JOHANNESBURG — In a country where youth unemployment remains one of the most urgent economic challenges of our time, Thabo Mofokeng is building a different kind of answer. Not through boardrooms or government tenders, but through the soil, the plants and the ancestral knowledge systems that have sustained African communities for generations.
Since founding Lanky's Muthi Shop in 2018, Mofokeng has quietly built a multi-province enterprise spanning Johannesburg, Klerksdorp, Qwaqwa, Botswana and Lesotho, one that does not merely sell traditional products but actively creates economic opportunities for youth, women and traditional practitioners in the communities it serves.

“Our ancestors left us everything we need. The knowledge is there. My work is simply to preserve it, share it and make sure it reaches the people who need it most.”
— Thabo Mofokeng, Founder, Lanky's Muthi Shop and Lanky's Herbal Training Institute

A Replicable Model of Community-Led Job Creation

What distinguishes Mofokeng's enterprise is not its scale alone but its structure. Each store in the Lanky's Muthi Shop network functions as a micro-economic hub, generating direct employment whilst activating the surrounding informal economy through local suppliers, traders and community-based distribution networks.

Since inception in 2018, the enterprise has:

  • Supported 100+ individuals through skills training and income-generation programmes
  • Enabled 50+ micro-enterprises, the majority led by youth and women
  • Created 150+ direct and indirect livelihoods across retail, supply chains and training environments
  • Established active cross-border economic participation between South Africa and Lesotho
  • Established active cross-border presence across South Africa, Lesotho and Botswana
  • Supplies indigenous herbal products to 50+ smaller brands through a white labelling programme, enabling independent entrepreneurs to bring their own products to market
  • Distributed free daily herbal products to community members across all store locations

From Indigenous Knowledge to Income: The Training Pipeline

Through Lanky's Herbal Training Institute, traditional healers, aspiring herbalists and community members are trained in the commercial application of indigenous knowledge, including the production of herbal teas, capsules, remedies and wellness products that can be taken directly to market.

Training is practical, market-aligned and conducted in dedicated processing workshops equipped with modern technology, ensuring that every participant leaves with skills that translate immediately into sellable products and sustainable income.

Women's Economic Inclusion at the Core

Women's economic participation is not an afterthought in Mofokeng's model, it is central to it. From business mentorship and enterprise creation support to an annual sanitary pads distribution initiative addressing period poverty across underserved communities, the programme is designed to ensure women are equipped to generate sustainable income, not merely receive assistance.

 

Sacred Roots Healers Camp 2026: The Next Wave

From 29 May to 01 June 2026, Mofokeng will host the Sacred Roots Healers Camp 2026 through Lanky's Herbal Training Institute, an immersive three-night programme bringing together traditional practitioners, aspiring herbalists and community members from across Southern Africa.

Participants will receive intensive training in:

  • Income-generating indigenous herbal production
  • Small business development and market access strategies
  • Practical pathways to commercialising traditional knowledge
  • Personal mentorship under Mofokeng himself

 

With strictly limited spaces available, the camp represents a direct pipeline of newly skilled, economically active individuals entering and contributing to their local economies. Registration and enquiries: +27 71 807 0160 | www.lankysmuthishop.co.za

 

About Lanky's Muthi Shop and Lanky's Herbal Training Institute
Founded in 2018 by Thabo Mofokeng, a proud son of Qwaqwa, Free State, Lanky's Muthi Shop is a family-owned enterprise committed to preserving, developing and democratising indigenous knowledge of traditional medicine and human health. Operating across multiple provinces in South Africa and Lesotho, the business provides an innovative range of indigenous herbal products as accessible, affordable alternatives to chemically manufactured medicines, for communities both young and old.

Through Lanky's Herbal Training Institute, Mofokeng extends this work into skills development and community empowerment, training the next generation of herbalists and traditional practitioners whilst building communities capable of sustaining themselves. Products are developed using knowledge passed down from generations of traditional healers, combined with current research on medicinal plant efficacy, and produced in dedicated processing workshops operating under strict quality control.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES
Phindile Nxumalo
External Communications | Lanky's Muthi Shop and Lanky's Herbal Training Institute
media@LMShop.co.za | +27 71 787 7002


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