A small idea with a serious job: get people home well.
Tsamaya started with one driver's question: why does my map send me through the worst part of town to save two minutes? It grew into a navigation app that puts risk on the map.
The name
Tsamaya tsa-MAH-ya
It is Sesotho and Setswana for "go", from the everyday blessing tsamaya sentle, meaning "go well". That is the whole promise in two words: a wish for a good journey rather than a guarantee, the way people say goodbye here.
There is a second meaning we love. In kasi football, a tsamaya is the move that sends the defender the wrong way: going exactly where the trouble is not. Which is the entire point.
Tsamaya. Go well.
What we believe
Four principles
- Honest about risk
- We never say "safe". Routes are lower-risk, built from statistics and local knowledge. We tell you what we went around and trust you to make the call.
- Local knowledge counts
- Data alone misses the corner everyone nearby already avoids. Drivers' reports fold that knowledge back in: a person reads every one, and the map gets better as more people report.
- Proudly South African
- Designed, built and run in Johannesburg, for the way people actually drive here. It is not a global template with our cities bolted onto the side.
- Nothing hidden
- Open rules, visible ratings, a clear disclaimer. You can always see why a route bends the way it does.
Who is behind it
An independent, self-funded project
Tsamaya is built and maintained by Kyle Kimble, a Johannesburg chartered accountant who taught himself to ship a mobile app because the problem would not leave him alone.
It is not backed by a big company or a marketing budget. Every place on the map came out of one person's nights and weekends, and it carries no ads and sells nothing about you.
"Most maps optimise for the fastest line. On South African roads, the fastest line isn't always the one you want to be on. Tsamaya is my attempt to give drivers that choice."
Follow along
Want to follow along, or pitch in?
Whether you drive with it, want to chip in, or are just curious, we would love to hear from you.