New to Pretoria? You won't be new for long.
Find your people in your first month, not your first year. Small-group meetups, open community events, and local providers that a real person has checked — all in one place, built for newcomers.
- Free to browse, no account needed
- No South African SIM required
- Every provider verified by our team
Sound familiar?
New embassy or NGO posting
Your colleagues are great. You'd also like friends who don't talk about work.
Studying at UP or TUT
Campus is a start. Hatfield and Brooklyn have a lot more going on.
Moved for a partner's job
They have an office to go to. You have a new city to work out, mostly alone.
Working remotely from here
Laptop, decent Wi-Fi, and nobody to have lunch with in Menlyn or Lynnwood.
From "I don't know anyone" to plans for Saturday.
- 01
Tell us what you're into
Where you're from, the languages you speak, what you enjoy. It shapes which events and providers you see first.
- 02
Find your kind of thing
Small groups or open events, plus a shortlist of verified providers. Drag the services you use most to the top of your dashboard.
- 03
Show up, or reach out
Reserve a spot at an event, or contact a provider directly by phone or email. We make the introduction; the relationship is yours.
Two ways to show up.
Some nights you want a table of six. Some nights you want a room of sixty. Pick the size that suits your energy.
Small groups
Hikes, dinners, language swaps. A host sets the spots, so you'll actually talk to everyone.
Open events
Relocation seminars, markets, talks and socials from verified local hosts and community partners.
Something missing? Suggest it.
Ask for a specific event or add an interest we haven't listed. Hosts see what the community wants.
- When
- Sat · 10:00–13:00
- Where
- Menlyn Core Hall, Menlyn
- Sign-up closes
- Thursday, 18:00
- Bring
- Passport copy, lease questions
- Host notes
- Free parking at the north entrance. Coffee from 09:30.
We introduce. You decide.
NewNest isn't a marketplace. We don't take bookings or skim a commission. Every provider is checked by our team, and you get their company name, address, phone and email so you can deal with them directly.
Think of it as the shortlist a well-connected local friend would give you.
- Tax & compliance
- Housing & relocation
- Visas & legal
- Electricians & repairs
- Banking & insurance
- Language lessons
- Schools & childcare
- Office
- 102 Duncan St, Hatfield
- Direct line
- +27 12 345 6789
Sorted out my compliance mess within three days, and explained the SARS letters in plain English.
Thank you, Elena. Good luck with the move!
Meeting strangers is the point. Being careless isn't.
A platform that asks you to trust people you've never met owes you more than a terms-of-service page. Here's what we built in from day one.
Verified hosts
Providers and event hosts are approved by an admin before they go live, and re-checked every year.
Chat that disappears
Each event chat opens an hour before and closes an hour after. Coordinate lifts without handing out your number.
Moderated community
Reviews, replies and members are moderated. People who break the rules get removed.
Be the name newcomers get recommended.
People arriving in Pretoria don't have a local network to ask. Get verified once, and you're on the shortlist they actually trust.
- A public, verified profile that shows up in search, with clients contacting you directly
- Create small or large events with your own capacity and sign-up deadline
- Online reservations so you know exactly who's coming
- One dashboard for your listing, attendees and event chat
Questions newcomers ask
Can I book a service through NewNest?
No, and that's deliberate. We verify providers and give you their contact details; you agree the work directly with them.
Do I need a South African phone number?
No. Sign up with email. We know most people arrive before they've sorted a local SIM.
How do you verify providers?
Every provider is reviewed and approved by our team before their profile goes live, and verification is renewed every year.
I'm not in Pretoria. Is this for me?
Not yet. We're starting with one city so it's genuinely useful there. Leave your email and tell us where you are.
Who runs the events?
Verified providers, community partners and NewNest itself. If there's something you want that nobody's running, suggest it.
Arrive in Pretoria already get to know someone.
Create your free account and we'll show you what's on this week.