Author: Gugu Lourie

MTN, Africa and the Middle East biggest mobile phone group, expects profits to surge in the first half, boosted by foreign exchange gains. The company said on Friday that its headline earnings per share (HEPS) will be at least 195 cents or 100% higher, representing HEPS of greater than 390 cents for the six months ended 30 June 2020, compared with HEPS of 195 cents in the previous year. HEPS is South Africa’s main profit gauge. The South African-based operator said HEPS benefited from non-operational items for the six months totalling 50 cents per share (June 2019: 55 cents negative…

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has paid out more than R2.2 billion to applicants of the R350 COVID-19 grant. President Cyril Ramaphosa disclosed late on Thursday that the over 4.4 million people have now received the special COVID-19 grant, which assists those who are unemployed and do not receive other forms of support. “So far, an amount of R2.2 billion has been paid out to these recipients,” he explained. “There were delays in paying this amount but future payments will be made more quickly now that the necessary systems are in place. “As we announced, this grant will…

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced late on Thursday that all public schools will take a break for four weeks. “As South Africa approaches its peak of COVID-19 infections, we must take the cautious approach to prevent schools from becoming sites of transmission,” said Ramaphosa, adding that  more than 6,000 people had died of COVID-19, and 408,052 infections had been confirmed. Ramaphosa was speaking during an address to the nation on Thursday night. “Taking into account the views of the various stakeholders and expert bodies, Cabinet has decided that all public schools should take a break for the next four weeks.” This…

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) on Thursday promised to make double payments for the R350 COVID-19 grant. The agency said in a statement that it has started with double payments for outstanding June and July accounts for the R350 special relief grant. “This meant to avoid a situation where beneficiaries of the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress grant have to make two trips to the Post Office and to eradicate the backlog of payments. The move was met with much appreciation and excitement on social media this morning,” the agency said. SASSA added that it also reconsidered applications made…

Vodacom – South Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator – announced on Thursday that its customer base was down by 9.9%, mainly driven by reduced gross connections in the prepaid segment during the period of restricted movement. The lockdown was imposed to curb the spread of the COVID-19 while giving the government time to prepare the healthcare system for the expected spike in virus infections. Lockdown Level 5 was introduced in South Africa on 26 March 2020 and now the country is in Level 3. Vodacom announced on Thursday announced its trading update for the quarter ended 30 June 2020. The company said…

A court case application by DG Murray Trust (DGMT) to compel mobile network operator MTN to zero-rate the local educational websites of public benefit organisations (PBOs) was withdrawn on Monday, with the trust saying the mobile phone operator is now fully compliant. The DG Murray Trust is a South African foundation committed to developing South Africa’s potential through public innovation and strategic investment. The trust is represented by Dunster Attorneys Inc, which has applied to the Western Cape High Court for the case to be heard on 3 August 2020. Also read: MTN Faces Legal Challenge Over Zero-Rating PBOs Websites…

Openserve – the wholesale connectivity division of Telkom – has disclosed reasons why it is discontinuing its copper-based broadband connectivity in South Africa. The South African telco first announced the transition from copper-based technology to wireless in 2015 noting that the migration would be done as a phased approach. Having successfully migrated over 96% of prepaid fixed-line customers, Telkom is now migrating postpaid fixed copper-based voice and/or DSL customers to fibre and wireless. Telkom today announced its financial results for the year ended 31 March 2020, which showed that fixed-line decline 29.3% to 1.6 million versus 2.2 million in the…

MTN has hit back at DG Murray Trust’s bid to ‘force’ the mobile phone group to zero-rate the local educational websites of public benefit organisations (PBOs). DG Murray Trust’s claims that its court bid follows three months of engagement with the three largest network operators (Vodacom, MTN and Telkom Mobile) urging them to zero-rate these sites as a matter of urgency to ensure that the poorest 50% of children have some access to educational resources during the lockdown and over the next few months. The trust also claims that Telkom and Vodacom have zero-rated PBOs websites but MTN is refusing…

MTN South Africa will face a legal challenge over its failure to follow its main rivals Vodacom and Telkom to zero-rate the local educational websites of public benefit organisations. The DG Murray Trust has launched a court application to compel mobile network operator MTN to zero-rate the local educational websites of public benefit organisations. The DG Murray Trust is a South African foundation committed to developing South Africa’s potential through public innovation and strategic investment. The trust is represented by Dunster Attorneys Inc, which has applied to the Western Cape High Court for the case to be heard on 3…

Crosscall has announced new smartphones, targeting South Africa’s agricultural and mining industries. A French specialist in outdoor mobile technology is bringing several of its new core smartphone range – four in total – to South Africa. Smartphones and accessories are available at Vodacom and MTN and via other channels. For more sales outlets click here. The company says while the new CORE range was designed primarily for professionals and thought out according to the specific uses of the various vertical business lines, it was essential that it could also satisfy the most demanding everyday users. Extremely versatile, the CORE range…