Author: Gugu Lourie

Black investors in Phuthuma Nathi, the broad-based black economic empowerment arm of pay-TV operator MultiChoice SA, are in line to share more than R1 billion in dividends. Phuthuma Nathi shareholders own 25% of MultiChoice SA through the Phuthuma Nathi entity. In 2019, shareholders voted to combine Phuthuma Nathi and Phuthuma Nathi 2 into one scheme. The combination of these entities resulted in one listed scheme with a single Phuthuma Nathi share price. The transaction did not have any meaningful impact on the number of shares held or their attributable value. Phuthuma Nathi will receive R1.5 billion of the R6 billion dividend declared by…

All Welkom Yizani, the black economic empowerment shares of media group Media 24, will receive a dividend of 34 cents a share for the 2020 financial year. Welkom Yizani holds 15% stake in Media 24, a print media domination operation in the Naspers stable. Welkom Yizani investors will receive a dividend of R6.2 million in 2020 resulting in a dividend of 42.5 cents a share before tax, said Media 24 in its annual report. Welkom Yizani, Media24’s broad-based black economic empowerment scheme, began trading its shares on the Equity Express Securities Exchange (EESE) in November 2018. In 2016, Naspers, a…

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…

Teddy Daka, the boss of JSE-listed Etion, is looking to take the company internationally as he aims to cut business risks associated with slower growth in South Africa. The diversified digital technology company is seeking expansion opportunities in Latin America and South-East Asia. It is already testing its Internet of Things (IoT) solutions in those markets. Etion is using lean startups to test its IoT solutions in Latin America and South-East Asia. The aim is to support the sustainable long-term growth of its fast-growing business unit, Etion Create and Etion Secure (LAWTrust). “There’s an opportunity, nonetheless, by internationalising and we…

Shoprite has fired the starting gun on its expansion in South Africa, joining the fast-growing digital banking market where new players are signing up thousands of customers. Africa’s largest food retailer has launched its new Money Market Account, a free transactional account to give customers more ways to save, send or spend their money. Shoprite operates more than 2,934 outlets in 15 countries across Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands. The retailer is likely to compete with new digital banks such as TymeBank, Discovery Bank and South Africa’s big 5 banks – ABSA, FNB, Standard Bank, Nedbank and Capitec – the moment it…

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…

Media personality, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Bonang Matheba (Queen B to her more than eight million social media fans) has been persistent from a young age. “I was turned down at least 25 times before I got my first big break as a presenter of LIVE on SABC, and each rejection was heart-breaking. Especially when you’re young, you don’t understand why they haven’t picked you for a part, it’s very painful,” she says. “But it has been a great lesson for me that you must try many things, find what you love, and even then you probably won’t get it on…

I have been using the Crosscall Core-T4 for a few weeks. In that time, I realised that this impressive tablet is more than just an outdoor mobile office for professionals – its also a mobile entertainment centre. It stands out from its competitors such as CAT S32 and Samsung’s Xatch Pro tablets. Since I am not employed in agriculture, construction, or mining sectors, my review of the Crosscall Core-T4 tablet is limited to what it can do for me as a tech hack and entertainment junkie. Yes, we know the Crosscall Core-T4 is touted as a rugged tablet. During the…

South African mobile and fixed-line telephone customers seem to be generally doing well, thanks to the number portability regulation giving them more options: to choose when to stay or dump either Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, and Telkom. But can you believe it, according to the Number Portability Company (NPC) the average number of numbers ported every month is 76 058? The low number of customers porting their numbers could indicate that consumers are happy with their network operator – Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, and Telkom. Number Portability is a process that enables end-users to retain their telephone numbers when changing from one network operator to…

MTN South Africa has spent more than R50 billion on upgrading its network infrastructure in the past five years. South Africa’s second-biggest operator has improved its Long Term Evolution (LTE) population coverage to over 96%. It is a standard for wireless data transmission that allows for faster downloads of your favourite music, websites, and videos. It is definitely much faster than the previous technology, 3G. LTE – sometimes referred to as 4G LTE – also offers less buffering and better streaming. MTN has rolled out low band LTE, which uses spectrum bands below 1GHz. This improves coverage and significantly improves the…

South Africa’s Telkom has published its 2020 integrated annual report, which shows the group’s ownership by geographical region. As of 31 March 2020, Telkom is 50.5% owned by institutional investors, 40.5% held by the Government of South Africa, 6.4% is owned by non-institutional investors, and the remaining 2.6% is held as treasury share. Broken down into geographical regions, Telkom’s ownership is as follows: South Africa – 44% United States of America – 37% United Kingdom – 9% Europe – 6% Rest of the world – 4% Despite South Africans owning 44% of the telco, foreigners seem to have an appetite for…

South Africa is finally seeing a glimmer of light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel and President Cyril Ramaphosa could announce eased lockdown restrictions later this week. Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize announced on Saturday that there are now a total of 553,188 cases of coronavirus in South Africa, reflecting an increase of 7,712 cases from the 545,476 infections reported previously. The data shows that there are 301 new COVID-19 related deaths, taking the total to 10,210 casualties. A steady decline in the infection rate and other critical indicators have raised hopes that the worst of the pandemic’s first…

Telkom boss Sipho Maseko’s total remuneration was reduced by R2 million in 2020 financial year to R21.8 million versus R23.2 million in 2019, according to the company’s latest annual report. Maseko took home guaranteed pay of R8.8 million and R10.5 million in vested shares. He also received R2.4 million in dividends on shares that weren’t vested. Telkom’s highest-paid executive was former chief financial officer Deon Fredericks, who retired as chief investment officer. He was paid a total of R26 million, including R16 million in vested shared and 5.7 million in severance pay. Fredericks was followed closely by Alphonzo Samuels, who…

As part of its plan to exit the Middle East, MTN is in talks to sell MTN Syria to TeleInvest, the operator disclosed on Thursday. “As part of this process, we are in advanced discussions to sell our 75% stake in MTN Syria to TeleInvest, which is the minority shareholder in MTN Syria with a 25% holding,” MTN said. “As part of the review of our portfolio, we believe the group is best served to focus on its pan-African strategy and to simplify its portfolio by exiting the Middle East region in an orderly manner over the medium term.” TeleInvest…

MTN sees value in its joint venture with SA’s third-biggest insurer Momentum Metropolitan. In 2017, Momentum Metropolitan and MTN launched aYo, a micro-insurance joint venture. It began its roll-out in Uganda in January 2017 and has also been deployed in Ghana and Zambia. At the end of June, our aYo insurance joint venture had 8,6 million registered policyholders, MTN informed investors on Thursday. “We have agreed to increase our shareholding in aYo to 75% and will consolidate it in the future,” MTN said. “aYo generated R48 million in service revenue in the first six months to end June, and continues…

MTN has added more new subscribers in the last six months as more people signed up for its mobile and data services amid the coronavirus pandemic. Africa and the Middle East biggest mobile phone company announced its subscribers increased by 10,6 million to 261,5 million for the six months ended 30 June 2020. The operators also reached a significant milestone in surpassing the 100 million mark of active data users. By end June 2020, MTN had 102 million active data users. It also recorded 38,3 million Mobile Money (MoMo) users and in Nigeria added 114 000 agents to reach 222…

MTN Group is selling its 75% stake in MTN Syria as part of its strategy to exit the Middle East in an orderly manner. The company informed investors on Thursday that it was focusing its strategy in future on the African markets: “As part of our ongoing portfolio review, we believe the group is best served to focus in the future on our pan-African strategy,” said Rob Shuter, MTN CEO. “We will therefore be exiting the Middle East in an orderly manner over the medium term. As a first step we are in advanced discussions to sell our 75% stake…

MultiChoice chief executive Calvo Mawela’s total remuneration was $649 000 (R11.3 million) in 2020, up by 3% compared with last year’s R10.6 million, according to the pay-TV’s operator’s annual report released today. Executive chairman Imtiaz Patel was paid $620 000 (R10.7 million) and CFO Tim Jacobs received R7.5 million. These amounts include base salary, pension, benefits, and short-term incentives. Patel and Mawela are paid in dollars, which is aligned with the MultiChoice Group Dubai-based contracts and considers Dubai’s cost of living and typical expatriate benefits for Dubai. The company said to focus significant time on the MultiChoice Rest of Africa…

South African Airways (SAA) has put an immediate stop to the spending of all Voyager Miles – even for non-air rewards. “The ability to earn Miles, through our various Voyager programme partners, will continue as normal,” SAA said in a note to Voyager Miles customers. The redemptions of miles will be paused for another month until 31 August 2020, said SAA. “You will therefore not be able to redeem your Miles for awards until after 31 August 2020”. SAA said it was aware that its members were eager to receive their membership credentials reflecting the new expiry date of their…

Telkom has launched its funeral insurance, which includes single member, family and extended family benefit options. It is part of Telkom’s strategy to continue its drive to diversify its income streams beyond the fixed-line business. Also read: Telkom Enters Financial Services Fray in Ongoing Drive to Diversify New and existing Telkom customers will have access to different cover options, which will determine their premiums. The country’s largest fixed-line provider said its funeral insurance has 5 different cover levels starting from R10 000 to R70 000. The minimum entry age for a main member and spouse is 18, and the…

South Africa’s telco Telkom waded into the country’s red hot financial area with a new financial services entity to compete against the likes of mobile phone rivals MTN, Vodacom and FinTech players. Telkom Financial Services will offer solutions to empower businesses and individuals to participate in the digital economy. It is part of Telkom’s strategy to continue its drive to diversify its income streams beyond the fixed-line business. The main aim is to bring down some of the barriers, especially for small to medium businesses to be part of the economy. The country’s largest fixed-line provider disclosed in an advert…

COVID-19 has drastically impacted on the manner in which society conducts one-on-one engagements – most notably within the medical sphere. In light of the additional COVID-19 risks associated with comorbidities like diabetes – it’s more important than ever to have these conditions well under control and managed – even without your traditional doctor’s check-ups. Guidepost, an innovative SA company, is providing the solution to managing diabetes during COVID-19. The company has secured an undisclosed amount of funding to scale-up its business. AlphaCode and Endeavour, which have been monitoring this space and both decided to bet on this local company at…

The appointment of the new CEO at MTN Group is soon to be finalised, Africa and the Middle East’s largest mobile phone group said. “The succession process for the MTN Group CEO role is on track and MTN expects to make an announcement in this regard in the next 4 to 8 weeks,” the company informed investors on Friday. “Current Group CEO Rob Shuter will complete his fixed four-year contract in March 2021 as announced earlier this year and this timing will enable a seamless handover to his successor.” In March, MTN announced Shuter would step down. Shuter joined MTN…

BT Group has announced the appointment of Rob Shuter as CEO of its Enterprise unit and as a member of BT’s Executive Committee.   Shuter is currently CEO at MTN Group, Africa and the Middle East’s largest mobile phone company with 250 million customers across 21 countries. Prior to joining MTN, he served as CEO of Vodafone’s European Cluster as well as being CEO of Vodafone Netherlands. “MTN notes the announcement issued today by BT Group Plc that Rob has been appointed as the CEO of BT Enterprise,” MTN informed investors on Friday. “Rob will relocate to the UK and…

Streaming wars are well underway. Netflix, ShowMax, Prime Video, VIU and others are all vying for our attention. South Africa’s public broadcaster SABC might also join the fray by streaming its content. So one wonders which streaming service is popular in South Africa. According to the latest figures from JustWatch, an international streaming guide with more than 20 million users, Netflix has the highest market share in South Africa. Netflix is followed by Showmax, which is worth mentioning, as in most other countries of the world, Prime Video occupies second place after Netflix. Streaming charts in Q2 2020 Market share development…