How to sponsor a friend's phone trial for R5 in South Africa
Give a friend three days of calling for R5.
The hardest part of recommending anything is the first step. Your friend has to trust you enough to pay for something they have never used. Sponsoring removes that step: you pay R5 (about $0.30), and they try it for three days.
Here is how it works for a Ukutel member.
What your friend gets. A South African cloud number in the app and airtime to make real calls, for three days. No contract and no card details needed to start.
What it costs you. R5. You choose where it comes from: your airtime, your Gift wallet, or your earnings balance.
How to do it.
- Open the app and go to Team, then Invite.
- Enter your friend's name and WhatsApp number.
- Choose how to pay the R5 and send the gift.
- Your friend receives a WhatsApp message with the link. They choose their number and install the app.
Good to know. The R5 is only used once your friend actually chooses their number. If they never take it up, it comes back to you. You can see each gift and its status on the same screen.
If you sponsor often, load a Gift wallet in advance. Gifts are paid from it first, so your airtime is left for your own calls. There is also a promotional link you can post, with a budget you set yourself, so you never spend more than you planned.
What happens next. If your friend takes a package after the trial, they join your team. From then on you earn 5% of the airtime in their package every month, and 2.5% of their top-ups.
One piece of advice from experience: do not just send the gift. Phone them on the first day, from the app, so they see it working. People join because someone showed them, not because a link arrived.
Three days, R5, and a friend who can judge for themselves.
Dollar amounts are a guide, at the exchange rate of 19 October 2026 (R16.46 to the US dollar). You are charged in South African rand.