How to Make Money Fast Online and Offline in South Africa

Despite several efforts and policies by the government, unemployment levels remain quite high in South Africa (32.6%). Many young persons do not have the assurance of a white-collar job, and even when they try to make way for themselves via entrepreneurship, they face challenges relating to registration, permits, and electricity. It is indeed a bleak situation, which has been confounded by the Covid-19 pandemic, but there are still options.

Thanks to advancements in technology and the effects of globalization, there are various businesses that one can do online in South Africa and make good money. The same is also true of the offline sphere, where you can indulge in enterprises such as home food delivery or handyman services and earn a steady income. Therefore, as you continue your job search, find below some fast ways of making money online and offline in South Africa, which can help you become your own boss in no distant time.

1. Affiliate Marketing

One way to make money online is to join the billion-dollar global industry known as affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is an advertising model whereby a company pays others to advertise their products and services and generate sales. The affiliate places the company’s banner ads, text ads, or links on their websites, blog, or app, and when people follow those links to make a purchase, the affiliate is paid a percentage of the sale price as commission.

To become an affiliate, especially in this digital age, you must have an online presence. It mustn’t be your own website or blog. You can do affiliate marketing via your social media pages. You can also join certain online forums, and if affiliate ads don’t violate their community rule, you can place these ads there. Some of the companies that run affiliate programs in South Africa include Loot – 5% Commission of the first order, Zasstra – 5% Commission, Mantality – 10% Commission, Zalemart – 5% Commission, 4aKid – Up to 20% Commission, Bid or Buy – Up to R100 per new user referred, and Future Light – 7% Commission, etc.

2. Participating in Online Surveys

Be it corporate bodies, research institutions, or private think tanks; there are several organizations out there that would pay you to take part in a survey for them. Globally, apps such as SurveyJunkie are popular for this purpose. In South Africa, several websites will compensate you for taking out time to answer their questions. One of such is Valued Opinions, which gives you 30 – 260 points for completing surveys. You can then exchange 550 points for an R100 voucher or 900 points for an R200 voucher (lailasnews.com). These vouchers can be redeemed at popular outlets such as Zando (an online shopping portal for fashion and beauty items) and Yuppiechief (a premier kitchen and home store). Other sites that pay for surveys in South Africa include The Panel Station, SwitchedOn, Palm Research, etc.

3. Starting an Online Store

Previously, if you wanted to start a business selling any product, you will have to go through the capital and labor-intensive process of renting a store, outfitting it, getting various licenses, paying business permits, etc. Thanks to technology, this process has been simplified, and you can sell stuff online right from the comfort of your home. All you need is a good smartphone so that you can take glitzy pictures of your products. You can then upload them to your social media platforms and list the prices. Any interested person will DM you, and hopefully, a sale will take place. Beyond your social media pages, you can also rent an online store on online marketplaces such as Woocommerce, Drupal, Jumpseller, and Site.pro, etc.

4. Drop Shipping

Even if you don’t want to deal in any products personally, you can still make money from eCommerce through a process known as drop shipping. Dropshipping basically means that you are a middle man. You don’t hold goods but rather connect suppliers and buyers. When you get an order, you collect the fees. You then keep a portion back as your profit and then send the price of the goods to the supplier, who will then fulfill and deliver the order. The beautiful thing about drop shipping is that you do not need to make any delivery. To start a successful dropshipping business in South Africa, you will first need to research the market you want to deal in before finding a supplier that deals in such products (an online platform like Dropstore helps you find suppliers in South Africa). The next step will be to create your eCommerce website and link an online payment platform to your site. You can now open for business.

5. Trading Cryptocurrencies

Despite the uncertainties surrounding cryptocurrencies, the fact remains that they have come to stay with us and present an opportunity for one to make money fast online in South Africa. While several countries have outlawed cryptocurrencies, it is perfectly legal to buy and sell cryptocurrencies in South Africa. You can buy or sell bitcoin through exchanges such as Luno or ice3X. There are also bitcoin ATMs in major cities where you can use your ATM to deposit funds to buy bitcoins. If you also search online, you can find bitcoin trading community sites where you can connect with other people to buy and sell Bitcoin. It must be noted that cryptocurrencies are taxable properties meaning that your profits can be taxed by the authorities.

6. Selling Betting Tips

Another fast way to make money online in South Africa is to start selling betting tips online. To put this in context, millions of South Africans are crazy about various sports such as rugby, cricket, and football. They also love placing stakes in these sporting activities as well. Previously, sports betting was done traditionally, but the industry has boomed, thanks to technology, as one can easily place their bets with their phones. You find millions of young unemployed people taking to betting as a means of making a quick buck. It, therefore, means that if you run a platform that provides them with reliable tips, they would be willing to pay you for your service.

7. Online Courses

If you are knowledgeable in any topical area, you can always package your knowledge and sell it as an online course. The economic uncertainties in the country and worldwide mean that many professionals are taking steps to better themselves and obtain more qualifications. One of the ways of doing this is through online courses, which is where you can come in and establish a steady stream of income for yourself. Areas that are quite popular with the public include data science, information technology, data analysis, language learning, entrepreneurship, marketing, etc. This list is not exhaustive and extends to other areas. You may need to set up your own website to sell your courses. If you don’t want to do this, you can always resort to popular online course sites like teachable, Coursera, and edx.

8. Freelance Writing and Blogging

If you are gifted with words, one fast way to make money online is to write articles. You can set up your own blog complete with your unique domain name and proceed to turn out articles that people will find interesting. Once good traffic starts coming to your site, you can earn funds through advertising, sponsored posts, affiliate links, product and service reviews, giveaways, etc. In a situation whereby you do not want to set up your own blog, you can always become a freelance writer and pen articles for online magazines, gossip blogs, corporate organizations, etc. To advertise your writing services, you can use platforms such as Fiverr and Upwork to get in touch with people who will hire you. The average salary for freelance writers in South Africa is put at R 5254 per month.

9. Starting a YouTube Channel

You can make good money online by setting up a thriving YouTube channel. The channel can be based on any interesting area you are well versed in, including South African culture and tradition, comedy videos, DIYs, etc. To make money off YouTube, you have to enroll in their partner program so you can monetize your videos via Google AdSense. Other ways that YouTube creators can make good money include sponsored posts for different brands, crowdfunding, and merchandise sales. By the time your channel becomes quite popular, you can also get your fan base to make recurring monthly payments to you in exchange for channel memberships, which come with bonus features such as badges, emojis, live chats, and other content.

10. Buying and selling websites

Another fast way that one can make money online in South Africa is by buying and selling websites. Akin to flipping houses in real estate, this involves you buying undervalued websites for a low fee, improving their features and traffic, and then reselling it for a profit. This is no walk in the park, and you have to do your due diligence. Look out for websites that are in evergreen niche areas such as health and wellness, money and finances, relationships and personal growth, current events, sports, and entertainment. Identify a promising website, make the purchase, and then set about improving it. Once traffic rises, you start looking for buyers. Popular platforms for buying and selling websites include flippa, Empire Flippers, Sedo, and WebsiteBroker.

1. Starting a Food Delivery Business from Home

Many people who are gainfully employed or run their own enterprises are too busy to carry out routine chores for themselves. Luckily for these sets of people, they can pay someone to do stuff for them, including making meals for them. Therefore, if you are a very good chef and versed in SA dishes, you can start a business of making soups and other different kinds of foods in your home and then delivering them to others for a fee.

The beautiful thing about this particular business is that you do not need much capital to start, as most utensils you will need can already be found around your house. All you need is to get big pots and pans for cooking and plastic meal containers for the actual delivery. It is also pertinent to get a reliable refrigerator for storing these foods before moving them to your customers. Of course, before delving into this business, there is a need to figure out your target market, the types of food you will focus on, and a marketing strategy (word of mouth, posting flyers, and posters in your neighborhood).

2. Renting Out Your Spare Room

Another fast way of making money offline in South Africa is to rent out any spare room on your premises. If you have an unoccupied room in your house or even one that you have leased (subletting is legal under SA law except your original lease agreement forbids it), you can source for people to occupy them and pay you in return. Normally, finding potential occupants can be a bit of a headache, but things are now easier thanks to technology. There are several apps, platforms, and websites in South Africa where you can go and list your spare room at no cost, and it will be immediately publicized. They include theroomlink.co.za, rentaroom.co.za, olx.co.za, and gumtree.co.za. Airbnb is also present in South Africa, meaning that you can utilize the world-famous lodging marketplace to meet verified customers.

3. Becoming a Movie Extra

After Nigeria, South Africa has one of the most bustling movie industries on the continent. It has churned out several acclaimed movies and hit TV series. It has also made stars out of several individuals. Of course, becoming a movie star takes time, but in the interim, you can pocket quick cash by appearing as an extra in a movie or TV series. According to the South Africa Guild of Actors, extras, who are defined as non-speaking roles and untrained people off the street, can earn as much as R250 to R100 per call (12 hours every day of work).

4. Buying Stocks

Buying stocks in different companies remains one sure way of making cash offline in South Africa. However, it is an area fraught with risks, and as such, you have to be alert to know when to buy and when to sell so that you do not suffer unnecessary losses. Previously, this required one to keep up with everything happening in the country and analyze any potential impact on their stock holding. Nowadays, things have been made easier because of technology. There are several websites where you can get reliable information on well-performing stocks in SA that you can invest in.

5. Tutoring Students

If you are intelligent in subject areas such as maths, English, physics, chemistry, etc., you can always pick up extra cash by tutoring students privately. No start-up capital is needed; all you have to do is to put out feelers through your acquaintances so that they may refer you to any person who needs such service. The coming of technology has once more simplified things, and you can sign up to websites such as turtlejar.co.za, firsttutors.com, etc. These sites match you to students and take care of issues such as bookings and payment systems so you can concentrate on teaching. On average, a tutor generally earns between R180 and R200 per hour. If you work 2 hours across 4 days, you can earn R 3500 to R 4500 each month. One advantage of tutoring is that it still leaves you with time to pursue other engagements.

6. Babysitting or House Sitting for People

Babysitting and house sitting are also fast and uncomplicated ways to make good money in South Africa. As we all know, babysitting involves taking care of someone’s kids for a few hours or even for the night. On the other hand, housesitting involves taking care of an individual house and sometimes their pet in exchange for board, food, and even monetary payment. In South Africa, babysitters can make as much as the mandated national minimum wage of R20.76 per hour. For house sitting, the going rate is R400 for 24 hours. If there is one domestic pet involved, then you can earn about R450 for 24 hours. One can find housesitting and babysitting opportunities through word of mouth. There are also dedicated websites (sananny.co.za and sitters4u.co.za) where you can sign up and meet potential clients.

7. Providing Handyman Services

If you are pretty skilled with various tools and have boatloads of energy, you can always make extra income by offering handyman services to people around you. It could take the shape of mowing their lawns, cutting back hedges, cleaning gutters, or sorting out the mess in their basement. It can also extend to installing a TV or home system. Basic plumbing, minor electrical wiring, and carpentry are also involved. It all depends on what skills you possess, and the great thing about this is that you do not need formal education qualifications or a license to do your thing. The most important consideration is that you do have those skills that you profess to possess. While starting, you can advertise your services on sites such as handymandirect.co.za, handymanhomes.co.za, etc.

8. Personal Trainer

A fitness enthusiast who has acquired requisite knowledge and experience in the field over the years can also make good money as a personal trainer for others. In that role, you can help people develop a specific fitness program that is tailored to their needs, be it losing weight or bulking up their muscles. You do not need a university degree to be a personal trainer in South Africa. All that is required is a matric and a certification in the field, which takes a few months to obtain. If you become a personal trainer and start making big bucks, then you may consider getting a degree in sports science to make a long-lasting career in it.

9. Providing Taxi Services

Nowadays, many young persons complement their income by converting their vehicles into part-time taxi cab services. Some who hold regular 8 – 5 jobs often do so in the evening. Others with more flexible schedules can also head out at any time of the day they consider peak period and make a good income for themselves. The one good thing about this is that taxi services have greatly benefitted from technology. You do not need to drive around looking for passengers anymore. Once you have a decent-looking car, you can sign up for any of the various ride-hailing apps available, and they will easily match you with a customer once they have one in your area. Ride-hailing apps available in South Africa include Bolt, Uber, Yookoo, inDriver, Orange Cabs, and Zebra.

10. Selling Handmade Items

If you are particularly skilled with your hands and can make items such as crotched clothing, footwear, jewelry, handbags, you can always make fast money by selling them off. The one good thing about this is that most people love one-of-a-kind items and not mass-produced stuff. Therefore, if you are good, you can charge impressive sums for them. Another thing that you can charge an impressive sum for is paintings. Gifting someone an artwork or even a portrait of themselves never gets old, and as such, if you happen to be talented in that regard, you can be assured that you will not run out of clients willing to shell out big bucks for your art.

Which is Better, Making Money Online or Offline?

There is no really saying per se which of the two above methods of earning income is better than the other. Each comes with its own positive and negative sides, and the best thing is to choose the option that is best suited for you. For instance, when it comes to the online methods of making money in South Africa, they are better suited for tech-savvy individuals or persons who have a natural curiosity for ICT. In the latter case, they can easily learn the ropes and make something wonderful for themselves.

On the flip side, if you are an individual that is either not knowledgeable about information communication technology or you are simply averse to anything tech, then it may be best to stick to the offline methods of making money enumerated above. One thing that is for sure is that having an online presence helps even people that are doing business offline. Therefore, it is best to keep up to date with such developments as you will ultimately benefit from them in the future. Additionally, keep in mind that the various ways of earning money online are not impossible to learn but only need dedication.