A single gigabyte of prepaid data in South Africa costs around R85 – the equivalent of three hours of work at the minimum wage of R28.79 per hour.
For many local workers, this makes staying connected unaffordable. This poses challenges for employees and employers as people are forced to choose between buying food, for example, or buying data to get work instructions.
Local South African HR and benefits platform Jem HR has launched a mobile offering in a bid to help address this issue. Jem Mobile, a new service that gives employees access to affordable smartphones and data contracts through payroll deduction—at no cost or risk to employers.
The launch addresses one of the biggest inequalities facing South Africa’s workforce—the high cost of mobile data. Millions of people working in essential but often low-paid jobs, such as security, cleaning, retail, and manufacturing, pay far more for connectivity than higher-income earners.
Most earn too little or have impaired credit records, forcing them to rely on prepaid data bundles. Spread across a month, those bundles can cost double or triple the price of a contract. The result is a system where the people who earn the least end up paying the most.
“It’s wrong that low-paid employees are worse off just because our financial systems don’t work for them,” says Simon Ellis, CEO and co-founder of Jem. “People shouldn’t pay more for data simply because they can’t qualify for a contract. Jem Mobile changes that by using payroll deduction to remove the risk and pass the savings directly to the employee.”
A zero-cost benefit for employers
Jem Mobile is completely free for employers. The service integrates directly with payroll systems, allowing employees to buy phones and data through payroll deduction while Jem manages everything else—from setup and collections to after-sales support.
Employers carry no financial risk. If an employee leaves, absconds, or defaults, Jem takes on the liability entirely. This means companies can offer a practical, valued employee benefit with no cost, no admin and no risk.
“Employers tell us one of their biggest frustrations is simply being able to reach staff quickly and reliably,” says Ellis. “Building our HR platform on WhatsApp was the first step. The next is ensuring every employee has a connected smartphone—as essential to them as a laptop is to an office worker.”
Hands-on support for every employee
Because many employees will be first-time contract holders, Jem provides hands-on onboarding. Onsite activations can be set up in canteens or during shift changes, while courier delivery is available for home drop-offs. Every phone is ICASA-approved and comes with protective accessories.
Ongoing support covers SIM swaps, theft and damage assistance, and courtesy devices during repairs. For the digitally confident, all ordering and support can also happen directly on WhatsApp.
Empowering fair access to technology
Jem’s platform already supports more than 200,000 employees across 180 South African businesses. By adding smartphones and affordable connectivity, Jem aims to help employers communicate more effectively while enabling employees to save, access digital services, and build financial stability.
The launch comes as South Africa continues to face some of the highest mobile data costs in the developing world—a reality that keeps many essential workers excluded from the digital economy.
“Frontline workers keep our economy running,” says Ellis. “They deserve fair access to the tools and services the rest of us take for granted. With Jem Mobile, we’re helping make that possible.”
