The gig economy, or on-demand economy as some call it, has in some quarters been punted as a possible solution to South Africa's unemployment problem. With the rise of many online-based on-demand services companies worldwide, especially in America, I wondered how such companies are doing in Africa and especially in South Africa.

Founded in December 2013, SweepSouth raised R30 million from Naspers' South African investment fund, and in 2021 the startup acquired Egyptian home services marketplace startup, Filkhedma.

To understand the impact of gig economy startups in South Africa and some of their challenges, I had a chat with Aisha Pandor, CEO, and Co-founder of South Africa's SweepSouth, on how she and her co-founder, Alen Ribic, who is also her husband, built an on-demand home cleaning service that now reportedly processes over 50,000 bookings per month.

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