DJ Zinhle, one of South Africa’s best-known DJs, is launching her own mobile network. Bestie Connect is a prepaid mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that runs on MTN’s infrastructure and is aimed squarely at her followers.
The venture is being built with BlueStream Mobile, an MVNO advisory business run by Hymie Marnewick, who sold payments connectivity company XLink Communications to Vodacom in 2015. Zinhle is a shareholder in Bestie Connect alongside BlueStream.
“It’s the first female influencer-led MVNO in Africa,” Marnewick told TechCentral in an exclusive interview. He said he had found no other influencer-led MVNO on the continent, though some celebrities had tried.
The name comes from the way Zinhle addresses her audience. “Every time she posts a video, she says, “Hey, bestie, and her Besties are her fans and her community of followers,” Marnewick explained.
Subscribers earn loyalty points that can be redeemed for Zinhle’s concert tickets, vouchers for her Era retail brand, and extra data.
He pitched the idea to her after watching influencer-led MVNOs take off in Central America, and actor Ryan Reynolds build Mint Mobile. “Any influencer is renting their audience from the social media platforms. With any algorithm change, you run the risk of losing followers,” he said. An app and a Sim, he argues, give her a direct line to her fans, who are already “spending hard-earned cash on their mobile data, following you on social media”.
Zinhle has 5.6 million followers on Instagram. Marnewick said her click-through rate on social media is about 3.5%, and his business case assumes Bestie Connect wins 4% of her audience over five years.
Bestie Connect sells five “combos”, priced from R59/month for 1GB of data and 20 minutes to R249 for 20GB and 75 minutes. Customers can subscribe weekly or monthly. The minutes are for calls between Bestie Connect subscribers only. Marnewick said focus groups showed data mattered far more than voice calls. Build-your-own bundles will follow.
Subscribers earn loyalty points that can be redeemed for Zinhle’s concert tickets, vouchers for her Era retail brand, and extra data. The app will include a panic button linked to an emergency response service, which Marnewick said reflects Zinhle’s advocacy against gender-based violence. A later phase will add a content hub where her music and posts appear 30 minutes before they reach social media.
Sims will be delivered by courier or can be collected from Zinhle’s Era stores. Bestie Connect plans to offer handset financing, starting with Samsung, Oppo, Honor and Huawei devices, from around Christmas. Financed phones can be blocked remotely if customers stop paying.
Joining a crowded market
Bestie Connect joins about 30 MVNOs on MTN’s network, by the count of MTN South Africa CEO Ferdi Moolman, among them Pick n Pay Mobile and Melon Mobile. MTN is reworking how it prices wholesale capacity, and will sell cheaper access at deliberately lower quality. Most of South Africa’s MVNO subscribers, including those of Capitec Connect and FNB Connect, are on Cell C, which carries 5.71 million MVNO lines and reckons it hosts 80-85% of the market.
Pre-registration is open on Bestie Connect’s website, and the network is due to go live officially later this month. Marnewick hopes other influencers, including in West Africa, will follow Zinhle’s lead, with BlueStream building their networks. – (c) 2026 NewsCentral Media
