“Internet-mediated work” is the technical term for doing a job over the internet. Globally, this new way of work is growing, and more and more people are finding work through online portals that assign them jobs or tasks. While this hasn’t yet taken off in Southern Africa to the extent that it will earn you a living, you can certainly earn extra income, airtime or prepaid electricity through online work opportunities.
We’ve taken a look at some of the kinds of work that you can do online in South Africa with a PC or a smart phone.
M4JAM operates either through the WeChat platform on your phone, or you can sign up through their website to become a jobber. You are then able to access “microjobs” in your area, and perform them for a small fee.
Jobs range from confirming landmarks for GPS navigation companies, to checking out sales displays in shops, to filling out surveys. The job fee is usually R15 to R25, paid into a virtual wallet, and you can cash it out at any time at retail partners including Pick n Pay, Shoprite, Checkers or Boxer.
Refer2Earn is an app that allows you to earn money for referring insurance products to friends and family. Android and iOS users can visit the website to register and download the app, and start referring.
You can potentially earn R7 immediately for each quote requested by a referral of yours, and then earn a larger reward within 90 days if that referral turns to a sale (a table of earnings for different products can be found on the home page of the website). You can redeem your payments immediately in airtime or electricity or, once you have collected enough rewards, you can withdraw cash from an ATM. Visit their FAQ page to find out how rewards can be redeemed.
There are many companies that offer money for completing surveys online, and unfortunately not all of them are legitimate. SurveyCompare is reputable, and because it offers you access to surveys from many different brands as well as other market research activities, you can select the ones that are most appropriate to you.
The first sign of a scam survey site is one that asks you to pay a sign-up fee, but SurveyCompare clearly states that it will never ask for money from you. When you’ve completed the survey (or even in some cases reviewed a product that will then be yours to keep), you either earn money that is paid out through PayPal, or in vouchers that are sent directly to your email address.
While no South African is going to get rich by completing jobs, surveys or referrals online yet, you can certainly earn extra income. And we should soon be seeing more of these platforms taking off on the local market.
Just remember that you should never pay money to sign up for a jobbing service, always read the terms and conditions carefully and make sure you understand what these sites will be doing with your personal information.
Good luck, and happy (micro)jobbing!