Author: Gugu Lourie

JSE-listed pay-TV group Multichoice has appointed Jabu Mabuza and Dr Fatai Adegboyega Sanusi as independent non-executive directors. Their appointment is effective from 5 July. Mabuza was recently appointed as the chairman to the board of Sun International. He was previously the Group CEO and later the Deputy Chairman of Tsogo Sun. He recently retired as chairman of Telkom SA and as president of Business Unity South Africa. Mabuza currently serves as the chairman of various companies including Anheuser – Busch InBev / SAB Miller – Africa, the Casino Association of South Africa and Eskom. Outside South Africa, Jabu has served…

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula says the government would find a solution to the prolonged e-tolling impasse. Mbalula was addressing the 38th annual Southern African Transport Conference (SATC) in Pretoria. His utterances followed the spat on social media between Gauteng Infrastructure Development and Property Management MEC Tasneem Motara, Premier David Makhura and Finance Minister Tito Mboweni regarding the controversial e-tolls. “The President has established a task team, led by myself, about the options on the table. A report will be tabled before him and from there will be given to the Cabinet,” he explained. “We know that there are robust views…

JSE-listed technology group Datatec has acquired Mars Technologies for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition was facilitated via Logicalis SA, a subsidiary of Datatec. Mars Technologies, an IT services business, has offices in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, Durban and East London employing 76 staff. It delivers Managed IT services ranging from the remote monitoring of networks and servers, managed desktop, anti-virus, cloud backup, and printers, to full outsourcing, targeting small and mid-market enterprises. Software solutions and application development complement the services offering. With the acquisition, the Logicalis South African operation strengthens and expands its managed services business in IP telephony,…

PayU, Naspers’ global FinTech company, is expanding into Southeast Asia after it announced a deal to buy a majority stake in Singapore-based Red Dot Payment. PayU has acquired a majority stake in Red Dot Payment in a transaction valuing the company at $65 million (R million). The founder will continue to retain a stake in the company, while the majority of other shareholders will exit. Evolve Capital Asia acted as the exclusive financial adviser to the Founder and selling shareholders. According to one Google-Temasek study, Southeast Asia is one of the fastest growing digital payments markets in the world and is expected…

Naspers has appointed Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa to the global Naspers management team as CEO, South Africa. Mahanyele-Dabengwa to report to Bob van Dijk, Group CEO of Naspers. She will be based in Johannesburg to lead the group’s day-to-day business in South Africa and represent its interests in country. Mahanyele-Dabengwa will also be responsible for Naspers’ recently announced units, Naspers Foundry and Naspers Labs, which are designed to help stimulate the South African tech sector and tackle youth unemployment, respectively. Naspers is one of the foremost investors in the South African technology sector and is committed to building its existing internet and…

A South African cyclist has been cycling from London to Istanbul to raise awareness and funds for autistic and neurodiverse children in South Africa. Grant Cameron-Smith, a South African, has been cycling from London since 18 March 2018. Yesterday, he arrived in Istanbul, Taksim square at 11 am. He is known as the ‘CrazyBikeGuy’ and this is no surprise as he took on his arduous 8,800+ km unsupported, solitary charity mountain-bike ride from London to Istanbul that he started in March 2019. This solo journey has never been done by any cyclist to raise funds and awareness for autism. The…

South African healthcare company Netcare And Founders Factory Africa (FFA) have joined forces to design, build and scale over 35 healthcare startups across Africa. FFA, the Johannesburg-headquartered, corporate-backed tech accelerator and incubator, and Netcare, will provide a platform for entrepreneurs to build and scale health-tech startups across Africa. The partnership includes an investment of an undisclosed amount by Netcare in FFA. Entrepreneurs can apply for the Founders Factory accelerator programme to build a new concept from scratch. A full-time team of over 40 digital and technical experts across Johannesburg, Nairobi, Lagos and London will build and grow the startups across Africa.…

South Africa’s Naspers is likely shopping around for ideal investment opportunities now that the Cape Town-based group has filled up its coffers. The internet technology investor announced on Friday that strong balance sheet with net cash of $6.3 billion (R90 billion) positions it well to pursue growth. “We executed well during the past financial year, growing revenue 29% to US$19.0bn, and trading profit 22% to US$3.3bn. With a continued focus on accelerating growth in our core segments, the Classifieds and core payments service provider businesses are now profitable. Trading-loss margins in etail and the rest of the payments and fintech…

Naspers today announced it has delayed the listing of its international internet assets on Euronext Amsterdam and secondary, inward listing on Johannesburg Stock Exchange until September. The company attributed the delay to an administrative error by an external service provider. The error has resulted in certain of the copies of the circular delivered to shareholders being incorrectly labelled, said the firm. Naspers is planning to spin off assets including a $134 billion stake in Tencent Holdings Ltd. on the Euronext exchange. The Johannesburg-based company said the service provider concerned has advised that the error occurred in pairing the names and…

ICT industry veteran Andile Ngcaba’s company Synergy Communications has snapped up operations of Vodacom Business in Nigeria, Zambia and Cote d’Ivoire. Synergy Communications, a subsidiary of the Convergence Partners Communications Infrastructure Fund, will acquire 100% of Vodacom Business Africa’s operations in these markets. Convergence Partners, which is owned by Ngcaba, is an investment management firm focused on the TMT sector in Africa. Synergy Communications’ flagship investments included Internet Solutions Mozambique, Skyband Malawi and, most recently, Virtual Business Network Services in Botswana. The two entities are in the process of concluding the acquisitions, which are subject to the approval of the…