By Zuko Komisa
A 21-year-old student has used his NSFAS allowance to create an e-hailing app.
Owen Lekala, a student at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), is grabbing everyone’s attention with his innovative app.
In order to pursue his dream of founding his own e-hailing business, Hike, the 21-year-old software development trainee sacrificed food and other essentials.
Kaya Biz with George Manyosi, who is standing in for Gugulethu Mfuphi spoke to Owen Lekala, to hear more about his journey and the inspiration behind his dream to own his very own e-hailing app.
LISTEN TO THE FULL CONVERSATION HERE:
On how it all began
“I am really into software development, I have recently gone into entrepreneurship, and last year I got into the research of finding a market in South Africa that hasn’t been fully tapped into, we don’t have our very own e-hailing app in South Africa. I did my research and learned how to code and develop one.”
“I invested 6 months into it and on November 2021, I released the Hike e-hailing app, where you can request rides.” says Lekala.
During my second year at TUT in 2021, I saved up my NSFAS allowance to invest in my idea of creating an e-hailing app that’s affordable for users and doesn’t charge commission on drivers.
— Owen Lekala (@owen_lekala) November 3, 2022
I invested 6 months learning a new skills on YouTube on how to code. pic.twitter.com/u7NFhIPMRc
On the app’s safety
“We truly prioritise safety, in the process of processing drivers we do background checks, we also require drivers to provide police clearance certificates, and to also do fingerprint testing to check if there are no criminal records. We don’t approve people who have a criminal history and people who don’t have professional driver’s permits,” says Lekala.
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