Established 2018

HEAR THE
FUTURE

Founded by Siyabonga Ndwalane, Turnup is South Africa's first black-owned Bluetooth speaker manufacturing company. From a visionary idea to a high-tech assembly line.

Engineered in South Africa

40W

Precision Audio Output

The Founder

SIYABONGA INNOCENT NDWALANE

A Tshwane University of Technology alumnus with the imagination of an artist and the discipline of an engineer, Siyabonga set out to do what no one in South Africa had done before: build a Bluetooth speaker brand from the ground up — designed, assembled, and owned at home.

His speakers carry Ndebele geometry, Nguni cattle motifs, and the colours of the South African flag. Every unit is a statement: African heritage isn't a decoration. It's the product.

1st

Black-owned BT manufacturer

100%

Locally assembled

Heritage by design

THE BLUEPRINT OF EXCELLENCE

Siyabonga Ndwalane didn't just want to build a brand; he wanted to build an industry. Turnup represents the shift from consumer to creator — speakers that wear Ndebele patterns, Nguni hides, and the colours of home with no apology.

Phase 01 — The Spark

FROM DRUM TO DRIVER

It started with the rhythm of the isigubhu — a hand-built African drum — and a question: why can't a Bluetooth speaker carry that same soul? The first Turnup prototype was wrapped in Nguni cattle hide.

Phase 02 — The Pattern

NDEBELE GOES WIRELESS

Geometric Ndebele art, hand-applied around the speaker body. Every wrap is a wearable artefact — a portable monument to South African design language.

Phase 03 — The Floor

THE FIRST OF ITS KIND

Turnup becomes the first Black-owned Bluetooth speaker manufacturing operation in South Africa — moving the brand from artisan prototypes to a real production line.

The Origin Artefact

The drum and the first speaker, side by side. One ancestral, one electric — the same heartbeat. This image lives in the Turnup archive as proof that the brand started with culture, not with components.

The Hardware

From the Turnup line

FLAG CHEVRON EDITION

Signature Turnup Series

Crisp white body wrapped with bold black chevrons and a triangle of South African flag colours — green, red, blue, gold. Rugged rubber end-caps and a woven shoulder strap built for the streets.

CUSTOM HERITAGE BARREL

Commissioned Series — Tshwane University of Technology

Bronze-finished barrel cabinet with full-wrap Ndebele artwork and co-branded TUT crest. Turnup builds custom runs for universities, brands, and collectors who want their identity on the body, not just the box.

In The Wild