Born and raised in Welkom Ntsoaki Ledimo is a South African businesswoman who has always had ambitions beyond her surroundings.

Today, that girl has transformed into one of South Africa’s most versatile businesswomen, a cancer survivor turned advocate, and a fashion entrepreneur whose style has earned her the nickname “South Africa’s walking mannequin”.

From Small-Town Beginnings to Business Success

Ntsoaki Ledimo’s journey from Welkom wasn’t one of linear progression but of resilience and adaptation.

“I had the most beautiful upbringing because I had both my mom and dad there, and my siblings,” she reflects. This foundation would prove crucial when, only months into her university studies, her father delivered difficult news.

“My father told me when I started my varsity, You know what, my child, I won’t be able to afford to pay for your school fees because your sisters are still studying,” she recalls. Rather than seeing this as a setback, she made a pivotal decision that would shape her future.

“It made me look at life differently because going back home was not an option for me. I was going to go out there, I was going to hustle.” And she did exactly that. Ledimo’s early career in retail spanned more than two decades, including stints with several retail giants. This foundation in fashion and retail would become the thread connecting her various ventures.

A Transformative Moment

The true catalyst for Ledimo’s entrepreneurial journey came in 2012-2013 when she attended African Odyssey, a platform created by businesswoman Carol Bouwer to uplift women. “I was that girl who’s like, ‘Oh, let me start attending these things.’ I didn’t have much inspiration to start my own business,” she admits. “But that platform changed my mind, that as a woman, I need to stand for myself, and what is it that I’m giving back?”

Ledimo took inventory of her talents: “I realised, you know what, I’m a great cook. So, I’m going to open a restaurant.” She also has a talent and skill for gardening, leveraging her skill with floral arrangements to start a second business.

True to her values of community upliftment, she brought local women into these ventures. “I took in the women in the village to come work for me or work with me. That was my way of paying it forward.”

Building a Business Empire with Purpose

Today, Ledimo wears many hats in the business world. She’s a director for Miss World South Africa, bringing her understanding of fashion and presentation to an organisation that champions “beauty with purpose” rather than surface-level aesthetics.

“Miss World South Africa is a platform for young women to take up space on global stages,” she explains. “It’s not just about the wins, such as a car or an apartment. It’s about taking you to those influential stages, to the UN, to any platform that speaks to women, to children, and to healthcare and inclusion.”

Her business partnership with Carol Bouwer has yielded multiple ventures, including the perfume brand CBNL with two variations: CBNL Just Me for women and CBNL Fidelity for men. The duo also collaborate on Bouwer’s premium leather bags, including a specific design called “Momo”, which is named after Ledimo’s daughter.

The Battle That Changed Everything

In May 2023, Ledimo received life-changing news: she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her journey through treatment was intense – a double mastectomy followed by six months of chemotherapy from June to October.

“I was removed from the world. I was on my own,” she says of that difficult period. “When I say on my own, I was in my head a lot.” But true to her nature, Ledimo found purpose in her pain. “I’m one person who doesn’t believe that things happen to me. I always think when things happen, they happen for me, and how do I now use that to touch another person, or how do I use the story to uplift someone and give them hope.”

This wasn’t Ledimo’s first encounter with cancer. She had lost her father to the disease after a battle in which she witnessed firsthand the challenges of accessing quality healthcare through the national hospital system in Bloemfontein.

“I used to say to him that I wish I could do something about this, because of the conditions that the hospital was in, and how the people were treated and seen at that time,” she recalls. “I was like, I’m going to do something about it one day.”

In 2020, she registered a foundation but didn’t activate it. “Little did I know that one day I would walk my own journey, and I would have to go fetch my foundation.”

Fashion with Purpose: The Birth of SNL

During her recovery, Ledimo connected with designer Bathini of Bathini Designs, a longtime friend. “I picked up the phone and spoke to Bathini because I’ve been her client for the longest time, before she even went into premium ranges,” she explains.

Their conversation sparked an idea: Create fashion that could fund cancer initiatives. “Why don’t we create something together to raise funds for women battling cancer?” Ledimo proposed.

This collaboration and another partnership with House of Olé led to the birth of SNL – Styled by Ntsoaki Ledimo. The fashion label would serve as the commercial arm of her renamed foundation, SNL Foundation, with proceeds supporting cancer screenings and healthcare access. “I’m a fashionista because I’m a walking mannequin. I’m a reference when it comes to clothing,” Ledimo says with deserved confidence.

“I’m a proud South African girl, through and through. I cannot even say there’s any designer in South Africa that I haven’t worn.”

A Meaningful Launch

The official launch of both SNL Foundation and her fashion label is set for July 18, 2025 – Nelson Mandela Day, a date of immense significance in South Africa, when citizens are encouraged to give 67 minutes of service to honour Mandela’s 67 years of public service. “I approached Nelson Mandela Foundation, and they also raised their hand,” she says. “If you remember one of the parting words from our ex-president Nelson Mandela, he said, It’s all in our hands.”

The launch event at the prestigious Sanctuary Mandela will feature an auction of exclusive couture collaborative designs from Bathini Designs and House of Olé. The proceeds will fund mobile clinics focused on cervical cancer screenings, addressing a critical healthcare gap particularly affecting women in rural areas.

Ledimo was inspired by a woman named Sebabatso Tsaoane in Bloemfontein, who runs Black Women Arise Women’s Health Organisation and already operates one mobile clinic. “What’s the point of reinventing the model that works? Might as well go with what she’s doing,” Ledimo reasons. The need is urgent. “It’s only one mobile clinic in the Free State that has to service everyone. Because of the demand, she can only service only four districts, that is Bloemfontein on its own,” Ledimo explains. “She can’t go to Welkom, she can’t go to Qwaqwa, she can’t go anywhere else.”

The Power of Community

Through her cancer journey, Ledimo experienced firsthand the critical importance of support systems. Her “very small community” made an enormous difference – two prayer warriors in Cape Town who prayed with her daily at 8 AM, her business partner Carol Bouwer who moved in to help care for her children, her best friend from Bloemfontein who traveled to accompany her to chemotherapy treatments, and a man from Welkom who prayed for her at 3 AM every morning.

“It’s a very small support, but it was everything to me,” she emphasises. “I believe that I’m here because of them. When people perish because of cancer, it’s not because of the disease itself. It’s because of mental battles that we have to go through, those silent moments that people don’t know anything about.”

This understanding informs her approach to cancer advocacy – it’s not just about medical treatment but about preserving dignity and providing holistic support.

“Our sole mandate is just to give the women their dignity back and obviously, while we do that, we save their lives because early detection saves lives,” she says. “I’m here today sitting here proudly because I was detected early.”

Looking Forward: Fashion That Heals

As Ntsoaki Ledimo prepares for the launch of her fashion label and foundation, she brings her decades of retail experience, her eye for style, and most importantly, her transformed perspective as a cancer survivor. The upcoming collection will showcase her aesthetic vision and serve as a vehicle for change, with proceeds funding mobile clinics that provide cancer screenings to underserved communities.

“It makes sense for me to do it through fashion because it’s something that I know and understand,” she explains. “I know that I have a whole community behind me when it comes to that because of my fashion sense.”

For Ledimo, the scars from her cancer journey have become symbolic of her strength and purpose. “My scars are the cracks through which God’s light enters my life,” she says, embracing both her physical and emotional scars as pathways for light to enter – not just for herself, but for all those she hopes to help through her foundation and fashion label.

In Ntsoaki Ledimo’s hands, fashion becomes more than self-expression; it becomes a lifeline, a source of dignity, and a powerful tool for community transformation. From the small town of Welkom to the national stage, her light shines through the cracks, illuminating paths for herself and countless others.