South Africa continues to have a high unemployment rate, forcing millions of people to search for work. However, for many applicants, the biggest barrier is not a lack of skills, but the high cost of job searching.
South Africa continues to have a high unemployment rate, forcing millions of people to search for work. However, for many applicants, the biggest barrier is not a lack of skills, but the high cost of job searching.
Limited access to mobile internet, costs for printing resumes, and travel expenses for interviews prevent many South Africans, especially in rural and underserved areas, from applying for suitable vacancies. At the same time, employers often face difficulties finding suitable candidates despite the country having a large pool of talent.
The situation is exacerbated by an economy that has been stagnant for over a decade with only 1% growth, while the unemployment rate reaches a staggering 43.7%. Zinsiva Losi, president of Cosatu, noted in her weekly column in Business Report that while the fundamental solution to the cost of living crisis for workers lies in economic development and job creation, much can and must be done in the short, medium, and long term.
Losi added that many key measures require time to fully materialize, which the country facing the triple problems of unemployment, poverty, and inequality cannot afford to wait for. She emphasized that employed workers are forced to stretch their salaries to support unemployed relatives, and the rising cost of living has led workers into debt by taking out loans to cover credit payments and family care.
It was this gap that inspired social entrepreneur Leanne Viviers to found Mintor in 2014. Initially operating as a recruitment agency, Mintor transformed into an AI-powered talent acquisition platform that connects candidates and employers via WhatsApp, helping companies automate hiring and human resource management processes.
Viviers explained that the idea arose from realizing that many capable people are excluded from employment due to practical barriers rather than a lack of ability. She stated: 'Job searching is an expensive task, especially for communities with limited digital access or those living in rural areas. From data purchases to resume printing and subsequent travel to cities—it all becomes very expensive, very quickly.'
Since its launch, Mintor has helped over 300,000 South Africans access employment opportunities while reducing the cost of job applications by 90%. By using WhatsApp, candidates can interact with employers, provide information, and be matched to relevant job skills without the need for expensive equipment or significant data costs.
The platform has also brought measurable benefits to employers. According to Mintor, companies using the platform reported increases in hiring rates of up to tenfold and an 80% improvement in hiring efficiency thanks to automated screening and candidate matching.
Today, the platform is used by organizations in both the public and private sectors, including Nando's, Sea Harvest, and the United Nations Development Programme. Like many South African businesses, Mintor faced significant challenges during the Covid pandemic as employers paused recruitment and slowed down hiring processes.
At a critical growth stage, support from the SAB Foundation allowed Mintor to continue refining its technology and repositioning the business for long-term development. After the company became a finalist for the SAB Foundation award for social innovation and disability, it received funding through the Covid Relief Fund from the SAB Foundation.
Viviers noted that financial assistance and mentorship played a crucial role in the company's transition to a more scalable Software as a Service model. She added: 'The funding gave us time to pilot new product lines and explore a more scalable Software as a Service model. The mentorship we received, particularly in marketing, also provided us with valuable knowledge as we grew.'
The SAB Foundation supports entrepreneurs developing innovative solutions to South Africa's social and economic problems through funding, business development, mentorship, and market access programs.
As unemployment remains one of South Africa's most pressing economic issues, digital technologies are increasingly seen as a vital tool for improving access to employment opportunities and addressing skill mismatches in the labor market. Viviers is convinced that South Africa possesses the necessary talent to support economic growth; it just needs to ensure equal access to the chance for a better future.
WhatsApp has begun testing a new feature designed to create an exclusive section for communications from large corporations, such as airlines and banks. This implementation aims to reduce the amount of commercial interactions in users' main inbox, given the growing use of the platform by companies to contact consumers.
According to information obtained by TechCrunch, Meta plans that after a certain period, any message received from a large company will be automatically transferred to a new folder called "Offers & Updates".
The company is evaluating various timeframes for this automatic movement, which can be up to twenty-four hours after receiving the notification. Users retain the option to disable this feature in settings if they prefer these conversations to remain in the main flow. However, there will be no possibility of manually adjusting the migration time to the new folder.
Meta explains that this functionality will allow promotional content, such as discount coupons, delivery notifications, and other commercial alerts, to leave the main inbox a few hours after being sent, resulting in a less cluttered list of personal and group conversations. For businesses, the change ensures that their messages are located in a specific space, preventing them from getting mixed with the rest of the conversations.
WhatsApp announced that it has started testing this tool with specific partners who use the WhatsApp Business Platform. The company's intention is to expand the availability of the feature after analyzing the results achieved in this initial phase. Currently, small businesses and individual accounts using WhatsApp Business will not be affected by this novelty. Nevertheless, Meta reserved the right to consider including messages sent by small businesses in the "Offers & Updates" folder in the future.
In recent years, WhatsApp has implemented several modifications aimed at mitigating the excessive volume of commercial messages directed at users. In 2024, the platform allowed individuals to unsubscribe from marketing communications sent by brands. In the following year, there was a limitation on the number of mass messages that both companies and users could send within a defined period. In October 2025, the company advanced by restricting the number of messages companies can send without receiving any response from recipients. According to WhatsApp, the first two measures have already been implemented globally, while the third is still being refined.
During Meta's financial results presentation for the second quarter of 2026, CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared that revenue from the "other" category within the app portfolio exceeded US$1 billion (equivalent to R$5 billion). This growth was mainly driven by paid subscriptions and messages on WhatsApp.
In June of this year, the company made its artificial intelligence (AI) agents globally accessible for business use. Meta reported that over one million businesses are already using these resources. During the earnings call, Zuckerberg mentioned the Brazilian rental company Movida as an example of technology application, highlighting that the company observed an increase in customer conversions and improvements in customer service with the help of AI agents. There is an expectation that in the coming months, an even greater number of companies will incorporate AI into WhatsApp for customer support, marketing, and sales purposes.
