An app is coming up for those who don’t want to be single.
Like everything else, being single has been politicized. There are those who say that they enjoy being single. They like living on their own. Well, you’ve got to respect that point of view.
Then there are others who some might say are desperate not to be single, or yet others who want to enjoy the company of someone in their lives. They might be young, they might be middle-aged, they might be retired, and through circumstances they are left on their own. Unfortunately, sadly, tragically in some cases. For those who have spent most of their lives sharing their homes, routines and everyday experiences with someone else, suddenly finding themselves alone can be a considerable psychological shock. The silence in the house, the absence of conversation, having nobody to share the small events of the day with, or simply somebody to sit alongside in the evening, can become a heavy burden. Loneliness is not just an emotional inconvenience. Over time, it can take a toll on mental and physical health, leaving people feeling isolated, disconnected and increasingly cut off from the world around them.
Now, you might say it’s easy to find someone in today’s internet world. We’ve heard of people who have got married because of Facebook and other social media. But there are also horror stories of scams and people being trained to scam South Africans, both men and women.
At one stage, one of the single people I knew used a dating app, but complained that all it became was women getting a free dinner from him once a week, or however many times he went onto that dating app.
This is why I was interested in an interview with a woman, Janelie Kruger. She was interviewed on Saturday, November 14, 2026, during RSG’s Naweekaktueel broadcast in a segment titled “Klaar met afspraaktoepassings? Janelie Kruger vra haar vriende om Kupido te speel” (Done with dating apps? Janelie Kruger asks her friends to play Cupid).
A different approach to dating
Kruger, who is based in Cape Town, became frustrated with the horror stories associated with traditional dating apps and uncomfortable singles events.
She decided to try something different. In a Facebook post, she announced to her social network that she was single, tired of dating apps and would rather meet people through other people.
She asked friends and acquaintances to share her post, introduce her to suitable people and vouch for those they knew.
The experiment attracted considerable attention. One man, Theo van Schalkwyk, contacted her through Facebook. Discovering that they had a mutual friend, he immediately asked that friend, Jenny Loubser, to vouch for him.
Kruger had two conditions before agreeing to meet anyone: she wanted to be able to contact a mutual friend, and she wanted to meet the person within two weeks.
Jenny spoke favourably about both of them, and the couple subsequently went on their first date.
The relationship developed, and Kruger eventually announced that she was no longer single.
Her conclusion was particularly interesting: perhaps people don’t need better dating apps. Perhaps they need to become better at introducing people they know to one another.
That experiment provided the inspiration for Ek’s Single.
The idea is to move away from swiping through photographs of complete strangers and instead use existing social networks to bring people together.
Friends effectively become matchmakers. They can introduce single people they know to others in their own circles, providing a little more background and context than the usual dating-app encounter.
As Kruger explains in a Facebook announcement:
“We believe dating should be about ‘human connection’ again. Real people. Real conversations. And connections through people who already know each other.”
The app’s approach is summed up in its phrase: “Dating, vouched for.”
The developers are currently looking for their first testers to help refine the product. Kruger is inviting interested people to register their interest through her social media channels.
The concept is interesting because it attempts to address one of the biggest shortcomings of online dating: the difficulty of knowing who you are actually dealing with.
Of course, a mutual friend or acquaintance is no guarantee that someone is trustworthy. But having a connection between two people before they meet could provide a useful starting point.
The app is now moving into its testing phase, with Kruger announcing on Facebook that she and her team have built a platform that aims to bring human connection back into dating. They are looking for their first group of testers to try it out and help refine the product before a wider launch. The approach is based on meeting people through existing social networks, with a little more background and someone who can vouch for a prospective partner.
Kruger says places for the initial testers are limited, and those who participate can also look forward to some benefits in the future. Her invitation is straightforward: single people interested in trying the app can comment “TEST” on her Facebook announcement to receive a link.
An idea turned into a business opportunity
There is another aspect of this story that deserves attention.
It is always important, especially in a country like South Africa, for people to come up with new business ideas.
This business idea came from an experience where the woman herself was fed up with being single and devised a relatively safe way to get into the dating game.
It is a good example of how an everyday frustration can become the starting point for a business opportunity.
There are undoubtedly many South Africans who have ideas for mobile phone applications. Some will be simple, others considerably more ambitious. Some will find a market, while others will disappear after the initial enthusiasm has worn off.
It is difficult to find out how many people in 2026 have come up with any types of apps for cell phones in South Africa. A pity that we can’t get statistics like this.
There is no official or tracked national census or public database that records the exact number of individuals in South Africa who have launched mobile phone apps or how many of those apps are classified as “successful.”
While South Africa has a massive mobile-first population, with a reported over 82.7 million smartphone subscriptions and more than 33 million unique smartphone users, app developer statistics are fragmented across independent software houses, tech incubators and app stores such as Google Play and the Apple App Store rather than tracked by a single metric.
Developing an app is one thing. Finding users, getting them to return, generating revenue and building a sustainable business around it are quite another.
Kruger’s idea will now have to pass the test of real users. Will single people be comfortable allowing friends to play Cupid? Will the app attract enough people to make it useful? And can it establish the trust that its concept depends on?
These are questions that only time and the market will answer.
But there is something to be said for an entrepreneur who takes a personal frustration, comes up with a different approach and decides to turn it into a business.
