A Zulu Toy Story: How Sanele Qwabe is crafting his way from Richards Bay to the world.

Every once in a while a rose grows in the concrete to break the normal mould and tell a story untold before. Such an analogy would be the perfect way to describe Sanele, a very calm and collected broer who gives off the energy of that township kid who we all liked because he never had kwaal le motho.

I managed to get an interview after randomly sending him a DM about a month ago to which he promptly replied, and that in itself was enough to make me believe that this was a man who knew he was in the possession of something powerful.

An authentic story which needed to be heard in its truest form. We managed to squeeze in a 30-minute call during one of his less busy mornings and chopped it up about life, creating, and all that surrounds it.

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Can you please us a bit about Sanele Qwabe, your experiences growing and how you do you think that helped shape the man you are today?

Well, every story has a beginning and mine begins with the fact that I'm from a small town called Richards Bay. A place full of talented creatives who have relocated to bigger cities in chase of progressing their craft. I think I grew up in a privileged time in the creative sense because our generation was kind of in the early stages of being introduced to what the world is currently doing in terms of culture.

I'm from the krumping era when our Samsung E250s and Motorola V360s introduced us to a world which we never knew, cyphers, cracked versions of fruity loops, it was just a time full of young mad scientists man. I've always told myself consciously that I wanted to try everything while I was still young, till I got to a discipline that didn't want me to move on. I knew design was my niche when I was chosen to design our matric jackets as an art student, so that was the first tangible product I created as a kid which I can say helped shape the man I am today.

What inspired you to enter the toy-making industry as a young black creative? A market that is relatively still unexplored with no blueprint to follow?

It all stems from animation bro. That was honestly my first love. I matriculated in 2014 and I was supposed to go to Animation School South Africa, which is based in Cape Town. This specific time was a period where I particularly had a rude awakening about my reality because we couldn't afford it. It was a private institute, kak expensive, ngapha there's accommodation fees so I had to take a gap year. During that time I had already learnt the basics of animation on this free software called Blender, which I'm still using today, (sidenote: no gatekeeping this side).

So because my animation school dreams were killed, I had to make another plan, but I was still obsessed with the medium of animation. I just couldn't afford the production costs alone. There was a story I was in the process of writing about Blue, which was an animated character of a plush toy and I just had the idea of turning it into an actual physical toy. I made it and the sample came out great. People loved how it looked and felt, resulting in me going down this rabbit hole of researching different techniques of toy-making. There was a sh*tload of trial and error, and a lot of money lost, I feel like that's what people need to understand about creating, IT CAN GET EXPENSIVE and tiring, but trust the process.

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How did you make the move from Blue the plush toy to Kind Kid the brand?

Yoh bro that question is really important because I had to ask myself a lot of existential questions. Kind Kid is a very special brand to me because of the essence of what it means. The Innocence of a Child, when I think of Kind Kid I think of all the experiences I had when I was young. Even the first toy I made for the Kind Kid brand was inspired by a childhood memory of the games and pranks I used to play with my little sister. That's why it's so important for me to be meticulous when it comes to partnerships and collaborations, for example, I don't work with alcohol brands. The core foundation of Kind Kid is putting out positive energy for all the Kind Kids which I think is partly why people are organically gravitating towards the brand.

You can always tell when a creative is being genuine, and I think that's something we shouldn't take for granted when putting work out in the world. But when things like that happen you also get the opposite side with people who want to take advantage of your trajectory. I've said a lot of no's to a lot of big money opportunities and famous people too, which also makes me proud because even though that money was going to change my life, I believe the brand can change more lives in the long run. I've set out a growth plan which has certain stages that include a lot of direct impact on helping young kids and I believe that's way more important.

What was the main inspiration behind the name Kind Kid?

Besides being moulded by my childhood memories, the name in itself was also inspired by the fact that even though I'm a good person, I just don't naturally consider myself kind. This is part of the existential period I was telling you about earlier on. I'm not saying uguthi I just tell people off I'm just not smiling all the time even when I feel good. I think it might be a family thing cause it's the same thing with my dad. So in a way, I wanted that name to always remind me to be a kind kid.

You recently did an exhibition in Russia for Super Toys which is a significant achievement, how did this come about, and what was the experience like?

So thing is I'm not shy when it comes to DM'ing people, I DM so many people every day that it's become part of my routine. Some people I DM'ed in 2019 and they only come back to me now, but I mostly focus on toy exhibitions because like you said, the market on this side hasn't reached that point of demand yet when it comes to locally-made toys. So yeah back to that, I randomly DM'ed this Russian toy shop owner called Eli and told him I wanted to send a few toys he said he was interested and I got a bunch of them and sent them through as a package.

He then randomly sent me a DM asking for more stuff because people were buying and he also wanted my stuff to be part of this huge exhibition he was doing in collaboration with other toy store owners. And yeah that's basically how that happened, a cool experience of a random DM flying your products across the world.

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Did you start making toys for black representation or was this just an element that naturally occurred while you were creating to have your toys melanated?

Uhm to be honest I made the toys for multiple reasons. The main reason for creating them as Abantu Abamnyama is that personally for me, as a child, damn that would've been something cool to see. So I want to be a vessel that allows the next generation to dream higher because with toys you can create anything, from astronauts to doctors, to virtually anything you can imagine.

So this is my way of saying we have a variety of options, so don't limit your dreams to what you can currently see, your imagination can become reality if you work hard enough. I just wanted black kids to have the ability to be without added pressure man, we can't all want a certain career just because we were taught it makes a lot of money, that's bullsh*t.

What has been your favourite project so far and why does it stand out for you?

I mean as a creative I feel like you keep on creating so your work keeps on improving ain't it? So my favourite is the one that I'm working on now. It's my first big piece, about 45cm, I've never done a piece that big so I'm taking my time with that one, I can't say much but when you see it you'll know it. I just hope people like it.

How does one go about creating an ecosystem of loyal supporters in an untapped industry like you're doing?

I think it goes back to what I said the first time bro. If a brand has values, people with the same values will automatically attach to it. Just don't compromise your values along the way because people become more attached to the values than the brand itself. I think that has been the most difficult part for me you know. Telling potential investors no because you have certain values is often seen as a weakness in an industry where money reigns supreme. But it's just the price you have to pay if you want your work to live beyond you. Only you will know the type of impact you want to leave behind. You don't need red carpets to be influential.

I purposefully stayed in Richards Bay because in a sense I want to prove that I don't need to be in a major city to make it. I just need to lock in and get to it, and the rest will follow. If I go to Jozi later on then okay cool, but so far my heart is at peace here, and this is where I can create my best work without any outside noise. It's also important to live instead of constantly chasing. And I'm not knocking on anyone who relocates to achieve their dream but I'm just telling you that these are part of the values that created this ecosystem that you speak of. People lift you up and then companies see you, it's not the other way around. You don't need to impress these brands bro, find your people and these brands will find you through them. That is quote on quote, the streets.

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What advice would you want to give young aspiring creatives who also want to enter unexplored territories?

I honestly don't like to give such advice because everyone's path is different you know. All I can say is train your mind to always see the bigger picture. But always remain true to yourself too.

What would be your dream collaboration?

Yo for that young kid inside me, McDonald's bro. Happy meal nyana. At the top of my head, that's what I could think of but also a gallery space for showcases you know. Being able to maybe do exhibitions with other creatives going forward.

Last question before we let you go, if you were to become an existing superhero, which one would you be and why?

I was gonna say Black Panther but I don't get how they have all these resources but let Abantu Abamnyama suffer so that's wack. I don't have a specific character but I enjoy The Incredibles because I'm a very family-orientated person. So I like that unit and how the father prioritises his family and in return, you can see how it's fruitful in his kids. His kids are happy because they have a present family unit. They are a family first and superheroes second which for me is kinda cool.

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In a world where creativity often gets overshadowed by trends, Sanele stands as a beacon of originality and purpose. His journey from KZN to international platforms like Super Toys in Russia is a testament to the power of believing in your craft and staying true to your values. Sanele isn’t just a toy maker; he’s a dreamer and a storyteller, inspiring us to reach beyond our limits. His work reflects a rare breed of passion and resilience that makes him impossible not to root for. I for one know that this story is one worth watching with a keen eye because they don't make them like this any more.