Author: Contributor

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…