When it comes to local brands, nothing beats Bathu sneakers

Local shoe range Bathu is the No 1 admired brand in the country. Four other local labels made the top 10 of the most-loved brands.

On Tuesday, Brand Africa announced the continent’s best brands for 2024, and their rankings on the JSE, in their 14th annual Brand Africa 100 survey.

The nonprofit brand-led movement said its research for this year’s best-brands list covered 31 countries across every economic region of the continent, including South Africa. It was conducted between February and March 2024.

Nine-year-old Bathu took the top spot, followed by luxury fashion brand Maxhosa, shoe range Drip, and streetwear brand GALXBOY. These are brands founded by young people in South Africa over the past decade. 

“Bathu” is township slang for “shoes”, and the brand was established in 2015 by 35-year-old Theo Baloyi. In nine years, it has opened 30 stores across South Africa and sells 15,000 pairs of shoes a month. The brand first earned itself a spot on Brand Africa’s top 100 list in 2020, when it was named the country’s 10th most-admired product range.

Thebe Ikalafeng, Brand Africa’s founder and chair, applauded the accomplishments of these local marques, which make up 40% of the total rankings.

The performance of youth-founded brands is an inspiration for the growth of relevant made-in-South Africa brands and industrialisation

—  Thebe Ikalafeng, Brand Africa

“The performance of youth-founded brands is an inspiration for the growth of relevant made-in-South Africa brands and industrialisation.”

Ikalafeng said the rankings helped give consumers a better perspective on the performance of different brands in the country and across the continent.

“The South African rankings and the 30 brands, events, campaigns and people offer insight into the country’s creativity, global African leadership, competitiveness and influence.”

Brand Africa said that while Bathu was the best-loved South African brand, Nike retained its top spot as the overall No 1 product line in the country and across the continent. It said that, while 68% of South Africans believe African countries make better African-branded products, 33% pledged their loyalty to local brands.

Retail giant Woolworths was No 3 on the list. Brand Africa said it was voted one of the most admired brands for the good work it does in society, in terms of helping people and protecting the environment. 

TFG’s Redbat was a new entry among the South African brands, making the list at No 5.

Brand Africa found that FNB was the top choice in the financial services sector, while DStv dominated as the most admired media brand. 

MTN retained its spot, both locally and across Africa, as the best African brand. It was also voted the top one in the sustainability category.

Across the continent, Nike, Adidas, Puma, Samsung and Coca-Cola were the top-five brands for 2024.