Author: Gugu Lourie

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…

The WACS (West Africa Cable System) undersea cable, which is critical to South Africa connection with the world, has been fixed. The South African National Research and Education Network (NREN) confirmed that the cable had been repaired on Saturday morning. WACS Outage Update: We have had final confirmation that the WACS repairs are complete and everything is according to specification. This matter is now resolved from an SA NREN perspective. — SA NREN Operational Updates & Alerts (@RENAlerts) April 4, 2020 Last week Tuesday, TENET, which is the operating partner of the South African national research & education network (SA…

JSE-listed technology company Altron said on Thursday it had resolved to demerge and separately list its UK business, Bytes UK. The company said the move is aimed at unlocking value for shareholders. Bytes UK will have a secondary listing on the JSE, while Altron will remain listed on the JSE. The process is likely to take between nine to 12 months, depending on capital market conditions. If financial markets have not corrected by then, Altron may decide to hold off on Bytes UK’s demerger and its separate listing. The decision to separately list Bytes UK was made following a review…

Telkom unveiled its Big Deal for April 2020, which would make sure you don’t run out of data. 1. The SmartBroadband Wireless Unlimited All Hours & Business Hours (Uncapped LTE) The deal includes the following: Uncapped LTE (All hours) Connects up to 64 devices LTE/fibre plug and play Wi-Fi router R99 once-off activation fee R899 per month 2. The Prepaid LTE Data Bundle The deal includes the following: 5GB Anytime data 5GB Night Surfer data R99 a month Uncapped LTE SmartBroadband Wireless Unlimited All Hours & Business Hours shall be available on a 24-month deal contract and as a SIM-only offer.…

Rob Shuter, the outgoing CEO of MTN Group, was paid R42 million in special cash-settled onboarding incentive in the 2019 financial year. Shuter is leaving MTN next year at the end of his contract in March 2021. He was appointed on 13 March 2017 as a CEO of MTN, Africa and the Middle East biggest mobile phone operator. MTN revealed in its 2019 integrated annual report that on appointment Shuter was granted a cash-settled share-based payment incentive in lieu of unvested stocks or equity relinquished upon resignation from previous employment. “The value of the incentive will be determined based on…

Rob Shuter, the outgoing CEO of MTN Group, was paid R58.2 million in 2019 financial year. The total package of R58.2 million was made up of a R17.3 million salary and a R27.5 million bonus, plus more than R10 million long term incentive bonus. Shuter is leaving MTN next year at the end of his contract in March 2021. Shuter joined MTN from Vodafone in 2016 to replace Sifiso Dabengwa. He was the CEO of Vodafone’s European cluster. Shuter is also a former CEO of Vodafone Netherlands and ex-Vodacom chief financial officer. He has extensive experience in telecoms and banking…

South Africa’s car and driver’s licences will remain valid while Covid-19 measures keep licensing offices closed, and citizens from renewing their paperwork, according to new transport regulations. In terms of disaster regulations issued by transport minister Fikile Mbalula, during the lock-down, the validity period for learner’s licence, driving licence, motor vehicle licence disk, temporary permit, professional driving permit and roadworthy certificates shall be deemed to be valid. These regulations may be extended for a further grace period of 30 days from the date of expiry of a lockdown unless determined otherwise. The validity period for the renewal of a motor…

The Constitutional Court challenge launched by an undisclosed foundation which is against the 21-day lockdown has been dismissed, News24 reported. The application was seeking leave to challenge President Cyril Ramaphosa’s order to implement a 21-day lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19. The application was brought by South African civil society group Hola Bon Renaissance (HBR), who applied for direct access to the Constitutional Court on the basis of urgency. News24 reported that the Constitutional Court said the case had no prospect of success and decided not to award costs. Also read: Coronavirus: South Africa to Oppose an Undisclosed Foundation…

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday night revealed that the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases has risen to 1,326 – and three people are confirmed to have died from the coronavirus. He was addressing the nation four days into the 21-day nationwide lockdown. “We are now entering a new phase in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. In the coming days, the government will be rolling out a screening, testing, tracing and medical management programme on a huge scale. “Around 10,000 field workers will be visiting homes in villages, towns and cities to screen residents for COVID-19 symptoms,” added…

Netcare, one of South Africa’s largest private hospital groups, announced on Monday that it is committed to working with Government and all other stakeholders to assist in containing and treating the pandemic. “We have proposed to the national and provincial Departments of Health that Netcare will treat public patients in Netcare facilities,” Netcare informed investors on JSE SENS news. “Given the exceptional circumstances and to ensure sustainability, Netcare will provide these services to COVID-19 related patients on a not-for- profit basis, seeking only to recover costs. “Given our limited capacity, any referrals from the public sector will need to be assessed…

As part of its efforts to escalate help to customers during the COVID-19 lockdown, FNB announced on Monday that it’s Connect customers will receive free data. “In April, individual and business customers on FNB Connect will also receive 1GB of free data to help them stay connected during the lockdown,” Jacques Celliers, FNB Chief Executive Officer, said on Monday. “We are also working with industry partners to ensure that customers can use any bank’s ATMs without paying additional fees over and above the fees charged by their bank.” In June 2015, FNB became the first bank in South Africa to…

The Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced on Sunday that a 74-year-old man died in ICU in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal. South Africa has 1280 confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Sunday 29 March. “It is with sadness that we announce the second death of a patient who had tested positive for COVID-19,” said Mkhize. The 74-year-old male had been in ICU and ventilation in a private hospital in Ladysmith. He had travelled to Kruger National Park with his family and came back with flu-like symptoms. He was confirmed to be COVID-19 positive on the 27th of March 2020. “It has been reported to…

Standard Bank revealed on Sunday that you will not be charged Saswitch fees for utilising the ATM of a competing bank. “The banking sector has collectively decided to waive Saswitch fees during the lockdown,” said Africa’s largest bank by assets. “This means that a customer can use any ATM, including those offered by competing banks and only pay the usual fees charged.” Bankserv Africa said on its website when it launched Saswitch – a switching system that allows for customers to use just about any ATM, regardless of which bank they belong to – it was a world-first in interbank…

Standard Bank has announced a second wave of relief to help its customer base navigate financial commitments as Covid-19 continues to impact the livelihood of many individuals across the country. The payment reprieve is aimed at easing the financial burden of customers earning R7 500 or less, who will receive three-month instalment relief if they are not in arrears on any of their accounts (as at 31 March 2020). The bank said this relief applies to qualifying customers and their associated accounts, which include home loan, vehicle and asset finance, credit cards as well as short term loans. Customers who opt…