Luke Kannemeyer, SweepSouth’s MD

The story behind South Africa’s first on-demand cleaning platform – SweepSouth – is a personal one for founders Aisha Pandor and Alen Ribic. When their nanny went away on holiday, the couple couldn’t find reliable, short-term assistance and quickly realised that there was a real market for a platform that could connect workers with employers who were looking for properly vetted and affordable domestic help.

Nearly a decade later, what started out as a means to solve one family’s dilemma has transformed into a successful business that allows busy people to access cleaners, gardeners and domestic help. To date, they have cleaned around 350 000 homes across the countries in which they operate, with around 250 000 of these customers located in South Africa. Locally and in Egypt, the company has around 35 000 SweepStars (roughly 5 000 in Egypt and 30 000 in South Africa), says Luke Kannemeyer, the company’s MD. He’s quick to point out that usage is seasonal, with dramatic increases in bookings over the festive season.