How Convenience Culture Is Quietly Reshaping Work in South Africa

Convenience is firmly embedding itself in the lives of South Africans. From transport and food to cleaning and accommodation, on-demand services have moved from novelty to necessity. But while much of the conversation focuses on what this means for consumers, far less attention is paid to what it means for workers.

In 2026, convenience culture will not just change how we live. It is fundamentally reshaping how millions of people access work, income and economic participation. And crucially, it is doing so from the palm of a worker’s hand.

Convenience is often framed as a lifestyle choice: faster deliveries, fewer errands, more time saved. In reality, it is an economic engine. Every tap on a screen triggers work: drivers, riders, cleaners, hosts and support services, enabled by platforms that reduce traditional barriers to entry into the labour market.

In a country facing persistent unemployment and limited formal job creation, this shift matters.

App-based work has become a gateway into the digital economy for a growing number of South Africans. With a smartphone and basic onboarding, workers can access income opportunities that were previously out of reach due to geography, rigid work structures or lack of formal networks.

This is not about replacing formal employment. It is about expanding participation, particularly for those who need flexibility, supplementary income or autonomy over their working hours.

Take Checkers Sixty60, now emblematic of South Africa’s on-demand culture. While consumers experience speed and ease, behind every 60-minute delivery is a network of pickers, drivers and operational roles that exist because convenience has become embedded in everyday life.

Convenience, in this sense, is not eliminating work. It is redistributing it. Mobility offers a clear example. Uber Moto reflects how platforms evolve to meet local realities; dense cities, congestion and affordability pressures. By enabling motorcycle-based transport, Uber Moto opens earning opportunities to riders with lower asset requirements, while offering commuters faster, lower-cost mobility.

This adaptability is key. Platform work in South Africa is not a carbon copy of global models. It is shaped by local conditions and, when done well, creates practical solutions for both workers and consumers.

Beyond transport and delivery, platform work is increasingly extending into sectors traditionally characterised by informality and vulnerability. Short-term accommodation is a powerful example.

Airbnb has also enabled thousands of South Africans to monetise their homes, retain ownership of their assets and supplement household income. In many cases, this income is used to fund education, cover rising living costs or stabilise households during uncertain economic times. What is changing now is how platforms connect to one another.

Lourandi Kriel, CEO of Sweepsouth

SweepSouth, for example, enables short-term letting hosts to book hospitality-trained SweepStars for cleaning services. SweepStars who opt into this work undergo hospitality guideline training, allowing them to access additional work opportunities linked to the short-term rental economy.

This matters. Platforms are no longer operating as isolated marketplaces. They are becoming work-enablement systems that offer access, training, standards and pathways to more sustainable income.

The need for this evolution is underscored by the realities facing domestic workers in South Africa. The 2025 SweepSouth Report on Domestic Worker Pay and Working Conditions shows that domestic workers remain among the lowest-paid and most economically vulnerable workers in the country.

Many rely on multiple employers or fragmented income streams, while flexibility and payment reliability consistently emerge as key priorities.

Platform-enabled domestic work does not solve structural inequality on its own. But it can address immediate gaps: access to work, transparent pricing, predictable payments and the ability for workers to choose when and how they work.

In an economy where millions operate outside formal protections, these factors are not marginal. They are fundamental.

As platform work continues to grow, policy must evolve with it. The answer is not to resist app-based work, but to modernise labour frameworks so that flexibility and protection are not treated as opposing forces.

South Africa has an opportunity to lead by:

• recognising platform work as a legitimate form of economic participation

• creating portable protections that move with workers across platforms

• encouraging collaboration between government, platforms and worker representatives

• ensuring that innovation is matched with dignity, fairness and accountability

  
  

The goal should not be to force new forms of work into outdated models, but to design policy that reflects how work actually happens in 2026.