More black women are splashing out on reconstructing their bodies, which includes redesigning their buttocks.
South Africa’s top cosmetic surgeons have waiting periods of up to two months for those wanting to undergo such procedures as liposuction, butt augmentation and the popular Brazilian butt lift (BBL), with black women the majority of their clientele.
Dr Pertunia Mathibe’s Dr Pert Centre for Body Sculpting in Pretoria has a 99.1% black female clientele and a waiting period of up to two months, owing to the rising demand for her cosmetic procedures, mainly BBL.
Specialist plastic surgeon Dr Filipe Padilha, who operates from Life Bedford Gardens Hospital and Netcare Sunninghill Hospital in Johannesburg, told the Sunday Times the majority of his clients are also black women.
Mathibe said 95% of her clients undergo liposuction and BBL, with the costs ranging from R45,000 to R85,000 depending on the type of procedure, the areas treated, and the patient’s body mass index. The prices include post-procedure care, and a three-night stay in a recovery house.
Mathibe, a medical doctor, graduated from Medunsa (now Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University) in Ga-Rankuwa and started working as an aesthetician in 2016, focusing on IV (intravenous) vitamin drips and anti-ageing treatments. However, she made a move into liposuction and BBL in 2019.
The buttocks, and the BBL more specifically, might be more popular with that ethnic group [black women]. There are more people who can afford [these procedures], whereas in the past cosmetic surgery was less accessible to them
— Dr Filipe Padilha, plastic surgeon
“My practice picked up after I shifted my focus to body sculpting, because it’s something that wasn’t really easily accessible, especially to black women,” Mathibe said.
In 2020, shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, demand for her services began to soar, with 2021 a breakthrough year for her.
“After the first procedure, the patient posted [about her exmperience on social media] and it went viral, and it was then known that there was a black female doing this,” Mathibe said.
She then started getting more clients inquiring about or booking procedures. “More than anything, when we speak of Dr Pert, in everyone’s mind is BBL. Basically, that has been the core of the business — 95% of my clients do liposuction and BBL,” Mathibe said.
While she has come across some bizarre requests — some clients show her a picture and say: “Make me look like this!” — she always advises each on what would work best for his or her body.
“There are those who want bigger bums. They will come for second and third rounds [of the BBL procedure] because the first round wouldn’t show much. There are those who have [a backside] already, but they just need a bit of filling to make it look bigger.”
She said she tries to be “realistic and brutally honest” when speaking to her clients. “I tell them: ‘I don’t want you to benchmark [yourself against] any picture that you are bringing.’ I tell [them] I will give them the best version of their body, not [someone] else’s.”
Mathibe said liposuction is standard for those doing BBL, as the fat drained from elsewhere in the body is injected into the buttocks and curves to make them look rounder.
Some patients requested quick procedures to look good for events or overseas travel. “I have clients who request to have the procedure [done] as quickly as possible, especially for events like the Durban July, the festive season, or travels abroad.”
Her patients are varied and include a growing number of younger women. Some are from neighbouring countries, mainly Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana.
She has recently been getting an increasing number of men coming to her as well. “I see a variety of clients from 25 to 55, but it’s more of the younger ones who are coming in, as well as the ones who are in their forties,” she said.
She hasn’t invested much in marketing because she believes word of mouth attracts clients. “Instagram has assisted a lot. I always say the body that I touch should be the billboard to market my company,” she said.
Katleho Khanye, 27, from Centurion, has spent about R320,000 on various procedures performed by Mathibe, including liposuction on her arms and abdomen, as well as a BBL.
“I’ve done liposuction three times, doing it in stages. I did my stomach, my arms, my lower and upper back, and my thighs — so basically I’ve pretty much done my entire body.”
Khanye said she has always struggled with weight loss, despite trying different diets and working out at the gym.
“I found Dr Pert on Instagram just before Covid-19 hit, and I am happy with the results. I look different from how I did before,” Khanye said.
Thato Makanyane, 29, from Midrand, was among Mathibe’s first clients to undergo the BBL procedure in 2019 and had it done again last year after gaining weight. She spent about R120 000 on both procedures and says she’s prepared to do more should she notice anything that needs improving.
Makanyane said the BBL procedure “changed my life for the better because I have never felt so confident”.
Padilha said most of his clients are black women because the country’s socioeconomic context is changing. There is a growing black middle class, making it possible for black women to consider undertaking such procedures.
“The buttocks, and the BBL more specifically, might be more popular with that ethnic group [black women]. There are more people who can afford [these procedures], whereas in the past cosmetic surgery was less accessible to them. That’s what I am seeing.”
A typical BBL, which involves liposuction for fat harvesting, costs about R85,000, Padilha said.
“There are a whole lot of word-of-mouth referrals, [which create] more awareness that this is an available treatment. People have become more conscious that there are options like this out there,” he said.
