Author: Gugu Lourie

Netcare, one of South Africa’s largest private hospital groups, announced on Wednesday that visiting hours at hospitals have been suspended, except in specific special circumstances, as a further precaution against the spread of COVID-19. Today, the number of local coronavirus cases have increased to 709. “In light of the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, we needed to take extraordinary measures to protect all healthcare teams and our patients who cannot be discharged,” says Dr Richard Friedland, Netcare chief executive officer. The following measures will apply: All visiting hours for general wards, ICUs and the high care units will be suspended with…

All South African restaurants, takeaways and food delivery will be closed during South Africa’s 21-day coronavirus lockdown, said Minister of Tourism Mmamoloko Kuyabi-Ngubane. In a letter to the restaurant industry on Tuesday, Kuyabi-Ngubane said: “In compliance with the nation-wide lockdown it should be noted that ALL restaurants, cafes, bars, coffee shops will be required to comply with the nation-wide lockdown for 21 days.” “Such service providers have NOT been included on the list of what has been deemed essential services during the lockdown and will NOT be permitted to operate and will thus need to be closed for the duration,”…

The South African Government has set up a Solidarity Fund, which South African businesses, organisations and individuals, and members of the international community, can contribute to Ameliorate the impact of the coronavirus. “The Fund will focus efforts to combat the spread of the virus, help us to track the spread, care for those who are ill and support those whose lives are disrupted,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa. “The Fund will complement what we are doing in the public sector.” This Fund will be chaired by Ms Gloria Serobe and the deputy Chairperson is Mr Adrian Enthoven. The Fund has a…

As part of a swift and extraordinary action to deal with coronavirus, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced measures to assist businesses that may be in distress and a windfall for some individual taxpayers. “Using the tax system, we will provide a tax subsidy of up to R500 per month for the next four months for those private-sector employees earning below R6,500 under the Employment Tax Incentive,” said Ramaphosa. He added that this will help over 4 million workers. The South African Revenue Service will also work towards accelerating the payment of employment tax incentive reimbursements from twice a year to monthly to…

South Africa’s online florist NetFlorist is venturing into the delivery of fresh fruits and vegetables. The service is available to potential customers around Johannesburg North and Pretoria as people stay at home due to Covid-19 pandemic. As the country’s leading national B2B Fruit and Vegetables wholesaler and distributor, Fruitspot has partnered with NetFlorist to ensure the safe and timeous delivery of fresh produce, South Africa’s online florist said on its website. “When we’re delivering produce to the recipient, we ensure that our fruits and veggies arrive as fresh and as delicious as the day they were picked. To accomplish this, low-tech, inexpensive…

Struggling mobile phone operator Cell C, which destroyed shareholder value for JSE-listed firm Blue Label Telecoms, on Monday reported a R4 billion operating loss for the six months to 31 December 2019. Strangely, Cell C CEO Douglas Craigie Stevenson believes the green shoots of the turnaround strategy, which was implemented from March 2019 onwards, are now visible. The company’s full-year operating loss came in at R3.94 billion versus R7.36 billion loss in 2018. The company attributed the improvement to operational improvements and right-sizing. The group revenue was down to R15.2 billion versus R15.7 billion in 2018. The company also lost 2.9…

In these uncertain times, only one thing is really certain, and that’s that every company and its dog wants to tell you what it’s doing in the wake of the Corona crisis. Yet amidst the benign platitudes, gloomy headlines and pervasive uncertainty, here’s some really, really good news: TymeBank, South Africa’s first digital bank, will honour their commitment to their customers and keep their interest rate unchanged at 10%. Worth noting is that TymeBank has taken this decision before the Reserve Bank makes its announcement later today and likely cuts the benchmark interest rate by a considerable amount. TymeBank’s bold…

South Africa’s communications watchdog on Thursday called on mobile operators to offer free services during the coronavirus situation. The country has recorded the highest number of people in Africa who have tested positive for Covid-19 or coronavirus. “ICASA (The Independent Communications Authority of SA) is requesting all network service providers to heed the call to enable the country to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, by facilitating easy and affordable (and/or free) access to data,” the regulator said in a statement. The regulator added that it was engaging the sector on possible ways of radiofrequency spectrum relief for the duration of…

African Rainbow Capital Financial Services Holdings (ARC FinHoldCo) announced on Thursday that it has invested R300 million South Africa’s first fully digital bank TymeBank. ARC FinHoldCo increased its holding in TymeBank to 100% over the course of the year, new partners were introduced resulting in a sell-down of control to 65.5% at 30 June 2019. The bank, which is backed by billionaire Patrice Motsepe, said it was embarking on a capital raise which will see the ARCH FinHoldCo interest diluted further. TymenBank is adding 3 500 and 4 000 customers per day, with about 40% of bank accounts being active…

South African mobile data network operator rain, which recently launched its intelligent 5G transport network, continues to invest in its 5G network across the country, said investors African Rainbow Capital (ARC). In an investment update published on Thursday, ARC said: “Overall, the growth prospects for Rain remain optimistic.” The company said Rain’s revenue growth has been encouraging and significant progress was being made to further improve on network performance and stability. “Rain is well-positioned to become a major player in the 5G data market,” said ARC. ARC added that during October 2019, Rain launched the country’s first 5G network for…