Author: Contributor

By Hemkumar Balaraman, project manager at Africa, Wipro Limited Recent years have seen South African banks compete in a key battleground: the mighty mobile app. Each bank is positioning mobile in slightly different way – with some emphasising contactless mobile payments, another highlighting bot-like automation and machine learning, others focusing on simplicity, or intuitive user experiences. For banks, the mobile channel has the potential to provide far more contextual, personalised services, and the opportunity to rapidly scale the distribution of financial services into remote areas, at far lower costs than traditional branch-based banking footprints. But actually, developing mobile solutions is…

By Staff Writer SnapnSave, South Africa’s fastest growing shopping community, has sold a minority stake to both Kalon Venture Partners and Smollan Group SA. Kalon, a venture capital fund and Smollan Group, an international retail solutions business invested R7 million each. SnapnSave, founded by Mark Bradshaw is South Africa’s leading cashback coupon app that gives shoppers cash back on their favourite products, wherever they shop, just by snapping a photo of their till slip. The launch of SnapnSave comes in the wake of a surging global trend that will see over one billion people globally expected to use digital coupons…

By Reshaad Sha, CEO at SqwidNet The rise of the Internet of Things and other mobile technologies offers humanity the opportunity to truly advance their efforts in preserving and saving the environment in more innovative and relevant ways. Humanity today finds itself living in what is defined as the ‘Anthropocene Age’, or the age of man. This is characterised by the massive environmental modifications occurring on Earth, encompassing such issues as climate change and the rapid loss of biodiversity. Fortunately, there is another age we are also living in at present, namely the ‘Information Age’, where the Internet, social networks,…

By Staff Writer A former executive chairman of Dimension Data’s Africa and Middle East operations has accused the South African-based tech giant of institutional racism. Andile Ngcaba, who became executive chairman of the tech firm in 2004 after his firm Convergence Partners bought a 25% interest in Dimension Data, has alleged that his former employer has discriminated and treated him unfairly. Ngcaba told Business Day newspaper that he learnt in May 2016 that Dimension Data’s executive directors, including his juniors, were benefiting from a long-term incentive scheme, from which he was excluded. “The directors need to disclose on what basis…

By Lisa Michaels After many large businesses around the world became involved in data breach scandals, many other businesses of all sizes have begun paying more attention to data security and protection. No matter what kind of business you run, protecting customer data is crucial to maintain your brand’s reputation and your bottom line. In some industries, businesses who fail to take proper measures to secure confidential information may expose themselves to fines and other penalties from regulatory authorities. In order to prevent data leaks that carry huge financial costs and could have a huge negative impact on your reputation, you…

The revolution for on-demand content streaming is here. From September 1, Telkom – South Africa’s largest fixed-line telephone group – will be offering its customers LIT, a  streaming service providing zero rated video and music streaming to select content partners for its FreeMe 2GB and up customers. The Telkom LIT Video and LIT Music are giving Telkom customers access to on-demand movies, series, online video and music through some of the world’s most popular online content providers. Telkom also announced the imminent launch LIT TV, offering Unlimited ADSL, Fibre and LTE SmartBroadband customers the Telkom LIT TVC 100 media box…

By Davina Myburgh, director of Core Credit for TransUnion Africa Biometrics may at the outset seem like a space-age, technology driven discipline, but using unique physical characteristics as identifying features is nothing new. Artefacts discovered in ancient Babylon and China have been uncovered bearing handprints and fingerprints that scholars believe were used for everything from business to criminal prosecution. Technology, and a greater understanding of what makes humans unique on a biological and behavioural level, have accelerated and expanded the biometric field to practically limitless applications in the modern business landscape. From the fingerprint scanners that we use to get…

By Staff Writer Cell C’s black economic empowerment shareholder, CellSAf, which currently holds 25% of South Africa’s third largest mobile operator, has warned that the restructuring of the mobile phone operator is far from a “done deal”. The country’s third-biggest mobile phone operator recently announced its restructuring involving Net 1 and Blue Label Telecoms. The Cell C’s empowerment partner declared that the recapitalisation of the mobile phone operator amounts to a blatant attempt at corporate capture, and is likely to collapse under regulatory scrutiny. CellSAf founded Cell C 16 years ago along with the now-bankrupt Middle-Eastern conglomerate, Saudi Oger. After…

By Staff Writer The South African Government accesses tens of thousands of people’s sensitive communications information every year using a loophole in South Africa’s surveillance policies, according to the Right2Know (R2K) Campaign. The R2K releases statistics from MTN, Vodacom, Cell C and Telkom that show show that, at a minimum, law enforcement agencies are spying on the communications of at least 70,000 phone numbers each year. In May 2017, R2K asked the big four mobile operators how many warrants they received in terms of section 205 of the Criminal Procedures Act, in 2015, 2016 and 2017. The organisation said these…

By Staff Writer Vodacom will give all customers affected by a recent billing systems error a 500MB bundle for free, over and above the airtime and data refunds processed by the company. The system error, which impacted certain prepaid and top up customers, was caused by a configuration change on Vodacom’s prepaid and top up billing system. “The error clearly caused inconvenience to our customers and we’ve worked very hard since we picked it up to make it right and refund all our affected customers. But we wanted to go a step further to apologise and thank our customers for…

By Staff Writer Robots are no longer a fad. An ABI Research study predicts the collaborative robotics market will surge to $1 billion by 2020, populating industry with more than 40,000 collaborative robots. To take advantage of this expected growth, digital industrial firm GE Africa is planning to train 600 students across 30 schools in five provinces in South Africa in robotics. The maker of power plants, jet engines, medical scanners and other industrial equipment said the high school students will receive training through a tailor-made e-learning course titled: “Intro to Mechatronics (i2M), powered by GE Africa”. The training course…

By Staff Writer Cape Town is rapidly establishing itself as the biggest continental hub for technology startups. The Stellenbosch and Cape Town area is often referred to as the ‘Silicon Cape’, playing on world-renowned Silicon Valley – a global leading hub and startup ecosystem for high-tech innovation and development. According to a VentureBurn survey undertaken in 2015, the Cape has more startups than the rest of South Africa combined. This is no surprise when you consider the similarities between the Cape and Silicon Valley regarding large network hubs of wealthy entrepreneurs, highly technically skilled individuals and strong IT infrastructures. Hepstar,…

By Staff Writer Integrated ICT and telecommunications company, Vox, has today launched its Online Marketing Toolbox aimed at providing start-ups and SMMEs with bundled services aimed at creating an online presence. “We wanted to simplify the digital tools available to small (and micro) enterprises, that need to have a footprint online, but either don’t have in-house marketing capabilities are not sure where to start,” says Carly Sutton, Senior Product Manager Cloud: Digital Communications at Vox. The Toolbox consists of three components – domain registration for a .co.za company; Sitebuilder, a do-it-yourself website building and hosting solution, and Bulk Mailer, an…

By Staff Writer Prodigy Finance, an international FinTech platform that has developed the world’s first borderless credit model, today announces a R3.19 billion fundraise. This includes a R532 million Series C equity round led by venture capital firm Index Ventures, with participation from Balderton Capital and AlphaCode; and a R2.66 billion debt facility led by a global investment bank. Prodigy Finance is a diamond member of AlphaCode, a club for FinTech entrepreneurs. “Prodigy Finance has a truly differentiated business model solving a real customer need, and is powered by a talented team – it is one of the leading lights…

By Staff Writer Internet TV service, Showmax, and Africa’s first open access Wi-Fi provider, VAST Networks (VAST), have partnered to zero-rate Wi-Fi data for streaming and downloading TV shows and movies on Showmax. Showmax and VAST are currently running a three-month trial at 83 VAST Wi-Fi hotspots across South Africa, which are mainly located at shopping malls and hospitals. Showmax apps for both Android and iOS smartphones and tablets support the downloads feature. Up to 25 TV shows or movies can be downloaded at once and will remain on the device for 30 days. Once started, viewers have 48 hours…

By Staff Writer Public Service and Administration Minister Faith Muthambi could face a charge of contempt and abuse of parliamentary privilege, according to The Sunday Times report. The newspaper report that Muthambi was identified as one of the witnesses who misled a parliamentary probe into the affairs of the SABC. The former SABC board chairmen Ben Ngubane and Mbulaheni Maguvhe have also been identified as witnesses who may have deliberately misled the parliamentary probe. The contempt and abuse of parliamentary privilege is punishable by a fine or a prison term not exceeding 12 months or both. Other people who are said…

By Staff Writer South Africa’s energy utility Eskom is considering paying its 47,053 employees R150 million in bonus for avoiding power cuts, according to The Sunday Times report. The submission comes a month after the power utility reportedly paid R4.2-billion in performance bonuses to staff, and two months after Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown approved bonuses totaling R13-million for its executives, including former CEO Brian Molefe, former chief financial officer Anoj Singh and suspended acting CEO Matshela Koko. “I cannot think of any reason to pay bonuses to Eskom employees for doing their job: keeping the lights on. . .I…

By Staff Writer Tuluntulu, an African mobile content platform, has teamed up with Rhodes Business School and Nedbank to launch a new 24/7 economic empowerment TV channel on the Tuluntulu app. Tuluntulu’s vision is to improve the lives of the people of Africa using relevant African content, at the least cost to the end user. The ‘Tuluntulu’ app is free to download, no subscriptions, free on Wi-Fi and uses less data (+-50MB per hour) than any other streaming app when connect via mobile networks. The video content is created by Rhodes University Business School (RBS) focusing on Economics, Commercial Law,…

By Ronnie Moodley, Executive at IBM Systems South Africa The data that resides on a mobile phone is better protected than the data that resides in most corporate data centres. Eighty percent of the data on mobile phones is encrypted, according to a 2017 Solitaire Interglobal Ltd. study, because it’s easier to encrypt data on millions of identical devices. Encryption is often largely absent in corporate and cloud data centres because current solutions for data encryption in x86 environments can dramatically degrade performance (and user experiences), and can be too complex and expensive to manage. A recent study found that…

By Staff Writer Women are steadily catching up to men when it comes to cashing in on the convenience of sending and receiving money via eWallet on the FNB App. The latest data revealed by FNB eWallet Solutions shows that in the six months to June 2017 the percentage eWallet sends by male users on the FNB App stabilised at 62% while sends by female counterparts increased to 38%. Sandi Madikiza, CEO of eWallet Solutions says while the gap is still relatively large, they continue to see a steady rise in the number of women who are making use of…

By Staff Writer Vodacom, the South African-based mobile phone operator, completed the biggest IPO in the history of Tanzania with a large offer size of circa R2.9 billion (TZS 476 billion). The Tanzania’s biggest initial public offering (IPO) in 19 years closed at TZS 900, almost 6% higher than the TZS 850 listing price. The IPO makes the Vodafone-owned Telco the first to comply with recent regulatory changes requiring all of Tanzania’s telecommunications companies to list at least 25% on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE). More than 40 000 Tanzanian investors participated in the IPO, along with all major…

By Staff Writer E-food delivery service, UCOOK, and social communications app, WeChat, have teamed up to take on the South African food market with regards to mobile commerce. Since 2013, WeChat has made the move to South Africa, and in 2016, has partnered up with various companies like OrderIn, picup and FitKey. Their latest addition is a partnership with UCOOK, a fast growing e-food delivery service in Cape Town. UCOOK is a company providing fresh, gourmet food kits directly to your door. Step-by-step meal preparation instructions are provided by renowned chefs, reinvigorating the dinner time scene with less effort and…

By Henning Melber These days the African middle class is widely discussed as a phenomenon considered indicative of social change. But a great deal of the debate hasn’t been very well informed. For a long time contributions lacked a rigorous analysis, failing to examine the so-called middle class in terms of its potential as a proper class. People involved in the debate hardly bothered to engage with the more methodological aspects of the analysis of classes, which has a long tradition in social sciences and should be an integral part of any analysis. Most problematic was the fiddling with figures, which…

By Staff Writer South African consumers are eager users of new payments technologies, which means that bitcoin and the blockchain may soon be on the radar for some of the country’s early adopters. Yet few merchants and banks have yet started to consider in much depth how these technologies may affect their businesses. Yet few merchants and banks have yet started to consider in much depth how these technologies may affect their businesses. Research from the Sage Payments Landscape Report shows that consumers in South Africa place a lot of importance on businesses adopting safe, progressive payment methods. Fast and…

By Staff Writer Public service and administration minister Faith Muthambi is using her department to hire friends and family members without job ads or interviews. The Sunday Times reported that Muthambi has hired uncles and cousins, who have been hired as drivers, deputy directors and a “food services aide” – all allegedly without following due process. She has hired over 27 support staff members since taking office in May. The ministerial handbook provision allows a minister to appoint only 10 people for various functions, plus two advisers. The Sunday Times reported that Muthambi – whose department is tasked with ensuring norms…