The CartZA food delivery app was created in early 2025 and has eleven restaurant partners and more than 2,000 downloads in the UFS community. COO of CartZA, Kenny Netshetanzwani, said the app allows students to pre-order meals from on-campus restaurants and get the food delivered directly to their residence. 

“Our interest has always been in entrepreneurship and community-driven solutions. We have looked up to well-known entrepreneurs in South Africa who have inspired us to identify problems in our communities and develop solutions to address them.”

Richard Molefe, CEO of Cartza. Photo supplied

Richard Molefe, CEO of CartZA, said the business generates revenue through two streams. The first comes from items listed on the app, where restaurants provide their prices, and CartZA applies a mark-up before the products are sold to students.

He also believes the business is profitable and still in the growth phase: “We are experiencing rapid growth which is now also starting to stabilise.” 

CartZA was recognised by Enactus under community development. “We got recognised because of the transformation that we are introducing within the student community, and at the moment we are streamlining a programme that is there to enable blind and deaf students to be able to order through the app.”

COO of CartZA Kenny Netshetanzwani. Photo: supplied

Every business has its fair share of challenges; the same goes for CartZA. 

“The biggest challenge we faced was regarding student schedules; we often had some orders whereby they either take too long to be accepted because students are busy with their exams, tests, or assignments,” said Netshetanzwani.

At the 2026 Enactus South Africa National Exposition, CartZA received three awards. The first recognised the business for reaching the national semi-finals. 

The second was a Business Innovation Award from Harmony, where CartZA placed second in its category. 

The company’s third accolade was a Digital Transformation Award from MTN, where it took first place in its category.

“We also received feedback from judges mainly relating to our operations; it was that we should consider diversifying our delivery members to not only be students but also residences just around universities.”

Looking ahead, Molefe said they plan to expand their business; their immediate targets include Sol Plaatje University in the Northern Cape and the Central University of Technology, Free State.

“We are working on adding features: those include the inventory management system, which enables restaurant partners to be able actually track the spoilage dates on their stock. 

“The system aims to help prevent students from receiving expired or spoiled products.”

OFM News/Siyakholwa Mbatyazwa mvh

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