Why I built iKhetha

A friend of mine runs pageants across all nine provinces. Every event, the same thing: contestants share a Capitec account number on WhatsApp with a reference code like “FMP17.” Voters send money. He sits there at midnight matching bank deposits to contestants one by one. No dashboard. No leaderboard. No way to know in real time who’s winning. Just a phone screen and a spreadsheet.

And because the votes land directly in his personal bank account in small amounts throughout the week, he uses the money as it comes in. Airtime, petrol, groceries. By the time the event closes, he’s spent half the voting revenue and has to replace it out of his own pocket. Every single time.

He tried the platforms that exist. PageantVote Africa made voters screenshot their PayPal receipt and send it to a Facebook page. Then wait 3 to 8 hours for someone to manually add the votes. The other option was Imperial Votes, a platform built on Wix with placeholder text still on the live site and no South African payment methods.

So he went back to bank transfers. Because the platforms were worse than doing it by hand.

That’s the gap. There is no voting and ticketing platform built for how events actually work in South Africa. Quicket and Howler handle ticketing but they don’t touch paid voting. PageantVote handles voting but doesn’t accept South African payments. Nobody puts voting, tickets, and door entry in one place with real payment methods that South Africans actually use.

That’s what iKhetha is.

An organiser lists their event, adds contestants, sets vote packages and ticket tiers. Voters tap a link from WhatsApp, pick a pack, pay via card or instant EFT, and the leaderboard updates immediately. Ticket buyers get a QR code. Staff scan it at the door. The organiser sees every vote and every rand from their dashboard in real time.

Their share is settled directly to their bank account.

The organiser keeps 85%. The platform takes 15%. No setup fees. No monthly fees. If you don’t earn, we don’t earn. The payment methods listed at checkout are the ones South Africans actually use: card, instant EFT and Apple Pay.

I built this because I watched someone I know do it the hard way for years. And when I looked at what was available, nothing worked. So I built what should have existed already.

iKhetha is live now at ikhetha.com. If you run a pageant, a competition, an award show, or any event where the crowd picks the winner, it’s built for you.

If you want to try it or just want to talk, reach me at support@ikhetha.co.za.