Everything we get asked, in one place. If your question isn't here, message us on WhatsApp or email info@yanga.co.za.
Open WhatsApp, message +27 67 579 6168, and tell the bot what you need in plain language — "I need a plumber in Schoemansville", "looking for a vet near Kosmos", "where can I get my car serviced?". Yanga maps your request to local businesses and replies with up to four results. There's no app to download and no sign-up.
English, Afrikaans, isiZulu, isiXhosa and Sepedi. The bot greets you in any of these and remembers your choice. You can change language any time by typing change language.
Not unless you choose to share it. By default, Yanga relays messages between you and the business through its own WhatsApp number — the business sees a tagged "Lead #ABC123" message, not your phone. If you'd rather they call you directly, type share my number and we'll forward it.
Every listing supports click-to-call. The bot offers a "Save contact card" option — tap it, save the business to your phone, and call them like any other contact. Your number is never shared in this flow.
A link is a deliberate opt-in between you and a business — usually created when you scan their printed QR sticker, or when you type link to <business-name> in WhatsApp.
Linked businesses show up higher in your future searches (search ranking is links × tier multiplier × recency) and may share special offers with you. Either side can break the link any time; nothing is permanent.
Type links or my links to Yanga on WhatsApp. You'll get a numbered list. To break a link, type unlink 2 (or whichever number) — instant, no confirmation needed.
While viewing search results, type block 1 (or whatever number). Type blocks to see your blocked list, unblock 1 to undo. Blocked businesses are hidden from your search results in future — even if they'd otherwise rank highly.
Type forget me or delete my profile to Yanga. We immediately remove your profile and conversation history. POPIA-compliant — see our privacy page for the full details.
No. The default is "no marketing" — businesses can't push you offers unless you explicitly opt in (during onboarding, or by linking with them). Even then, you can revoke any time with stop.
Yes — type change area. V1 is launching in Hartbeespoort and surrounds; more communities coming as champions onboard.
For now, email info@yanga.co.za or message Yanga on WhatsApp with what's wrong. A bot-side report <business> command is on the way.
Free, forever. Being findable on Yanga doesn't cost anything — listing, click-to-call, and contact card sharing are all free. You only pay for premium features (anonymous chat relay, AI auto-reply, ranking boost) — see pricing.
Fill in the form at yanga.co.za/list. We need: business name, category, area, contact phone, and a one-sentence description. You'll get a confirmation email with a reference number, and we typically approve within 1 working day.
Usually within 1 working day. Every submission is reviewed by a Heynstech approver to keep quality high — anything that looks like spam or impersonation gets rejected. You'll get a printable QR code for your counter once approved.
Not directly in V1 — your champion handles edits on your behalf. This keeps quality consistent and prevents the verification headaches of a self-serve dashboard. Email info@yanga.co.za with what needs to change and your champion will update it.
Free = listing + click-to-call + vCard share + ×1 ranking. Silver (R600/yr) adds anonymous chat relay — customers message you through Yanga without anyone seeing each other's number — plus a ×2 ranking boost and 1 printed counter card. The relay is huge for businesses that want serious privacy or run multiple staff phones.
On Gold (R1,800/yr or R200/mo) and Diamond, Yanga sends a polite auto-response when a customer messages you outside your business hours — based on rules you set ("we're closed weekends, leave a message"). It's a static fallback, not full conversational AI.
The Diamond AI assistant — full conversational AI trained on your services, prices, and FAQs, with handover to a human when needed — ships in V1.5.
Once approved, your champion can print and bring you a counter card (Silver gets 1, Gold 3, Diamond 5 — included in the price). You can also download the QR PNG from your business page in admin and print as many as you like — A6 stickers, A5 counter cards, A4 posters all work.
A community champion is a local — usually someone who knows businesses in your area — who recruited you and triages your account. They handle outreach, listing edits, QR distribution, and any operational queries. Heynstech does the final approval. Every paid tier earns the champion a 50% lifetime recurring commission.
V1 is manual EFT. You pick a tier, we send banking details, you EFT, we activate. We're integrating Yoco / PayShap card and instant-EFT for V2 — until then, EFT it is. Invoices are POPIA-friendly and emailed.
90-day grace. Day 30 unpaid: still on your tier, gentle nudge. Day 90 unpaid: you auto-demote to Free (listing stays live, premium features drop), and your champion loses attribution. Pay within those 90 days and everything restores. After 90 days a different champion can take you on.
Email your champion or info@yanga.co.za. We'll deactivate the listing within 24 hours; any commission already paid out to your champion stays paid out, but no further accruals.
Yes. When a customer message comes in via the relay, you can reply block in your reply — that customer can no longer reach you through Yanga. Reach out to your champion to unblock.
A local who recruits and triages businesses for Yanga in their community in exchange for 50% lifetime recurring on every paid tier they bring on. Heynstech KYCs you, handles final approvals, and pays out monthly via EFT. You handle outreach, listing edits, QR distribution.
50% of every Silver / Gold / Diamond fee, lifetime, recurring. So 10 Silver clients = R3,000/year. 10 Gold yearly clients = R9,000/year. The economics scale linearly with how many businesses you bring on and how active they are.
Apply via the contact form — choose "Becoming a community champion" and tell us about your area. We KYC you (banking details, ID), set up your admin login, and you're off.
One community per champion at a time, V1. We're starting in Hartbeespoort; if you're elsewhere and want to bring Yanga to your area, get in touch — we'll prioritise communities with strong champion candidates.
In tier-1 data centres located in South Africa. Nothing leaves South Africa for storage.
No. We don't sell, share, or rent personal data to anyone. We only process your messages to route your enquiries to local businesses — that's the service.
By default: only the content of your enquiry, tagged with a Lead ID. Not your phone number, name, or location. If you choose to share your number (share my number), only then does the business see it — irreversible, so we ask for explicit consent.
Type forget me to Yanga on WhatsApp — instant deletion of your profile. For full deletion (including any historical Lead conversations), email info@yanga.co.za. See the data deletion page for the full POPIA process.
We're built POPIA-first. Your rights: access your data, correct it, delete it, opt out of marketing, lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator. Full details on the privacy page.
WhatsApp messages between you and Yanga are end-to-end encrypted by WhatsApp itself. On our side, we read message content to route it (we have to — that's the service), but it's encrypted at rest and never logged in plaintext beyond the operational systems that need it.
Because every South African already has WhatsApp. Building an app means asking people to download, sign up, remember a password, and check it regularly — none of which they'll do for a directory they use occasionally. WhatsApp removes all of that friction.
+27 67 579 6168. Save it as "Yanga" in your contacts and message it like any other chat. There's only one number.
Bot replies usually arrive within 5 seconds. If nothing comes back within 30s, your message may have hit a transient issue — try again, or check your WhatsApp internet connection. Still nothing? Email info@yanga.co.za with the time and your number and we'll investigate.
The bot will reply if you message it from outside SA, but the directory only has South African businesses listed. We're South Africa-focused; international expansion isn't on the V1 roadmap.
Groups are noisy and break privacy — your number is visible to everyone, anyone can spam, finding an old recommendation means scrolling forever, and there's no quality control. Yanga is one-to-one between you and the bot, your number stays private, and the directory remembers what's in your area so you don't have to ask the group every time. The trade-off: less casual chat, more directed search.