Natasha Kemonna: Young Motswana earning a Living from TikTok

This is the app that hosts a variety of short-form user videos, from pranks, stunts and tricks to jokes, dance and entertainment with durations 15 seconds to three minutes. While many use TikTok mainly for fun, some people are generating money from it. Twenty-one year old University of Botswana student, Natasha Kemonna, is one of them.

Kemonna who goes by the name @natashapale1 on TikTok has about 380 000 followers on the social media platform with collective 2.2 million video likes. This makes her the third most followed person on TikTok in Botswana after comedian Bofelo Molebaletsi, better known as WillamLast, and another named @mcmell_r1 in first and second spot respectively. With that, to capitalise on her huge following, Kemonna has turned to doing promotional TikTok videos for companies, artists and any entity that may require her services. She charges P5 000 per promotional video.

“I have already done promotional videos for artists like Master Kg (South African artist of Jerusalema fame) and companies like Wimpy Botswana,” Kemonna said in a telephone interview. “So far, so good. I appreciate the money that I am generating, considering that I am doing this on a part-time basis due to my demanding school schedule.”

This is someone who believes that for an individual to succeed in anything, they should love it and it will eventually pay off as it did for her. But when did she realise that she had what it takes to be among TikTok heavyweights? Kemonna says she made the discovery after she uploaded her first video and it drew attention from many people in Botswana and South Africa. “I did not expect that,” she said.

“That video gave me the confidence that drove me to do more videos until I arrived where I am today. I must say that I will forever remain grateful to my followers because they are making me who I am.” But Kemonna is not new to fame, having been introduced to the spotlight from the tender age of 13 when was featured on billboards and newspaper adverts, thanks to her good looks.

Her advice to those who want to make it on platforms like TikTok is that they should be true to themselves and follow their instincts. “They should do what makes them happy as long as it does not hurt the next person,” she said. “Mostly importantly, they should know their worth and never settle for less, especially in Botswana where the entertainment industry is not taken seriously.”