Sinethemba Ncede is transforming the township trade sector in SA by connecting spaza shop owners with customers, suppliers and partners through his technology platform Jinjer.
Raised in Cradock in the Eastern Cape by his grandmother, who owned a spaza shop, Ncede, 35, witnessed first-hand the challenges faced by informal retailers. This early exposure inspired him to create a digital solution to empower small businesses.
He founded Jinjer in 2020 with the mission to digitalise informal trade.
“South Africa’s spaza shop economy is vibrant but underserved when it comes to data, infrastructure and logistics. We built Jinjer to be the technology layer between fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) manufacturers, distributors and township retailers,” he said.
The platform helps spaza shops place orders using voice notes, images or text; to access exclusive deals and stock updates from nearby wholesalers and distributors; be visible to brands for activation campaigns, surveys and product education; receive delivery co-ordination via assigned local transporters; and it also helps big FMCG brands gain real-time visibility in informal market sales and reach.
Ncede also worked in logistics, ran a cement distribution business and later shifted his focus to the information technology industry to build solutions with social impact. His varied experience enabled him to start a business that seeks to close the digital gap in the spaza shop sector.
“Manufacturers didn’t know what was happening on the ground, and spaza shop owners were left behind in the digital space. Jinjer was built to close that gap, give township retailers a voice in the supply chain and unlock value for everyone,” Ncede said.
Now the business has more than 20,000 spaza shops connected across Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, and the number grows every month.
It has directly created eight jobs across its technology, sales, support and operations department. “Indirectly we enable over 160 income-generating opportunities for field agents, delivery drivers and brand activators across the country who earn through campaigns and order fulfilment on the platform,” he said.
Jinjer has entered into an agreement with Unilever as an enterprise resource planning (ERP) tool to manage its township route-to-market. ERP is a business management software system that integrates various core business processes such as finance, human resources, supply chain and customer relationship management, into a unified system.
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