In South Africa, where the cost of mobile data still determines who gets to participate in the digital world, life-saving information is too often locked behind a paywall. For survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), this digital divide can be devastating: the difference between accessing help in time, or not at all.
This is where Tears Foundation’s partnership with MoyaApp becomes far more than a technical collaboration. It marks a shift toward African-built, African-owned solutions designed to meet the realities of communities across the continent.
The story: When innovation meets urgent need
Tears Foundation has long understood that survivors need help without delay and without cost, which is why Tears provides support through its free USSD service (*134*7355#) and toll-free numbers. MoyaApp, a South African-developed super app, is built on the same understanding: that access to critical services should not depend on whether a person has data.
Together, Tears and MoyaApp are solving a uniquely African problem with a uniquely African answer.
Through the partnership, survivors can now access Tears’ directory of support services, GBV education resources, and immediate pathways to help completely data-free. This means:
- no airtime required
- no cost barriers
- no interruption when data runs out
- no reliance on multiple apps
- and no exclusion of low-income users.
It is a rare example of technology, social justice, and local innovation working hand-in-hand, meeting people exactly where they are.
Why this matters
While global tech giants have struggled to adapt to local market dynamics, MoyaApp’s success story is rooted in understanding South Africa’s digital and economic landscape. Using telco reverse billing across MTN, Vodacom, Cell C, and Telkom, MoyaApp removes the data barrier entirely for text-based use. This is a profound step in a country where #DataMustFall remains a lived reality, not a slogan.
For Tears Foundation, this partnership means expanding its reach to the people who need them most, women, men, and children in structurally marginalised communities, rural areas, and low-income households, without forcing survivors to choose between mobile data and personal safety.
In a world where tech solutions are often imported, this partnership stands apart: it is built in Africa, for Africa.
A digital lifeline that never switches off
The Tears–MoyaApp partnership ensures that even when users’ data runs out, support does not. Survivors can continue:
- texting for help
- reading educational material
- assessing risks
- locating nearby services
- contacting the Tears intervention team.
This uninterrupted access matters because GBV is not a crisis of convenience. People need support at unpredictable, often dangerous moments. The ability to keep chatting when data runs out can literally save lives.
It opens the door for future African-led digital social interventions, from health to education to community safety.
This is the future of impact work on the continent: African tech, African expertise, African resilience, working together to address African challenges.
About Tears Foundation
Established in 2012, Tears Foundation is an organisation providing access to crisis intervention, advocacy, counselling, and prevention education services to those impacted by domestic violence, sexual assault, and child sexual abuse.
Confidential services are provided to victims at no charge and are available to all.
Since 2012, Tears Foundation received more than three-quarters of a million (750,000) calls from victims and survivors of gender-based violence, sexual assault and abuse, all using our USSD platform.
Between March 2024 and February 2025, Tears Foundation had 75,245 interactions with victims on all its available platforms, including USSD, telephone, SMS, website, and social media. This equates to assisting approximately 6,250 people per month with information and access to vital services.
Their vital services include:
- Individual counselling
- Individual, group and couples counselling
- Support groups
- Volunteer opportunities
- We link victims to emergency shelters
- We refer victims to medical facilities for medical attention for access to:
- Antiretrovirals (ARVs) treatment
- The morning-after pill to avoid unwanted pregnancy
- Antibiotics for possible Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)
- Blood tests
- Internal medical examinations
- A J88 for court purposes
- We follow up with the police on behalf of victims who have case numbers
- We give them advice on how to apply for a protection order
- We refer child victims to child-friendly facilities
- We guide women and men on how to leave abusive relationships
Dial the free 24/7 helpline number: *134*7355# or toll-free 08000 83277.
Keep up to date with Tears Foundation via the following social media platforms: Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | LinkedIn | Twitter
Alternatively, send an email to az.oc.sraet@ofni.
About MoyaApp
MoyaApp is a South African-developed 'super app' that delivers data-free messaging, chat, and access to hundreds of essential services and content. Users can communicate text-only without using mobile data across MTN, Vodacom, Cell C, and Telkom, thanks to reverse billing arrangements that allow MoyaApp to absorb data costs. The app offers an all-in-one digital experience, including news, weather, Wikipedia, SASSA grant services, live sports scores, marketplace tools, government information, and more, designed specifically for data-conscious users.
Developed by biNu, MoyaApp aims to ensure that mobile connectivity, critical information, and basic digital participation remain accessible to all, especially low-income users. It is an African solution built for African realities, committed to reducing digital exclusion and expanding access for millions.
Read more about MoyaAPP here The MoyaApp Story.
