Author: Gugu Lourie
The founders of MDPS (Mobile Diesel Power Systems) have received death threats from a ‘Vodacom manager’, who was based in KwaZululu-Natal (KZN), a source from parliament disclosed. MDPS, which was founded by Peet and Heidi-Anne Thuynsma, is suing Vodacom for close to R100 million in damages. They claim their services were suspended overnight by Vodacom leaving them with bad debts. The couple’s central argument is that Vodacom suspended their services after false claims related to buying diesel for running the mobile phone operators’ generators for its mobile phone towers in KZN. MDPS has never made any admissions to the fraud…
As an e-mobility pioneer, BMW has already delivered half a million electrified vehicles to customers worldwide. For more read: BMW Sold Half A Million Electric Cars Worlwide The German carmaker announced on Tuesday that a total of 145,815 electrified BMW and MINI vehicles were sold worldwide in 2019 – an increase of 2.2% over the previous year. The BMW i brand continued its positive sales trend last year with the BMW i3 and the BMW i8, which both saw a 12.1% increase to 42,073 units. This makes BMW i3 and the BMW i8, the top-selling electric cars in the BMW…
In South Africa, Vodacom continuously experiences an inconsistent supply of electricity due to load-shedding negatively impacting operational costs as a result of increased diesel consumption and new batteries. The South African Government has also recently introduced a carbon tax that will further increase the operating costs of running Vodacom’s network sites. In 2019, Vodacom said it consumed 474 GWh of electricity, predominantly from grid power and diesel and petrol. The company added in its recently published Sustainability Report that its carbon footprint was 640 926 tonnes of CO2 e (2% increase from 2018), predominantly as a result of growth in…
To understand the new smart monitors and other pro devices of tech health, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement of the latest generation. Apple’s Watch records exercise, tracks our moves throughout the day, assesses the amount of time we are stood up and reminds us to get up and move around if we have been sat for too long – let’s not forget Tim Cook’s “sitting is the new factor” line. Routinely evaluating your risk factors for various medical conditions, screening for cancer and other diseases, and assessing your lifestyle habits helps you stay healthy. It’s…
“Just Eat is not an acquisition we wanted to make at any cost,” argues Bob van Dijk, CEO of Prosus, after the tech giant walked away from the bidding war that started last year against rival Takeaway. Just Eat investors controlling 80.4% of its shares have finally backed Takeaway’s all-stock bid, which values the company at about £6.1-billion (R114-billion). The Amsterdam-based Takeaway has won the bidding war. Takeaway has placed a 5.9 billion pound ($7.7 billion) share offer that will create one of the world’s largest meal delivery companies. However, van Dijk said the tech giant believe that its final…
To understand the new smart monitors and other pro devices of tech health, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement of the latest generation. Apple’s Watch records exercise, tracks our moves throughout the day, assesses the amount of time we are stood up and reminds us to get up and move around if we have been sat for too long – let’s not forget Tim Cook’s “sitting is the new factor” line. Routinely evaluating your risk factors for various medical conditions, screening for cancer and other diseases, and assessing your lifestyle habits helps you stay healthy. It’s…
The latest announcement by the Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Minister of Justice is good news for MTN Group, which has started the year with Iran crisis and US lawsuit. MTN Group announced on Friday that its Nigerian unit has been informed by means of a letter that the Attorney General and Minister of Justice has withdrawn a $2 billion tax demand against MTN Nigeria. They have referred the matter to Nigerian tax authorities. The letter was received by MTN’s legal counsel 8 January 2020. MTN said the letter states that “…following careful review and due…
PayU, the payments and FinTech business of Prosus, is planning to inject up to $200 million (R2.8 billion) in the new digital lending leader in India. The new entity will be created through the merger of LazyPay, PayU’s consumer lending business, with PaySense, one of India’s fastest-growing digital credit platforms. The merger is subject to regulatory and other legal approvals including by the Reserve Bank of India. To create the new PayU Credit unit, PayU intends to acquire a controlling stake in PaySense and all its assets at a valuation of $185 million (R2.6 billion). PayU also plans to inject…
To understand the new smart watched and other pro devices of recent focus, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement. Apple’s Watch records exercise, tracks our moves throughout the day, checks the amount of time we are stood up and reminds us to get up and move around if we have been sat for too long – let’s not forget Tim Cooks “sitting is the new coolness” line. What we like: Angled second screen is quite useful.Durability is top notch.Better dual-screen software.Powerful hardware features. What we dislike: Less battery life than other options.Keyboard and trackpad are flimsy.No…
Mercedes-Benz and Geely announced that they have formally established the global joint venture “smart Automobile Co., Ltd” to build electric smart cars. The JV, which is valued at $780 million (R11 billion), has received regulatory approvals. The new generation of smart vehicles will be designed by the worldwide Mercedes-Benz Design network and developed by the Geely global engineering network. The companies said in a statement that future production will be located in China. The global headquarters of the new joint venture has been set in Hangzhou Bay, Ningbo with operational sales functions based in China and Germany. Tong Xiangbei has…