Author: Gugu Lourie

Vodacom boss Shameel Joosub to donate a third of his salary as part of a contribution to South Africa’s fight against the coronavirus. The funds will be donated to the Solidarity Fund. The fund, which was created by President Cyril Ramaphosa, enables individuals and organisations to contribute to the detection and prevention of COVID-19, to provide care for those that need medical care and to support those whose lives have been disrupted by the health crisis. “Vodacom can confirm that Joosub, has heeded the call by President Cyril Ramaphosa and will donate a third of his salary for the next…

Police Minister Bheki Cele has vowed to crack down on illegal alcohol sales during uring South Africa’s lockdown. News24 reported that Cele is also targeting alcohol looters, who have struck several times since the lockdown began. On Thursday, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the extension of the lockdown by two more weeks. For more read: Coronavirus: South Africa Extends Lockdown by Two Week The lockdown, which started on 26 March 2020, was due to expire on 16 April. South Africa’s first case of COVID-19 was reported on 5 March 2020, when a KwaZulu-Natal man came back home after travelling abroad. “Sober…

The fear of police knocking at the door at any time to seek answers about her alleged violation of the lockdown regulations grips Communications and Digital Technology Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, the City Press reported. A close associate revealed to the newspaper that: ”She is quite scared and worried about the police.” Mduduzi Manana, a former deputy minister of higher education and training, posted a picture to Instagram of Ndabeni-Abrahams and others having a meal at his house during the lockdown. President Cyril Ramaphosa has placed his communications minister, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, on “special leave” for two months, of which one month…

Struggling South Africa’s liquor makers want restrictions on the sale of alcohol eased during an extended lockdown. On Thursday, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the extension of the lockdown by two more weeks. For more read: Coronavirus: South Africa Extends Lockdown by Two Week The lockdown, which started on 26 March 2020, was due to expire on 16 April. South Africa’s first case of COVID-19 was reported on 5 March 2020, when a KwaZulu-Natal man came back home after travelling abroad. The Sunday Times reported that the government is putting together an emergency plan to kick-start SA’s economy after the…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that the deputy president, members of the cabinet, and himself will all take a pay cut as part of a contribution to South Africa’s fight against the coronavirus. “We have decided that the President, Deputy President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers will each take a one-third cut in their salaries for the next three months,” Ramaphosa said on Thursday night. “This portion of their salaries will be donated to the Solidarity Fund.” “We are calling on other public office bearers and executives of large companies to make a similar gesture and to further increase the reach…

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday night announced the extension of the lockdown by two more weeks. The lockdown, which started on 26 March 2020, was due to expire on 16 April. South Africa’s first case of COVID-19 was reported on 5 March 2020, when a KwaZulu-Natal man came back home after travelling abroad. “There is sufficient evidence that shows that the lockdown is working. Since the lockdown came into effect, the rate at which new cases have been identified in SA has slowed down COVID-19,” said Ramaphosa on Thursday night. “If we end the lockdown too soon or…

Pick n Pay is introducing ‘Scan & Pay’ technology at all till points nationwide to allow customers to go completely contactless when paying for their shop. Pick n Pay was the first major retailer in South Africa to introduce contactless ‘Tap & Go’ card payments, and they have now enhanced their payment devices to offer QR payments through Masterpass. Masterpass lets customers securely download a free digital wallet from any of the major South African banks to their mobile phone. Customers can then safely and simply pay for their purchase by scanning the QR code at the till from the…

Shoprite, Usave, Checkers and Checkers Hyper stores shoppers can now use smartphones to pay for their groceries s the retailers continues to find new ways to keep its stores, customers and employees safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. The food retailer said the dynamic QR payments will be available at the tills within the next two months. Customers simply have to scan the QR code at the till point with their phones and pay with Masterpass, SnapScan, Zapper, FNB Pay or Nedbank Pay in any of the Group’s stores. Africa’s largest food retailer said the amount payable will automatically display on the customer’s phone, leaving…

It is still too early to estimate the scope of any impact on Africa’s most valuable company Naspers’s operations and financial information, particularly in view of rising global infections and evolving government responses to the coronavirus outbreak. However, Naspers – South African-based tech and media giant – which owns global tech investor Prosus, believes that it faces this challenging period from a position of relative financial strength and with sufficient liquidity to both navigate the changing environment and seek out new opportunities. Late on Wednesday, Naspers informed investors that it closed its financial year on 31 March 2020 with more…

Former South African Airways (SAA) CEO Vuyani Jarana quietly acquires a shareholding in Mobax, a technology investment and holding firm. Last May, Jarana left SAA having served just over two years as the boss of the struggling airline. He cited slow decision-making and red tape at the airline, as well as blurred lines of accountability, for his departure. Mobax announced on Wednesday that Jarana has joined the investment and holding firm as a shareholder and assumed the role of a chairman. The company didn’t disclose the details of the transaction and what it really entails. Mobax is an unknown company and…

Old Mutual today announced that it is making R4 billion worth of cover available to approximately 430 000 registered healthcare workers across South Africa. This implies that every single one of South Africa’s registered healthcare workers will now be entitled to free life insurance worth R10,000. The amount becomes payable in the event of the death of qualifying healthcare workers and is intended to provide relief to families who may have to deal with the tragic loss of a loved one during COVID-19. The R4 billion worth of cover is available to approximately 430 000 registered healthcare workers across South…

ICT industry veteran Andile Ngcaba’s and chairman of inq., a Pan-African digital service provider, has called on Africa to develop a clear pan-African digital strategy. Ngcaba was speaking at the company’s Zoom Webinar launch. “The Second World War fundamentally changed the geopolitical and economic systems. The end of that war saw the establishment of the United Nation, World Bank and many other institutions. These organisations instituted in a new form of global capital markets driven by foreign direct investments. Like other pandemics they have come before it, COVID-19 will fundamentally change the global architecture and operating models to what we…

ICT industry veteran Andile Ngcaba’s inq., a Pan-African digital service provider, wants to be Africa’s number one artificial intelligence (AI) service provider. The company has points of contacts in 12 African cities, Johannesburg, Gaborone, Lusaka, Ndola, Blantyre, Lilongwe, Mzuzu, Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kanu and Abidjan. inq. is formerly known as Synergy Communications. It has concluded the 100% acquisition of Vodacom Business Africa’s operations in Nigeria, Zambia and Cote d’Ivoire with a further planned acquisition in Cameroon pending regulatory approvals. For more read: Andile Ngcaba’s Firm Buys Three Vodacom Business Africa Operations inq.’s flagship investments included Internet Solutions Mozambique, Skyband Malawi…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has placed his communications minister, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, on “special leave” for two months, of which one month is unpaid, for violating the lockdown regulations. This punishment is for travelling to the former deputy minister of higher education & training Mduduzi Manana’s house for lunch. Manana posted a picture of the minister having lunch with him on social media, but he has subsequently deleted the post. The Presidency said the President summoned the Minister yesterday, Tuesday 07 April 2020. The President expressed his disapproval of the Minister’s actions, which undermine the requirement that all citizens stay at home…

JSE-listed 4Sight Holdings announced late on Tuesday that it has entered into an agreement to dispose of one of its Mauritius subsidiary, Digitata, to its original owners. The transaction values Digitata at R91.9 million, and will be funded by the return of 290 549 558 4Sight shares by the purchasers to 4Sight. These shares will be cancelled, thus reducing the issued share capital of 4Sight from 791 304 945 to 500 755 387 shares. Digitata was acquired by 4Sight on 1 July 2017 ahead of the company’s listing on the Alternative Exchange of the JSE. It operates mainly in the mobile telecommunications industry and focuses…

Technology group EOH continues to be an undisputed market leader in its core ICT businesses, which operate principally under the iOCO brand name. The company’s services are key to its 5 000 clients, which include banks in South Africa and the rest of Africa, telecommunication companies, Eskom, municipalities and government agencies. The group listed on the JSE in 1988 and is active in 20 markets globally. However, the brand’s name has been tainted by several scandals. In a revised strategy under Stephen van Coller, who was appointed as its chief executive in 2018, EOH has managed to stabilise its customer…

The board and management of JSE-listed technology group EOH have taken proactive steps to ensure the company is prudent in these times of uncertainty. EOH said in a statement that being systemic to South Africa’s IT backbone creates significant responsibility for the group during COVID-19 to ensure it remains robust in order to continue providing key services to its 5 000 long-term clients. “These include many banks in South Africa and the rest of Africa, telecommunication companies, Eskom, municipalities and government agencies.” EOH said it is also at the forefront of providing cutting edge medical solutions through companies such as…

The South African Police Services (SAPS) have arrested a 53-year-old man in Parow in the Western Cape for allegedly contravening the Regulations of the Disaster Management Act 2002. The suspect is likely to face charges of at least contravening Regulation 11B of the Disaster Management Act 2002. The SAPS said in a statement that the man is expected to appear before court today following his arrest yesterday by police from Parow Police Station. “The arrest relates to a video disseminated through various social media platforms purporting contamination of COVID-19 test kits,” said SAPS. “The suspect has been charged in terms…

A group of South African scientists  — from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and the University of the Western Cape‘s South African National Bioinformatics Institute (Sanbi) — have successfully sequenced South Africa’s first SARS-COV-2 genome – a vital step in fighting COVID-19. This discovery provides a genetic “fingerprint” that can help us understand – and contain – the spread of COVID-19. “Next-generation sequencing of pathogens allows us to perform genomic fingerprinting on viruses,” says Peter van Heusden, SANBI researcher and co-author of the new report presenting the sequence, phylogenetic analysis and modelling of non-synonymous mutations for a SARS-CoV-2 genome…

The country’s communications watchdog has published new regulations that will enable mobile phone operators – Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Rain and Telkom – to send you at least two SMSes ever day about the coronavirus disaster. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa stated in the new rules that operators must send to their subscribers by SMS, free of charge at least two public announcements per day regarding the prevention and management of COVID-19; and notifications of all announcements by the Minister of Health or the Presidency. Furthermore, the rules specify that ICASA shall determine, after consultation with the relevant…

Shares in MTN climbed as much as 6.2% after Moody’s affirmed the mobile phone group’s rating. In a statement on Monday, MTN informed investors that despite its sovereign rating downgrade of South Africa, Moody’s has left its rating unchanged and affirmed its Ba1 rating. Moody’s has also revised MTN’s national scale CFR higher to Aa2.za from Aa3.za to reflect the updated mapping of Global Scale Ratings to NSR due to the downgrade of the sovereign rating. The company added that Moody’s has also left the negative outlook unchanged to reflect the exposure to weakening sovereign credit quality in some of…

South Africa’s communications watchdog announced on Monday the emergency release of high-demand spectrum to meet the spike in broadband services demand due to COVID-19. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) will publish a Government Gazette containing regulations that prescribe minimum standards that licensees must adhere to for the entire period of the National State Disaster today. A critical measure introduced by the regulations is the temporary release of high demand spectrum (HDS) for the duration of the national state of disaster in order to ease network congestion, maintain a good quality of broadband services, and enable licensees to…

Retailer Woolworths announced on Monday that it was actively pursuing operational steps and considering strategic options to best mitigate the impacts of the coronavirus crisis and to ensure the appropriate robust response in this developing situation. “In recognition of the challenging circumstances, the Woolworths board, group CEO and senior executive team members have decided to forego up to 30% of their fees and salaries over the next three months,” the company informed investors on The JSE SENS news. “The savings arising from this will be used to provide additional financial support to staff who find themselves in extreme hardship as…

Shoprite, Africa’s largest food retailer, has rolled out temperature testing and mobile clinics for its employees as it continues to do everything in its power to ensure its stores remain safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Daily temperature testing as employees arrive at work and the rollout of mobile clinics follows the issuing of plastic face shields for employees last week, and stringent hygiene and sanitising protocols that have been in place across all of its stores, distribution centres and offices to keep the shopping environment virus-free. Those with high temperatures will visit the Group’s mobile clinics for a consultation and,…

Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola has appointed Justice Catherine (Kate) O’Regan as the COVID-19 Designated Judge. The government will report on a weekly basis to the former Constitutional Court Justice the particulars of those who have been traced using cell phone data. The move is aimed at finding the contacts of those who test positive for COVID-19. O’Regan’s role is to ensure that their privacy and personal information is protected, as the government works around the clock to contain the spread of the deadly global pandemic. The Regulations issued in terms of section 27(2) of the Disaster Management…