Author: Gugu Lourie
President Cyril Ramaphosa will today address the nation on government’s response to persistent public violence in parts of the country. The exact time of the President’s address will be announced in due course, the Presidency said in a statement. The address follows the announcement by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) that it has commenced with pre-deployment processes and procedures in line with a request for assistance received from the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS). The request entails SANDF support for police operations in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. “In terms of Section 201(2)(a) of the Constitution,…
Virgin Galactic, a vertically integrated aerospace and space travel company, announced that the flight window for the next rocket-powered test flight of its SpaceShipTwo Unity opens July 11, pending weather and technical checks. The vehicle will set off for the 1.5-hour mission above New Mexico at about 4 pm local time. For the first time, Virgin Galactic will share a global livestream of the spaceflight. Audiences around the world are invited to participate virtually in the Unity 22 test flight and see first-hand the extraordinary experience Virgin Galactic.com is creating for future astronauts. The livestream will be available to watch…
Coca-Cola is planning to open a digital delivery centre in Johannesburg and will be recruiting people in data analytics and software engineering roles. Two months ago, Coca-Cola established a new digital hub in Dublin to help accelerate its digital transformation, creating 40 jobs in its first phase. The Dublin hub is one of six worldwide and will create jobs for data engineers, software developers, data analysts and technical experts. Recruitment is already underway. Johannesburg rounds out the list and serves as the latest example of Coca-Cola’s savvy investment in its global digital network. Like other service centres, this teams’ efforts…
Cape Town or the Mother City has been named as one of the best cities for remote working in the Work-from-Anywhere Index. The index, which attempts to quantify the characteristics that make a city-friendly to remote work, is published by the Berlin-headquartered accommodation rental platform Nestpick. The study compares and analyzes 75 cities according to 16 diverse factors to create a final ranking based on a total score. The cities were selected from a list of global locations renowned as popular destinations for relocation and livability, including those who have demonstrated willingness to encourage foreign-employed workers to move there. The…
Pick n Pay said today it had opened additional capacity in response to the high demand in online shopping on its scheduled delivery platform www.pnp.co.za. In Gauteng particularly, where the third wave is resulting in more people distancing and isolating, the retailer has increased delivery slots by 65% on the platform. “We have moved quickly to add delivery slots – particularly in Gauteng – to make sure that we respond to increased demand for online shopping during this time,” says John Bradshaw, retail executive: Omnichannel at Pick n Pay. The retailer says that certain areas in Cape Town experiencing high…
Mercedes-Benz announced today that it has sold a total of 121,500 plug-in-hybrids and all-electric cars worldwide in the first half of 2021. Deliveries of plug-in hybrids and all-electric cars more than quadrupled in just six months, reaching 121,500 units, reflecting a 305% increase compared to the same period last year. The German carmaker said in a statement that in total, the xEVs made up 10.3% of total Mercedes-Benz Cars sales in the first half of 2021. Around 39,000 all-electric vehicles were delivered from January to June showing a 291.4% rise versus the corresponding period in 2020, including more than 19,000…
China has ordered ride-hailing service provider DiDi Chuxing off the country’s app stores until future approval after correction and review. South China Morning Post reported that the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a short statement on Sunday that Didi’s app, often referred to as the Uber of China, has seriously violated the country’s laws and regulations by illegally collecting users’ personal data. As such, the agency has told China’s app stores to remove the app indefinitely, one of the harshest punishments for an internet company. It has also ordered DiDi to take corrective measures and comply with regulations,…
The European Union (EU) has launched a digital COVID Certificate, which allows people to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination, a recent negative test result, or past COVID-19 infection. The certificate will be available in a national language and English said the EU. The certificate consists of a QR code displayed on a device (like a smartphone or a tablet) or printed, and a digital signature, verified via EU Gateway. The certificate is issued for free by their national authorities and recognised by all EU 27 member states as well as Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. The EU said if a country is not ready…
BMW i Ventures, the venture capital arm of BMW Group, is spending $300 million or R4.2 billion to invest in early-and-mid-stage tech startups that operate in the transportation, manufacturing, supply chain, and sustainability industries. Founded in 2016, BMW i Ventures is the BMW Group’s venture capital unit for investing in fast-growing technology start-ups. The aim of this unit is to make financially attractive investments that create strategic value-added for the BMW Group. With a broad focus that includes areas such as digital vehicle technology, autonomous driving, shared and on-demand mobility, electromobility, Industry 4.0 and customer innovation, BWM i Ventures is…
Zoom announced it has bought Karlsruhe Information Technology Solutions – Kites, a start-up dedicated to developing real-time Machine Translation (MT) solutions. Kites was founded in 2015 and has academic roots with Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, where co-founders Dr. Alex Waibel and Dr. Sebastian Stüker are faculty members. “We are continuously looking for new ways to deliver happiness to our users and improve meeting productivity, and MT solutions will be key in enhancing our platform for Zoom customers across the globe,” said Velchamy Sankarlingam, president of Product and Engineering at Zoom. “With our aligned missions to make collaboration frictionless – regardless…