JOHANNESBURG, October 12, 2021 (www.drewafrica.com)- Waterfall City is about to get a new lavish online restaurant, one that very deliberately shatters the glass ceiling.

The restaurant, SHOKA Fresh Foods, will be both owned and managed by women and minorities, who also happen to be young black sisters of age 23 and 26 -- a rarity in an industry long dominated by White, older men. SHOKA Fresh Foods is finalizing a partnership with one of the leading online food ordering and delivery platforms in South Africa.

The young partners expect this restaurant to extend frontiers from mergers and acquisitions to profitable and fully functional luxurious chef-style franchises across the globe.

SHOKA Fresh Foods is the brainchild of Rixongile Ngobeni who most recently was the youngest black female franchisee at Sausage Saloon, and Katekile Ngobeni, an outstanding Corporate Finance and Insurance graduate from the University of Witwatersrand.

Early on, the joke was that the restaurant’s name is a joint name of both founders and amazingly, caught people’s attention as a restaurant that continues to “shock” people with excellence and class amidst other well known restaurant competitors in the luxurious Waterfall City neighbourhood.

“We spent so many months, days and hours trying to make sure we launch a restaurant that people would want to be seen supporting, I can’t believe the puzzle is slowly coming together”, said Katekile.

“Being sisters and business partners at the same time comes with so much responsibility, it’s also emotionally taxing, especially when you also live together; but I honestly don’t think I would’ve been able to keep pushing if I wasn’t doing this with my sister”, says Rixongile.

The banging sister bosses can’t wait to see what life has to offer with this amazing new restaurant officially beginning it’s operations this October.

Cape Town, South Africa: Today WeSit, an online babysitting company connecting parents to caring, trusted and verified babysitters, announced that they have officially completed 100 hours of babysitting.

WeSit is going from strength to strength as they deliver care to more and more happy clients. This news comes on the back of WeSit’s most recent scaling up drive wherein they signed on 1000 babysitters in 3 short months.

When asked to comment, WeSit CEO and founder Nqobile Msibi said “We’ve been focusing our energies on really getting close to our customer’s pain points, delivering a world-class customer experience and making sure our client’s kids are happy, healthy and having a great time! We really are committed to our customers and the recent success is all a result of that commitment.”

WeSit’s latest operational milestone was achieved whilst taking part in the inaugural cohort of the Cape Town based Akro accelerate program. WeSit joined The SA SME fund sponsored initiative in June of this year.

About WeSit: WeSit is an online on-demand babysitting service which connects parents to caring, trusted and verified babysitters in seconds. Based in Cape Town, South Africa and operating since March of 2019 and available in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria. 

Telling your mom you’re going to the CBD has an sinister new meaning from today (Friday 24 May 2019) after the latest victory in Dagga Wars... Cannabidiol (CBD), a compound extracted from cannabis that is found in everyday items such as skin creams, body oils and even beer, is suddenly the new buzzword in South Africa after the legal status of CBD got the green light on Friday.

The long and the short of it is that certain “medicinal” dagga products – Cannabidiol, or CBD, or dagga oil, to be exact – may now be sold without prescription. CBD is accepted as not being psychoactive. The oils containing this element are also NOT habit-forming and CBD does not pose any dangerous side-effect as long as the daily dose does not exceed 20 milligrams.

Also, the minister of health, Aaron Motsoaledi, announced that marketers are not allowed to claim their products Can cure or treat any medical condition. However, it is widely accepted that cannabidiol has an extremely positive affect on people suffering from anxiety and sleeplessness to chronic pain from arthritis. Apparently, it even helps with seizures.

CBD is immediately available from Vondel Premium (PTY) Ltd., an online concern based in Gauteng (see www.vondel.co.za). Vondel.co.za hosts an array of resources – from an intricate look into the medicinal benefits of CBD to the curing process of cannabis. “CBD products are notoriously expensive across the globe,” says co-founder Rian Kotze. “Vondel aims to limit margins in order to maintain pricing that is fair and more easily accessible to the general public. This is beneficial not only to the general public but might also seem appealing to interested investors looking to pair up with an early stage market disruptor.”

Products can be ordered online at www.vondel.co.za (payments are processed by PayPal) and delivery will take between 4 – 6 working days. This will soon reduce to 2-day deliveries as Vondel plans its own logistics solutions. According to co-founder and LGBT activist Jeandre Verster, Vondel is currently preparing for Series-A funding from potential Angel Investors. The company hopes to launch its first retail location by the end of the year, as well as develop their own range of CBD and related Cannabis Pharmaceuticals in preparation for full legalization coming 2020.

Interested investors can make contact via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Vondel also boasts a rather impressive Charity Policy, dedicating a staggering 20% of nett profit to Parkinson’s and Elder Relief organizations. ENDS Issued by www.vondel.co.za. Visit the website for more information.

Global commercial giants descend on Cape Town for the continent’s largest ecommerce gathering.  

Cape Town, South Africa: More than 300 companies within the African ecommerce ecosystem will gather in Cape Town on the 19th and 20th March to review the latest technology influencing online retail and fulfillment. Attendees will learn how to leverage the rapid growth of cross border payments; customer security and how African companies can compete with the likes of Amazon.  

The experts guiding the 2019 event are global leaders and game changers shaping the ecommerce landscape well beyond Africa. Google, Naspers, DHL and Jumia are among the giants who will be shaping the discussion. “The collection of thought leaders and the topics under discussion this year are aimed at creating an immediate impact for African ecommerce companies. From marketing to fulfilment, the world’s best will be on stage sharing best practice and innovative hacks to drive online growth”   

“It is quite remarkable to have all of these industry leaders on the same stage not only willing to share but actively working to grow the industry and ensure African customers receive a world class online shopping experience.” Terry Southam, Kinetic Managing Director. 

DHL partners with the conference for the second year running, extending their commitment to driving innovation within the fulfilment space as Lead Sponsor of the Show.  

Steve Burd, Vice President Sales for DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa, explains that the ongoing partnership between DHL and eCommerce Africa is a good fit. “As the market leaders in express logistics in Africa, we have extensive first-hand experience of the positive impact that ecommerce has on the continent. The massive growth in cross-border and international ecommerce in Africa sees DHL working with thousands more customers across the continent each year, helping them to expand their brand across borders.” 

He adds that the development of ecommerce in Africa continues to unlock major opportunities for growth. “E-commerce allows entrepreneurs and SMEs to connect with a large customer base and scale up rapidly which accelerates the need for support services. E-commerce growth therefore has a ripple-effect on many other industries on the continent.” 

“DHL’s partnership with eCommerce Africa provides us with an additional platform to connect with organisations and help them to understand key logistics considerations, and learn how to plan for and overcome any logistical challenges,” adds Burd. 

eCommerce Africa 2019 has taken additional care this year to ensure an event that is accessible to an extended audience, by offering an additional track agenda on the expo floor that educates business owners on how an effective ecommerce strategy can grow their business.  This agenda offers everything that startups and smaller businesses need to kick start and rapidly scale their business. These tickets are available at an inclusive price of only ZAR 350, to ensure every startup, small business owner and ecommerce dreamer has the opportunity to participate. 

Follow @eCommerceConfex on Twitter and join the conversation using the #ECO19 hashtag or register for the event here. 

For more information, please contact:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.+27 (0) 21 180 470014 Pickwick Road, Salt River, Cape Town. 

ABOUT KINETIC

Kinetic is a proudly South African conferencing company with an international footprint across East, West and Southern Africa. As the proud leader of the CX, ecommerce and IT conferencing industries, we strive to accelerate corporate and personal growth by connecting people, connecting companies and facilitating meaningful business connections.Established in 2008, we have produced over 100 conferences and exhibitions that have hosted over 100 000 delegates, 5000 speakers and 450 sponsors. Our mission is to inspire change in the industries we service, by leaving our delegates with fresh insights, new perspectives and real business opportunities. 

ENDS

Cape Town-based CloudOne Technologies Pty Ltd, trading as CloudOne.mobi, has announced that it closed two funding rounds totalling R34m at the end of 2018. The investors include Investec Private Capital, through its Emerging Companies mandate. The investment will be used to help scale out and grow the business more aggressively. CloudOne.mobi was founded in October 2014 with the mission of re-inventing the Point Of Sale (POS) experience.

Founder and CEO Dana Buys has successfully started and sold a number of software businesses since launching his first business while studying at the University of Cape Town in the early 1980s. Subsequently a hospitality business owner, among other interests, he became frustrated with poor levels of technology, particularly related to POS. Buys is passionate about customer service and wanted a solution that would improve the speed and accuracy of serving customers.

 "Speed and accuracy deliver a win-win for both business and its customers,” he says. “Happy customers spend more and spread the good news via word of mouth. Accurate orders reduce costly mistakes and improve profitability. It’s hard to beat if you can make the solution easy-to-use and affordable to own!” He continues, “There is massive opportunity to deploy affordable Cloud and mobile technology in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Cloud solutions model allows us to eliminate many of the headaches experienced by SME businesses which often lack strong IT skills. We develop the , keep the systems up to date, manage the databases and integration to external solutions, perform regular backups, and enforce security.” 

CloudOne.mobi has developed an advanced cloud-based Point of Sale solution called TallOrder for SME businesses across the hospitality, retail and service segments. TallOrder delivers Cloud benefits, along with robust offline capacity to deal with the relatively slow, less reliable and costlier Internet prevalent throughout emerging markets. Buys explains that similar solutions developed in the United States and Europe assume an always-on, fast and low-cost Internet which is not yet the case in Africa and other developing markets.solution

 CloudOne.mobi says TallOrder is easy to deploy, easy to learn to run, and operates on Microsoft Windows, Apple's iOS, and Android devices. It is designed for traditional point of sale stations, tablets and even smartphone-sized devices. The system supports mobile use, which boosts the speed and accuracy of customer service. "TallOrder replaces expensive upfront license and installation fees with low monthly or annual fees, based on the number of devices in use. This opens the market to many businesses which previously could not afford nor cope with the older technology" says Anna Groenewald, COO and co-founder at CloudOne.mobi.

 According to Meiring de Wet, Chief Technology Officer at CloudOne.mobi, "SME companies by themselves will never generate enough data to be as truly useful as Big Data. We have built TallOrder in a way that allows us to aggregate the small data coming from SME businesses into Big Data".    

“This investment is an important opportunity for CloudOne.mobi to expand our software developments and allow us to rapidly scale our marketing and sales efforts and increase our future partnership opportunities,” stated Groenewald. Learn more about CloudOne.mobi and their hero products TallOrder Point of Sale and PageMan Digital Signage on their website, https://cloudone.mobi/ or contact them at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it./ +27 (0) 728630116

CrimeNote has now been released, starting from 30 June 2018.

This website simply provides an easy to use interactive platform where information about crime in South Africa can be shared amongst the public.

Why start something like CrimeNote?

When people are describing South Africa, it often includes:“Except for the crime…” or “Security is a problem…”South Africa is full of beauty, both natural and man-made with some of the most beautiful coastlines, mountains, wildlife and floral kingdom in the world.The cuisine is very unique with influences from numerous different cultures and the wine is world class!

BUT when it comes to CRIME, this beauty fades into insignificance.

"We all know how prevalent crime is in South Africa, just look at the statistics.

With CrimeNote, the public will be able to share information, news and warnings about crime all over the country and potentially help others to avoid such incidents.

The idea being that with CrimeNote, we will be able to minimise crime risk and together build a better society in which we can all prosper.

In order to make this service as beneficial and efficient to the public, we welcome any comments or suggestions that you may have

Everyone knows something that the next person doesn’t thus it is important that everyone shares their experiences with the world.

Spurred by a deep yearning for freedom of expression and for the African story to be told from the African perspective, Edzai Zvobwo, founder of NdiribhoTV set out to create a video hosting and distribution platform primarily geared for Africans to share their knowledge with world and stand a better chance at optimally monetizing their video assets.

Coming from Zimbabwe, a country that has seen its ruling elites trample upon basic liberties like freedom of speech and association, Edzai sought to correct the wrongs that have been committed by politicians in the country and the continent of Africa as a whole by facilitating p2p knowledge transfer through video. The name NdiribhoTV came out of need to proclaim that even as the people’s rights have been denied, people are still fine and live another day to fight for justice and development of the continent. “Ndiribho” is a Shona statement that translates to “I am fine”.

NdiribhoTV currently has offices in Johannesburg and will be opening up feeder offices across Sub-Saharan Africa during the course of 2018. The feeder offices will serve as client liaison centers for content developers. NdiribhoTV will strive to sign up all the influencers in the video content development space as anchor creators whilst also harnessing the power of the ordinary African citizen. As long as an African has a device with a camera then they are welcome onto the NdiribhoTV platform.

The platform is a user generated vehicle that connects video content creators and consumers by providing an easy to use live streaming and video on demand platform.NdiribhoTV lets anyone with a channel broadcast live videos and upload videos straight from their camera device. This allows African people to share or watch in real-time when news is breaking, visiting a new place, or meeting people and sharing interests - all in real-time.NdiribhoTV seeks to add value to Africans and differentiate itself from YouTube by:

• Focusing on African continent.
• Monetizing live video streams using a pay-per-view model which enables content creators to earn a living.
• Monetizing video on demand content on behalf of content creators through channel-centric micro-subscriptions.
• Integrating with ERP and CRM systems such that it is easier for corporate clients to integrate video into their workflow.

NdiribhoTV is currently in talks with several established platforms like Kwese play to help distribute content across the continent. 31 January 2018 is the date that NdiribhoTV will officially launch. "Once we solve the speed and latency issues with a reputable CDN and finalised our algorithms for our reccommender systems then it is a done deal", said Edzai Zvobwo.

Currently there is a beta version on https://ndiribho.tv which you can test out and give feedback on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

28 July 2017  Vibescout – SA’s Largest Movie Aggregator Listing Movies on 688 Screens In 94 Cinemas Vibescout, an innovative start-up that provides event listings and city guides, is now listing movies showing on 690 screens in 94 cinemas across South Africa. Vibescout is now officially the largest movie aggregator in South Africa and continues to take the country’s entertainment scene to new heights. 

Cape Town, South Africa, July 5, 2017 – Co-founded in 2015 by brothers’ Paul and Jonathan Myburgh, Vibescout’s vision is to provide an easy-to-use platform used to smartly curate the best things to do near you. This is done through event listings, comprehensive go-to guides and now, movie listings. 

The idea behind Vibescout was first born when Paul was travelling in Saigon, Vietnam in January 2014. After visiting all the regular tourist destinations, he scoured the hostel notice boards for more unique things to do and began to wonder how he could get better insight into truly local events and activities. After realizing there was definitely a void that needed to be filled in this space, Paul brought the idea back home to South Africa later that year and soon began work on Vibescout’s first version.

Vibescout officially launched out of beta and started providing event listing in October 2016; by April 2017 they reached over 100 000 users for the month! As of 27 June 2017, Vibescout became the largest movie aggregator in South Africa, listing movies showing on 688 screens in 94 cinemas throughout the country.  

“It took roughly 6 weeks to get a MVP release and from it we have had amazing user feedback. We are currently getting nearly 10 000 users weekly using our movie section to find the latest movies and locate cinemas around them. We didn't realize it at the time and such a goal wasn't even on our radar, but we are now officially the largest movie aggregator in South Africa.” - JONATHAN MYBURGH, CO-FOUNDER OF VIBESCOUT

Connect with or contact with us

Jonathan Myburgh

• This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• https://www.facebook.com/vibescout
• https://www.instagram.com/vibescout_za/
• https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/10599852/
• https://twitter.com/vibescout

From Wildcard to South African winner – IDWork, a platform for people to find the perfect fit for their service provider needs, is set to take on the best startups from 65 other countries, in the global finale of the Seedstars World competition in Switzerland on 06 April 2017.  The event is one of the world’s most prestigious, with prizes that include USD 500k in investment, Software-as-a-Service solutions valued at USD 90k, plus insight and training for every startup, giving them a boost towards long-term stability and success. “Since winning the South African leg of the tour, we have been busy preparing for the finale in Switzerland to ensure that IDWork is ready to take on the rest of the world,” says IDWork co-founder Arjun Khoosal.

“We recently returned from the continental summit in Rwanda where we met the other African contenders and began preparations for the finale in April. The African tech scene is flourishing - these startups are going to be fierce contenders.”The Seedstars Summit 2017 will take place in Lausanne, Switzerland on 06 April and the 65 startups who qualified will battle for supremacy through competitions and presentations. It will be a gruelling seven-day process as the startups are whittled down from 65 to one, and IDWork is ready to represent South Africa and bring it home.“We were impressed with IDwork because of their early traction, strong founding team and the massive relevance of the problem they're solving - not just in their local market but across the region!" says Claudia Makadristo, Regional Manager for Africa, Seedstars Global. IDWork’s entrepreneurial co-founders Arjun Khoosal and Sayo Folawiyo may be facing a challenging start to April, but the benefits of the competition go beyond winning first place. All the startups will receive mentorship and the chance to network with some of the world’s most dynamic entrepreneurs, investors and corporate leaders.

“We know that this is an opportunity for us to build our brand in the global arena and to meet with people who can help us take our company to the next level,” adds Khoosal. “We plan to make every moment count at the Summit, learning from the workshops and networking with the brightest minds in the business.” IDWork is a remarkable blend of entrepreneurial spirit, technological innovation, and social impact. The company connects services providers (like plumbers, carpenters, and electricians) to people who need work done by someone they can trust. Reviews give customers profound insight into the capabilities of the people they are hiring. From choosing a contractor, to receiving a quotation, to paying online - the entire process is seamless and simple. It opens up a world of employment opportunities to experts who are great at what they do, but might not have the access to technology or the marketing skills necessary to grow their businesses.

ABOUT IDWORK

IDWork is a technology-enabled startup that connects consumers with trusted and reliable handymen and contractors who will help them renovate, repair and rescue their homes. IDWork's technology gives service providers an opportunity to grow their business and reputation. It also takes the stress out of home renovations and repairs, by showcasing stringently vetted service providers that homeowners can trust, and making it easier than ever to use them.Visit http://www.idwork.co.za to find out more about our offerings, you can also follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

ABOUT SEEDSTARS

Seedstars is a global organisation with a mission to impact people's lives in emerging markets through technology and entrepreneurship.  We sit at the forefront of innovation in developing markets and we make it our mission to share these developments with you across the digital landscape. We invest in people, we connect teams, we encourage risk. We empower entrepreneurial spirits to swim against the tide. Join us online or in person at our events anywhere around the globe. Join us as we seek to impact billions of lives in emerging markets.

MathsGenius Leadership Institute (MGLI), a quantitative leadership startup based in Johannesburg, South Africa has launched an audacious program entitled "The Mothers for STEM Initiative".This initiative seeks to empower 150 women with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) tutoring businesses by the end of 2017.  

South African learners perennially do badly in maths and science subjects compared to their peers in other countries as shown by the low ranking in both the TIMSS and WEF reports on educational quality. On this background, MathsGenius a STEM advisory start-up saw it fit to address some of the fundamental problems associated with this failure in STEM.

A study done by MGLI in 2014 showed that the weakest link in the maths and science education learner spectrum were rural and township girls. They are the one who were seen to pose the greatest threat to success of the country in STEM subjects and careers. Upon further analysis a strong correlation between a mother's belief system around maths and science and their daughter's performance was established. 

"The best way to get more girls into STEM is to involve the community especially the mothers", stated Edzai Zvobwo, Chief Genius at MGLI. To put these sentiments into practice, MGLI has embarked on an ambitious project to provide motivation, training and support to 150 mothers who will become STEM tutoring business owners within their communities.

MGLI is looking for willing partners to come into fray and contribute towards the achievement of this goal. The model will see MGLI setting up an online education ERP system and LMS that will allow continuous monitoring of the entrepreneurs and learners and measuring progress and impact as the project goes on. MGLI will provide the prospective entrepreneurs with a "school-in-a-box" solution that they can simply plug and play to the benefit of learners. 

For information on this initiative you can visit Mothers of STEM  or  send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.