CELLUCITY

WHO IS CELLUCITY?

The Very Beginning

Cellucity officially started in 1994, but its foundations were being laid from as early as 1991 – well before cellular technology had arrived in South Africa. It was in the age of the “pager” or beeper as it was more commonly known as back then. Our CEO Sean Joffe started the business by selling analogue car-phones. It was truly a “from the boot of your car” business start-up.

In 1994 GSM cellphone networks were finally ready to become operational in South Africa. Very few people saw any potential in this expensive and untested product. But, Sean saw the opportunity and didn’t hesitate to get involved.

Cellucity Is Born

Through some keen selling skills, we managed to secure a lease for a kiosk at the V&A Waterfront. Why the Waterfront owners gave Cellucity a lease is still a mystery to this day! After all, we were pitching a concept of selling network “airtime” on a network of “base stations” that wasn’t yet built – to customers that had no idea what a “mobile phone” was. And, all of this from a small kiosk, based in a “shed”, in the heart of Cape Town’s harbour – an area that, at the time, nobody, thought would become a premium retail destination.

As testimony to our long-lasting relationship with the V&A Waterfront, our head-office is still located in its Granger Bay Court building, where our management team have a view of Cape Town’s famous Table Mountain and still get frightened, daily, by the sound of Cape Town’s historical Noon Gun.

Cellucity Changes The Mobile World

From those humble beginnings, backed by a forward-thinking CEO and an incredible management team, Cellucity were able to record a host of industry “firsts”:

The first dealership in the world to sell pre-paid SIM cards. You may not be aware but Pre-Paid was a South African invention. The first retail partner in the world to sell physical pre-paid airtime recharge vouchers. Do you remember those old-school scratch cards? The first local dealership to offer integrated and virtual airtime vouchers. One of the first e-commerce websites and the first cellular online store in South Africa.