Author: Gugu Lourie

By Staff Writer The Eternal Flame Church in Heathfield, Cape Town, has turn down rental income of up to R35,000 a month to have a cellphone mast placed on its new 9m-tall steeple, according to the Sunday Times. Pastor Charles White told the newspaper that a company approached the church probably knew it have plans to build a steeple over 9m in the air. “That’s a very good target,” said Pastor White. “We sided with the community that the mast is dangerous to children and health in close proximity. We are a community-based church. Everybody in our church stood with…

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SweepSouth, Africa’s pioneer in using technology to provide on-demand and regular home cleaning services, has created 1 000 jobs in the past year and paid out more than R20 million to its workers despite tough economic conditions. SweepSouth is an online platform for booking, managing and paying for home cleaning services using a laptop, phone or tablet. The platform makes it easy and convenient for anyone to book and pay for cleaning services, and connects clients with efficient, reliable and trustworthy cleaners. SweepSouth’s home cleaning professionals have gone through a rigorous interview process and are experienced, reference- and background checked,…

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South African talent marketplace OfferZen has blasted through the milestone of 500 companies hiring software developers through their platform. A year and half ago, OfferZen changed the South African recruitment industry when they launched their marketplace, but one thing that remained unchanged was the billing model – the company followed the same upfront model as traditional recruiters. From today, OfferZen are giving companies another choice with the launch of a new pricing model, in the form of monthly billing. Instead of a 12.5% upfront fee, OfferZen will take 1.5% of a candidate’s first-year salary every month for 10 months. This…

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Cell C, South Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator, has rejected claims that its recapitalization process is not complying with the country’s legislative provisions. The country’s third-biggest mobile phone operator recently announced its restructuring involving Net 1 and Blue Label Telecoms. In a statement on Wednesday night, ICASA (Independent Communications Authority of South Africa), said it is seeking legal advice. It added that the preliminary view is that the Cell C recapitalisation transaction – on the face of it – triggers the provisions of Section 13 of the Electronic Communications Act of 20015 and ought to have been filed as an…

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The country’s communications watchdog is seeking legal advice in response to Cell C’s recapitalisation that is in ‘violation’ of its licence conditions. The country’s third-biggest mobile phone operator recently announced its restructuring involving Net 1 and Blue Label Telecoms. On 07 August 2017, Cell C management, Net 1 and Blue Label announced the conclusion and “approval” of the recapitalisation transaction. Declaring that the deal was complete, Cell also announced last week Monday that Kuben Pillay and Larry Nestadt have been appointed to the board of Cell C as chairperson and deputy chairperson respectively. In a statement on Wednesday night, ICASA…

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Telkom announced on Wednesday that its biggest shareholder, the South African government, may sell its shareholding in South Africa’s largest fixed-line telephone group. The company informed investors that government is currently considering various strategic options with regards to partially reducing its 39% shareholding in Telkom. “The implementation of Government’s Telkom proposal may have a material effect on Telkom’s share price,” the company said, advising shareholders to exercise caution when dealing in Telkom’s securities until a further announcement is made in this regard. SA Govt May Sell Profitable Telkom to ‘Save’ Cash Guzzling SAA The South African government may sell its…

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Entrepreneur Paula Sartini would love to see users of search giant Google and other platforms use her company’s solutions to make brand management easier in the digital world. Her products are already available on a cloud based add-on application that pairs with Microsoft’s Office Suite. “The idea that you can go to any device and login to have everything you use to have on a laptop, that’s pretty cool,” says Sartini, founder and chief executive officer at BrandQuantum, in an exclusive interview with Techfinancials.co.za. “That’s the part we are working on to make sure our products are available through the web…

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By Vian Chinner, Xineoh CEO Imagine a time in the not-too-distant past, when our consumption of media was entirely dictated for us – when we were forced to stay-in, so as not to miss our favourite show, or sit through hours of misguided programming waiting for that long-awaited movie to be broadcast. Today, this kind of scenario seems almost incomprehensible, thanks to the rapid emergence of new technology that has totally shifted the way we engage with entertainment. Now, we consume media when we want, where we want and how we want, essentially creating our own programming schedules in line…

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Teddy Daka, the boss of Ansys, has reasons to feel he is on top of the world. When Daka took over as interim CEO of the South African engineering firm in 2012, the plan was simple – turn the business around and improve its fortunes. Daka was a non-executive chairman of Ansys when he was appointed as interim CEO. In 2014, the company reported an operating loss of R7,3 million. However, in a little over four years, he has managed to turn the fortunes of the ailing business. Turnover grew from R100 million to R500 million. With the turn around…

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Standard Bank Group continues to undertake a wide approach to its technology investments, such as increasing its digital capabilities, which has helped Africa’s largest bank by assets to deliver positive results for the first half of 2017. The journey to compete aggressively in the digital space continues as part of Standard Bank strategy to improve the client experience. Standard Bank reported on Thursday a 11% rise in headline earnings per share (HEPS) to 756 cents, supporting an interim dividend per share of 400 cents. HEPS is South Africa’s main profit gauge. The bank attributed the rise in earnings to its universal client offering,…

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