In this article, I will provide a comprehensive overview of the Top baby diapers manufacturers in South Africa, highlighting their key products, industry contributions, and the role they play in enhancing period healthy standards.（In no particular order）
1.Procter & Gamble South Africa
Procter & Gamble South Africa launched its operations in 1995, establishing its Johannesburg headquarters in the Kempton Park/Spartan industrial hub, where over 350 people are employed. The facility houses local production of the company’s flagship brands, which include Pampers, Ariel, Always, Oral-B, Gillette, and Vicks. The Johannesburg plant has progressively installed dedicated lines for Always and Pampers, has been designated a disruptive “zero-landfill waste” showcase, and has repeatedly expanded its production capacity to satisfy rising intra-regional demand. These milestones have generated and sustained thousands of jobs along the entire value chain, from raw material suppliers to logistics and retail.
Concerning brand footprint, Pampers has occupied the leadership pole in South Africa’s diaper segment, consistently commanding close to 40% of the value pie, according to 2018 trade channel audits. In laundry care, Ariel ranks as one of the prevalent international brands, yet mirror of consumer surveys and shelf audits demonstrates a tangible preference for Unilever’s Sunlight and OMO franchise, which jointly secure a wider reach across the local laundry market. Broadly, P&G Africa has pursued a growth path anchored in the direct marketing and distribution of its proprietary brand portfolio, avoiding third-party contract operations for private labels.
Country: South Africa
Address: 12th Floor, 15 Alice Ln, Sandhurst, Sandton, 2196， South Africa
Web: https://us.pg.com/
Phone: +27 10 001 9650
Main Product: Baby Care,Fabric Care,Home Care，Feminine Care，Family Care，Hair Care，Skin & Personal Care，Oral Care，Personal Health Care，Grooming
Aihu
Aihu Technology Fully automatic lines and a Class 100,000 clean workshop, with daily output up to 1.2M pieces. QC covers absorption, size, weight, elasticity, fluorescence, core performance, and microbial safety for global deman
Main Product: Baby diapers, adult diapers, incontinence pads, sanitary napkins, panty liners, menstrual pants, pet diapers, maternity napkins, nursing pads, etc.
2.Kimberly-Clark South Africa
KCSA, which stands for Kimberly-Clark South Africa, is the country’s wholly owned Kimberly-Clark subsidiary. It operates out of an office in Johannesburg and has manufacturing facilities in Springs, near Johannesburg, and in Cape Town, employing a workforce of over 750 people. The company’s activities span the complete range from manufacturing, importing, and marketing through to distribution and direct sales. The product lineup consists largely of the group’s own flagship brands, namely Huggies® in the baby-care sector, Kotex® in feminine care, Baby Soft® in household tissue, and the professional range of Kimberly-Clark Professional which covers washroom and general wiping solutions. Although based in South Africa, the company also counts customers in the broader Southern, Eastern, and Western Africa markets, from which several international deliveries are still generated. Pepe South Africa’s disposable diaper and pants space is fairly concentrated, with Huggies and P&G’s Pampers historically holding the top two slots. According to market estimates, Pampers commanded an approximately 40% share of retail sales in 2018, with Huggies trailing at an estimated 38.8% followed by the local Cuddlers brand in third. Third-party private label and OEM product solutions have been spearheaded by domestic firms, including Cleopatra and L’il Masters, and the public domain lacks evidence to suggest that Kimberly-Clark South Africa itself focuses on original-equipment manufacturing.
Country: South Africa
Address: 2929 Winnie Mandela Dr, Bryanston, Sandton, 2191 South Africa
Web: https://www.kimberly-clark.com/en-za/
Phone: +27 11 456 5700
Main Product: Baby Care,Fabric Care,Home Care，Feminine Care，Family Care，Hair Care，Skin & Personal Care，Oral Care，Personal Health Care，Grooming
3.Cleopatra (South Africa)
Cleopatra (South Africa) focuses exclusively on the research, development, and production of one-time-use hygiene products, producing a full range that includes diapers and pull-up pants, pre-moistened wipes, and sanitary napkins. These categories mainly serve the South African market but extend throughout the continent. Operating well-known brands such as DryNaps for babies and the SAGE line for adults, Cleopatra has routinely partnered with leading supermarket chains to provide private-label and original equipment manufacturing (OEM) support, becoming a key supplier to the region’s modern trade. Both the company’s own site and several respected trade publications rank Cleopatra as a key player among African private-label manufacturers.
Quality assurance, testing, and product development are managed on-site, and all manufacturing and storage take place within a complex located south of Durban. The company also maintains a logistics network that covers Southern Africa, allowing for complete control over the supply chain from raw material evaluation to the shipment of finished products. Cleopatra has not made market-share numbers publicly available; third-party analyses, however, point to robust arrangements with primary retailer groups such as Shoprite, Checkers, and Usave, estimating several million diapers shipped monthly and noting the firm’s substantial footprint among South African domestic producers.
Country: South Africa
Address: 62 – 66 Beachgate Crescent, Southgate Business Park, Umbogwintini, South Africa
Web: https://cleopatraproducts.com/
Phone: +27 31 914 0111
Main Product: Baby diapers
4.National Pride (South Africa)
National Pride (South Africa) manufactures and distributes personal care products and holds Level 4 B-BBEE certification. Its Johannesburg-headquartered site houses both offices and operational plant facilities. The company specializes in disposable products, covering the full spectrum from baby diapers and pants to adult incontinence solutions (both diapers, pants, and underpads), feminine sanitary pads, and the full wet-wipe category directed at both infant and household cleaning. Established in 2001, it self-identifies as meeting world-class benchmarks in manufacturing and quality systems. Its distribution network includes every significant South African retail, paired with export to selected international markets.
Key brands span several market fronts: the Cuddlers® diaper range claims the distinction of being the only locally produced label appearing in every major South African chain, while the Baby Panda® label serves as the top seller across the periods in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Active Care® range addresses the adult incontinence category, and the Simply Dry® line covers feminine hygiene. Additionally, National Pride ranks among the leading suppliers of private-label assortments for large multi-retailer and wholesale networks, balancing internally developed lines with contract manufacturing partnerships. The company curates both branded products and OEM/private-label solutions categorically. Although it withholds precise national market-share disclosures, the geographic and channel footprint, reinforced by brand strength, indicates a commanding presence within South African and adjacent regional markets.
Country: South Africa
Address: Cnr Axle Road & East Street, Devland,Johannesburg, 1813, South Africa
Web: https://www.npride.co.za/
Phone: +27 (0)11 938 4660/1
Main Product: Adult incontinence，Baby Products，Feminine Hygiene
5.L’il Masters
L’il Masters (L’il Masters Diaper Manufacturers (Pty) Ltd) is a proudly South African manufacturer of absorbent hygiene products and officially opened its doors in 2010. Touted as a house brand committed to “quality without the luxury markup,” the range comprises baby diapers and pull-up pants, baby wipes, as well as adult incontinence products and feminine hygiene pads sold under the L’il Missy banner. The trio of brand promises is generous absorbency, skin-friendly hypoallergenic construction, and a fragrance-free blend.
Production is centred in a new plant located within the Dube TradePort Special Economic Zone in KwaZulu-Natal, where the construction of a 7,000-square-metre addition was disclosed in 2022 to align capacity with growing demand in the region. From the KwaZulu-based headquarter facility, goods moved every week to Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Eswatini, Lesotho, and Madagascar, completing the Southern African distribution footprint.
From a business model perspective, L’il Masters operates a dual structure: it sells its proprietary L’il Masters brand and also manufactures private-label/OEM products for leading retailers. Take, for instance, the Dry Protect diaper range, which L’il Masters produces for Clicks, and the firm’s website openly lists Ackermans, Clicks, Dis-Chem, Pick n Pay, Jet, Makro, Pep, among others, under the heading “Clients we manufacture for.”
With respect to market share, independent, brand-level data are generally scarce, but channel commentary provides insight. In Clicks’ latest 2023 annual report, the retailer notes that “one of every three diapers sold in our stores is a Clicks private label,” and given that the Dry Protect range is externally manufactured, the remark indirectly singles out L’il Masters’ throughput in that channel. An article published in Freight News for 2022 cites the same firm, reporting that it commands “approximately 30%–50% of the South African diaper market in the last three years,” a metric not validated through external auditing and therefore to be approached with reserved interpretation.
On the compliance and quality front, L’il Masters markets a selection of its diapers under a label that highlights the receipt of “Smart Choice” certification from the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA).
Country: South Africa
Address: Klipriver Business Park，Erf 75 Technology Crescent，Klipriver, Midvaal，1871，Gauteng，South Africa
Web: https://www.lilmasters.co.za/
Phone: https://www.lilmasters.co.za/
Main Product: Basic Diapers，Premium Diapers，Wet Wipes，Sanitary Pads