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Taboo as sex still is in 2026 South Africa, the idea that a black woman in Kempton Park would start an e–commerce business selling exotic toys is almost criminal. Well, this is exactly what Luminara Woman founder, Tumelo “Tumi” Khumalo did when she was on the verge of losing her job and had to find creative ways to make a living.
How it all started
Two years before launching the business, Tumi picked her then boyfriend’s (now husband's) brain about embarking on this venture, citing the high demand for pleasure-inducing products. She remembers being nervous about keeping the products at her parents’ house as she still lived at home at the time
Tumi sources her toys from China because, as mentioned previously, products of this nature are frowned upon in many countries.
Anticipating the anticlimax it would cause if people shared her social media content with her parents, Tumi says she was left with no choice but to tell her mother about her business before a nosy little birdie beat her to it.
“I just said I had started a business and I thought I should tell her before someone else did. I said I was selling toys and she assumed that it was children’s toys,” she chuckles.
Mom’s jaw dropped lower than the orgasm statistics among heterosexual women, questioning why her precious baby girl, so innocent and sweet, would dabble in such nasty activities. But she eventually had to admit that her little girl was a full-grown adult with grown-up needs and itches that needed scratching.
This reminds me of my late best friend Nicole, who was an adult shop manager before she died, and the embarrassment her parents felt at the kinky discoveries they made when clearing out her apartment.
But it was an orgasmic experience for Tumi when her family, who are mostly Christian, shared their curiosity about the variety of guilty pleasures at Luminara. Tumi says some relatives even laugh about it.
From vibrators that can stick on your wall, to toys that look like make-up blending sponges and rabbit-style stimulants inspired by the 1990s series Sex and the City, anyone would laugh themselves to a climax on Tumi’s website.
Own your pleasure wherever you are in the world!
Luminara’s slogan Own Your Pleasure is quite risqué considering how women are socialised to be apologetic about enjoying coitus. When you’re vocal about your desires, you’re labelled “dirty” and “not a good girl.” These things can destroy one’s sexual confidence.
“Toys are good for your confidence because they help you identify the sensitive parts of your body that when they are touched, heighten the pleasure and help you reach orgasms. This helps women to become comfortable with their bodies,” Tumi explains.
Women who visit adult shops are often met with interesting reactions from men, such as “Why do you need these toys when we can give you the real thing?” However, Tumi, who is a married woman, believes that men who see sex toys as competition just have bruised egos.
“Toys have nothing to do with men and even toys that are made for women can be used during intercourse, and some husbands even buy from me for their wives. But also, women who don’t want partners should not be shamed for enjoying their toys.”
Her most popular products are the two-in-one rose, the vibrating dildo and the normal rose. Her buyers are 90% South African across various ethnicities but Tumi has learnt that sex toys are illegal in some countries including the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Zimbabwe and Malawi among others.
“I can’t ship to Zimbabwe and Saudi Arabia, et cetera. Scotland is the only place I’ve ever shipped overseas.”
She says Botswana and Lesotho clients make a plan to get sex toys, even if it means she must ship to Zeerust and they collect there or get a friend to take the products to clients. Luminara Woman's catalogue can he explored here.
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