Lobola Link

The problem

Lobola agreements are held verbally, in WhatsApp messages and in memory. When a dispute arises, there is no record to point to, and two families can remember the same conversation differently.

What it is

Lobola Link is a digital record-keeping and agreement management platform. It gives both families one shared, dual-confirmed ledger to record the agreed amount, log payments, flag disputes and store the agreement permanently.

It keeps the record. It does not get involved in how the negotiation itself is conducted.

What I built

• The entire static site: 10+ pages with content-hashed assets, covered by 202 automated checks, all passing
• A calculator with conversion across 15 currencies (ZAR plus 14 African regional currencies)
• A freemium pricing model: a free tier, R550 once-off for full access, and R99 a year from Year 2
• A currency-reactive pricing page, driven by a data-zar attribute pattern
• Cultural archives for seven Southern African traditions: Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Tswana, Venda, Tsonga and Ndebele
• A prototype with role-based accounts (groom, bride, facilitator) that demonstrates the payment confirmation and dispute flow
• A prototype Agreement Builder and payment ledger
• The system architecture, functional requirements and technical documentation

The research behind it

We ran a 40-person primary research survey before settling on a pricing model. 80% of respondents preferred a once-off price over a subscription, which is why full access is a single R550 payment with a small yearly fee only from the second year.

Where it stands

Phases 1 to 4 are complete: research, requirements, architecture, and the working static site and prototype. Phase 5 is implementation. The Node.js backend, PostgreSQL database and object storage are the proposed architecture and have not been built yet, and the prototype's accounts and ledger are there to demonstrate the flow, not to hold real agreements.