Welcome to the “advanced” digital banking experience in South Africa. This morning we ran into one of those situations that perfectly illustrates the irony of modern systems. Our team needed to load prepaid electricity — nothing complicated, just a normal everyday task to keep things running. At the same time a number of payments to individuals were waiting to be sent out. Simple enough… or at least it should be. Except the bank placed a verification security block on the account. No problem, right? Just log in and approve it. Well, not quite. The mobile app requires a selfie verification to approve the transactions. The selfie verification refuses to work. So you try logging into online banking instead. But online banking requires approval from the app. The card payments? Also require approval from the app. The app accepts the PIN… but still insists on a selfie verification that simply will not complete. So now the system works perfectly… except for the one thing it was designed to do — allow you to actually use your bank account. The only solution? Drive to the bank branch to reset the biometric verification. All of this for something as simple as buying prepaid electricity and releasing payments that were already scheduled. The funny part is that everything was working perfectly just two weeks ago through multiple logins. This is the strange reality of “advanced systems.” They can do incredible things… but sometimes fail at the most basic ones. And when you're running a business, time lost to problems like this is time that could have been spent building, supporting clients, and moving projects forward. Welcome to the fun of modern banking.

Sometimes you do not need any words. The situation speaks for itself

There will be days when all seems to be too much There will be days when the weight of the world seems to be resting only on your shoulders There will be times when you do not know what to do There will be times when you are unable to see the solutions needed to make all right Just believe and have trust that everything you need, that solution, that light in the darkness will find its way towards you Do not give up and know that hope is near

This Is Why We Built MySA Yesterday I spoke to a small business owner. Fourteen years in business. Twelve thousand followers online. And his latest post reached less than 300 people. He asked me something that stuck with me: “Domenico, must I now pay just so the people who already follow me can see my post?” He wasn’t angry. He was tired. And that’s when it hit me again. South Africa is full of people who wake up early. Who work late. Who hustle. Who sacrifice. Who build something from nothing. But online? We rent space. We don’t own the ground we stand on. Our businesses grow… until an algorithm changes. Our reach drops… unless we pay more. Our data leaves the country. Our money leaves the country. And we are told this is “just how it works.” No. It doesn’t have to work like that. I didn’t build MySA because I was bored. I didn’t build it because I wanted another app. I built it because I was tired of watching local businesses fight for oxygen in a room they don’t control. MySA is not about competing with global platforms. It’s about building something of our own. A place where: • Verified users are real people • Verified businesses are real businesses • Support stays local • Engagement means something • Your effort isn’t filtered into silence When you join MySA, you are not just creating a profile. You are choosing to support a local digital economy. When you verify your business, you are not just getting a badge. You are telling customers: “I am real. I stand behind my name.” When you review a local company, share their post, or support their service, you are not just scrolling. You are strengthening your own community. Every country protects what matters to it. Why shouldn’t we protect our digital space too? This is bigger than social media. This is about dignity. This is about visibility. This is about ownership. This is about South Africans backing South Africans. We cannot complain about global control while refusing to support local solutions. We cannot ask for change while staying comfortable in systems that don’t serve us. MySA is not perfect. It is growing. And growth takes people who believe in building, not just consuming. So the question is simple: Will you watch from the sidelines… Or will you stand up and be part of building something South Africa can call its own? Let’s build this properly. Together. #ImpactSA #MySA