About Omaki
Born from a community that was already buying from each other
We already had the community. Omaki is how we serve it better.
“Before Omaki, people were already doing this. They just had no place to do it properly.”
There is a community in KwaZulu Natal where something remarkable was happening. Neighbours were selling to neighbours. A baker posting her scones in the morning, sold out by noon. A plumber getting three referrals from a single message. A mom finding a trusted doctor two streets away that she never knew existed.
It was all happening on a WhatsApp group called Upper Highway Support, based in Hillcrest. 600 people, intentionally buying and selling within their own neighbourhood. Not out of necessity but out of choice. Because buying from someone you know, someone who lives nearby, someone whose child goes to the same school as yours, that means something.
At first the answer seemed obvious. Build a directory. But the more we listened, the more we understood. This was not about big businesses. It was about the informal vendor, the home baker, the lady who does nails on weekends, the guy with the bakkie who can move your furniture. People who had never had a digital home for their hustle.
What Omaki believes
Your neighbour first
When you can buy from someone in your community, you should. Money that stays local grows local.
Face to face still matters
We encourage drop offs at central community points and pickups on your way home. Knowing the person you buy from is worth something.
Informal is not less than formal
The vendor selling vetkoek from her kitchen deserves the same platform as a registered business.
Hyperlocal by design
We are not trying to be everywhere. We are trying to be everything within your neighbourhood.
Omaki started in Hillcrest, in a WhatsApp community called Upper Highway Support. But what was happening there is happening everywhere. Every suburb and every town has people who would rather buy from their neighbour. We are building that place. One neighbourhood at a time.
Join your neighbourhood on Omaki
Whether you have something to sell or somewhere to spend, your community is here.