By XOLISA MGWATYU

ALMOST 700000 South Africans use Dating Buzz online dating services and those who engage in it take it very seriously, said chief executive officer David Burstein.

According to Burstein, 48 percent of those members are from Gauteng, while the lowest number of users at one percent of the total come from the Northern Cape. Eastern Cape falls in between, with six percent.

Burstein said online dating allows people to meet by matching them to their idea of a perfect mate and provides a safe and secure environment to chat because users only exchange contact details when they are happy to do so.

Local online dater Glenda Browne said she met her soul mate through a text message chat in 2006 .

“My darling sat me down and asked me formally if I would ‘go out with him and be his girlfriend’. We got engaged in August last year and married in March ,” said Browne.

Research conducted by an Internet company NETucation, said about 250000 South Africans use online dating services every day.