media update tried to sign up for a new account on Mxit this week, but was met with an error message. Mxit’s website, www.mxit.com, now also only exists as a landing page directing users to The Reach Trust website. 

As a subtle indication that this really is the end of Mxit, the app’s site refers to it in the past tense: “Launched in 2005, Mxit was incredibly data-light and gave a generation of millennials the opportunity to engage with one another in an innovative and cost-effective way.”

“Mxit also played a very important role in improving the lives of millions through access to free education, health, and counselling services. This work continues through The Reach Trust,” the website’s only page reads.

In October, the messaging app had close to 100 million registered users globally. At that stage, Francois Swart, outgoing CEO of Mxit said, “Whilst Mxit overall has seen a decline in activity and engagement over the past 18 months, the use of services offered by The Reach Trust on Mxit has been stable and in many cases show an upward trend.”

In a news article on The Reach Trust website last year, the company said that the shareholders believed essential Mxit assets can be used "more meaningfully for social good in Southern Africa”.  

media update first wrote about Mxit in 2008, with an article titled 'MXit as a mobile media advertising platform'. More recently, the platform was used to make information about ebola available to mobile users, run a SANBS campaign on blood donation, and functioned as an e-learning portal for learner’s and driver’s license test.