Author: Contributor

A US body has launched a legal challenge to Vizio, a TV manufacturer, for failing to provide the source code for the software in its smart TV, which may have implications for other software developers. Have you ever purchased an electrical appliance or device, only to discover shortly afterwards that the model is obsolete?  A US non-profit organization that supports free software (the Software Freedom Conservancy) has launched legal proceedings against a US-based television manufacturer (Vizio) for failing to provide consumers with the source code for the software used in the Vizio smart television. The Software Freedom Conservancy alleges that…

by Peter Grealy, Nozipho Mngomezulu, Karl Blom, Wendy Tembedza, Cindy Leibowitz from Webber Wentzel The President has declared that some parts of the Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020 (Cybercrimes Act) are operational with effect from 1 December 2021. This follows the signature of the Cybercrimes Act by the President in May 2021. The partial commencement of the Cybercrimes Act ushers in a new era of criminalising the ever-increasing and devastating incidences of digital crime – click here to read more. While we are excited about this new development, we will eagerly await the commencement of the remainder of the Cybercrimes Act to give a full…

Crypto day trading is a very popular trading platform used by traders around the world every day. This is a short-term trading strategy, the main idea of which is to make quick profits. Day traders are buying and selling the cryptocurrency during the same day and this is where the name of this strategy comes from. Day trading is considered to be a high-risk strategy, which takes advantage of the high volatility and liquidity of the crypto trading market. Crypto day trading requires investors to have very deep knowledge and understanding of the market in order to make profits.  This…

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on South Africa’s already fragile economy. Add to that the riots and looting, the cost of recovery and Eskom’s load-shedding, and the current picture is bleak. So where to from here? One sector that is important to rebuilding South Africa’s economy is the technology industry. In addition to supporting South Africa’s economic success and prosperity, technology has the potential to establish itself as an emerging leader in innovative ways of thinking about energy, healthcare, education, and many other fields. In this article, we speak with industry experts, who share their perspectives on technology’s role…

SARS is tightening tax collection on cryptocurrency transactions, which makes it important to distinguish between events that will trigger income tax rates or CGT rates. Have you (i) sold your cryptocurrencies (crypto); (ii) exchanged one crypto for another crypto; (ii) purchased goods and services using crypto; (iii) mined or forked for crypto; (iv) received staking rewards in crypto; (v) then sold your staking rewards; (vi) received air-drops of crypto; or (vii) used crypto as collateral for loans? If you answered yes to any of these questions, remember your taxes! The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is increasingly auditing taxpayers’ crypto holdings…

Times were hard and he needed money so a rich friend gave him a loan of a million rand – that is what State Security Deputy Minister Zizi Kodwa told the Zondo Commission on Monday. Explaining why he turned his wealthy friend Jehad Mackay, who at the time was chief executive of EOH, Kodwa said he was so broke the banks wouldn’t lend him any money, Kodwa says the million rand his property tycoon buddy gave him “had no strings attached”. The deputy minister said he used the bulk of the loan to buy a car. Evidence leader advocate Matthew Chaskalson asked: “If you…

The recently published Crypto Asset Policy Paper lays out the types of crypto-asset service providers that will be subjected to regulatory oversight and how they will be supervised On 11 June 2021, the Inter-governmental Fintech Working Group (IFWG) published its long-awaited Crypto Asset Policy Paper. It shows the IFWG is officially moving towards regulating crypto-asset services in South Africa and bringing an end to the long-standing “user-beware” crypto-asset regulatory position established in 2014. The South African crypto-asset industry will now begin the process of transitioning from its current unregulated landscape to an environment subject to the regulatory purview of the…

On 21 May 2021, the Constitutional Court handed victory to SARS in a decision that may have sweeping ramifications for retailers who operate loyalty plans similar to the Clicks ClubCard loyalty programme. What was at stake for Clicks and other retailers? The matter of Clicks Retailers (Pty) Limited v Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service [2021] ZACC 11 involved the application of section 24C of the Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962 to its loyalty programme. Section 24C allows taxpayers to defer paying tax on income if it accrues in terms of a contract and that income will…

Comments on Government’s controversial proposed data policy – the Draft National Policy on Data and Cloud, released on 1 April 2021 – are due by 18 May. The policy, in which the government will become co-owner of all data generated in South Africa (SA), has already attracted widespread debate amongst commentators, with many saying that it raises issues around privacy and has the potential to scare off much-needed investment into the sector. But, it may be too soon to label the bill a help or hindrance. Aspects of the policy are encouraging, particularly proposals about extending the provision of government…

By Asifa Jiyabudeen, Welcome Mokgabudi and Ayan Bagchi Robotic Process Automation (RPA) refers to business process automation where software robots (Bots) drive the existing applications in a similar manner human does. This basically means that Robotic Process Automation is a platform that orchestrates and operates other application software through the existing application’s user interface and in that sense, it is not integrated into the enterprise application. It is code-free, non-disruptive, non-invasive, and easy to use. This new technology came into the industry to take on some tedious and complex business processes that were carried out by humans, through scaling and…