Wits students have initiated an errand-running service to provide a potential income for fellow Witsies.
A Wits University student launched an errand-running service on Monday, July 27, which aims to provide employment for students while helping to curb the spread of covid-19.
Go To–Do is the brainchild of second-year MBBCh student, Oratilwe Ledwaba (20) who said the idea for the service came from her need to earn an income during her studies – a need shared by many other students.
“I found myself in a predicament when it came to financial issues, and during the December period for the past five years I have been running errands for people for money,’’ said Ledwaba. ‘’I realised this would be a good idea for other students to also make money,” she said.
One errand runner, third-year MBBCh student, Blessing Ibeh Ibe (20), said she decided to work for Go To–Do, “to pay for extra expenses such as data and textbooks and to contribute towards paying some of my fees.”
The errand services provided by Go To-Do include grocery shopping, parcel delivery and pick-up, babysitting, dog walking, house sitting and personal assistant tasks. These services, according to Ledwaba, are aimed at family households.
“[Go To-Do] tries to do as much as possible to benefit an entire family; from child-minding to house-minding services. [Go To-Do] are here for those people who need assistance with running their households,” said Ledwaba.
Similarly, third-year BHSc student and errand runner, Mahuntsu Mhlongo (21), said, “I looking for a way to make money on the side while also getting work experience that I could put on my CV.”
Ledwaba said the service is not only student-run but is more personal as the clients know exactly which student will be running their errands, making the business a unique offering.
“The profile of the student who works in the area is given to the client beforehand so they can contact the student directly to arrange the service at a given time,’’ said Ledwaba. “It is more human-based and is not a service where random people in your area get chosen to run your errand that you don’t actually speak to.”
Go To-Do currently has six Witsies running errands across 10 areas in Gauteng.
Having a small, select group of Witsies running errands for families, Ibeh Ibe said, “will prevent so many people from leaving their houses unnecessarily, which will contribute to flattening the [covid-19] curve.”
The service’s first customer, who needed a parcel collected on July 30, wrote in a review on Go To-Do‘s Instagram page that she “would definitely recommend their services because they provide such good communication and a speedy service.”
FEATURED IMAGE: A new student-run service aims to lighten the burden of running errands for busy family households. PHOTO: Emma O’Connor
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