Author: Gugu Lourie

An all-female team of South African young architects has been selected to design the 2020 Serpentine Pavilion. The team consist of Sumayya Vally, Sarah de Villiers and Amina Kaskar of Counterspace, a Johannesburg-based architect firm. All three will be 30 years old in 2020. The trio has just become the youngest ever to be commissioned to build the Serpentine Pavilion in Kensington Gardens, London. The pavilion is scheduled to be open from June to October. The trio wrote in a statement that using both innovative and traditional building techniques, Counterspace’s design will be based on gathering spaces and community places around the city, folding…

Glafit, a Japanese mobility startup company, today is launching the Micro mobility scooter – X-SCOOTER “Last One Mile (LOM) crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Having been involved in the automobile industry for more than 15 years, glafit had always wanted to launch a fun & exciting vehicle that fits people’s modern lifestyle. In 2017 May, the startup launched its first product, Hybrid Bike GFR-01, on a Japanese crowdfunding platform and set an all-time record for the amount raised with over $1.2 million (R18 million). “We have continued our development to launch our second product, X-SCOOTER LOM, in the global market through…

EOH, JSE-listed technology group, announced today that Andrew Mthembu, a proven executive with vast industry experience, will assume the role of chairman. His appointment is effective on 6 February 2020. Mthembu replaces the late Dr Xolani Mkhwanazi, who was chairman of the board at the time of his passing on 4 January 2020. For more read: Prominent Businessman Dr Xolani Mkhwanazi Passes Away Mthembu joined the EOH board in June 2019. He was appointed the lead independent director last year and led the board in the absence of Dr Mkhwanazi as a result of his illness. Mthembu is the chairperson…

ANC chairperson and  has urged the government to close  South African Airways (SAA) and SA Express. According to a report by The Sunday Times, Mantashe said if SAA wanted to survive, it should start to make a profit and stand on its own. He added that otherwise it should be closed down or taken over by a more capable entity. Mantashe was speaking at the ANC’s 108 celebrations in Komga, Eastern Cape. “Anyone who can manage to run it should take over. Do you know that we even pay cheaper rates at FlySafair? That airline is much cheaper than SAA…

JSE-listed Balwin Properties is planning to build a Munyaka, a R9 billion development in Waterfall, Midrand. Construction of the spectacular lagoon, boundary wall, gatehouse, lifestyle centre and show apartment block has already commenced with the balance of apartments being rolled out over the next eight years. “Munyaka, which translates to “Crystal” in Venda, is set to be the crown jewel in our development portfolio,” Steve Brookes, founder and CEO of Balwin Properties said. “We have worked very closely with our architects to bring something exceptional to South African sectional title buyers and believe that it will not only set a…

Telkom mobile network is experiencing disruptions and customers are angry while others are even labelling the company an abusive network operator. In a tweet, Telkom advised its customers as follows: “Dear customers, we are currently experiencing disruptions on our mobile voice and data network which may affect your connectivity. Our team of technicians are working on resolving this. We thank you for your patience and apologise for the inconvenience caused” Dear customers, we are currently experiencing disruptions on our mobile voice and data network which may affect your connectivity. Our team of technicians are working on resolving this. We thank…

Universal Partners is merging three tech talent specialists Xcede, TechStream and Etonwood to create a £100m (R1.9 billion) revenue company. The merger has been funded by private equity firm Universal Partners and Investec Bank. The merged firms will share a group parent company branded as TechStream Group, headquartered in London and operating across its current global office network in New York, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Singapore, Malaga and Cape Town. It will employ 220 people. Founded by Paul Beeke, TechStream is an internationally recognised human capital business. The merged company will specialise in talent for cloud transformation, digital transformation, cybersecurity, data…

Neela, a KwaZulu-Natal based business, is demanding that Mobax settle an outstanding debt of R22 million, which includes interest, storage, and loss of income until 31 January 2020. Mobax, a little-known company, is a subcontractor to Vodacom. It is a management company that subcontract work to providers that deploy and maintain generators, refuels and services them – for managed services – that power the mobile phone company’s base stations. Mobax replaced Swedish telecom giant Ericsson in January 2018 as a management company. Neela, a Port Shepstone-based company, has been contracted to Vodacom since 2011. Neela signed a contract with Ericsson…

Vodacom has added 484 000 customers in South Africa in the fourth quarter of the 2019 calendar year, supported by a successful Summer campaign and the mobile operator also revealed plans to launch 5G. “A highly successful Summer campaign, which delivered 334 million free rewards to 17 million customers, contributed to an uplift in activity across our customer base,” said Shameel Joosub, Vodacom’s CEO. “This increase in data customers and usage is evidence of our success in transforming data pricing in South Africa. Notable contributions from our Financial Services and Enterprise businesses saw service revenue in South Africa rise by…

Five years ago Telkom retrenched skilled workers whom they promised to help set up as small businesses that would be contracted to the giant telecoms company. Telkom in 2015 created the Independent Field Technicians (IFT) programme. The aim of the programme was to help retrenched technicians to establish their own businesses to offer fault fixing to Openserve, a free-standing division of Telkom and the country’s largest fixed wholesale operator. Telkom says the IFT programme was established as a finite programme that would offer support to these enterprises with the aim of enterprises graduating out of the programme in 2020. It…

TymeBank, a digital bank that is owned by billionaire Patrice Motsepe, is targeting 12 million churchgoers of Zion Christian Church (ZCC) as clients. African Rainbow Capital (ARC), which was founded by Motsepe, announced on Sunday that TymeBank has entered into a partnership with the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) to offer a banking proposition to its members. TymeBank will offer ZCC members a membership card that also works like a debit card. The ZCC is the largest African-initiated church in Southern Africa, with a membership of about 12 million. “Some nine million ZCC members are based in South Africa,” said TymeBank.…

Mobile phone group MTN announced on Wednesday plans to invest $1.6 billion(R23 billion) in Nigeria over the next three years to strengthen and expand its network and operations in the country. In December, MTN received good news after the Nigerian Attorney General and Minister of Justice has withdrawn a $2 billion tax demand against MTN Nigeria. Late December 2018, MTN reached an agreement with Nigeria’s central bank when the $8.1 billion claim was reduced to $53 million. The news of the investment was shared during a statement by President Muhammadu Buhari, whereby he reaffirmed that the Nigerian government is committed…

Praveen Maharaj on Wednesday dismissed reports linking him to death threats made in a WhatsApp Group against MDPS (Mobile Diesel Power Systems). Maharaj, who is a regional manager of Mobax for the Eastern Region off KwaZulu-Natal, said through his lawyers in an email to TechFinancials that he vehemently denies ever having made any of the published statements. Earlier this month, TechFinancials issued a report detailing death threats against MDPS in a WhatsApp Group. The correspondence was shared by a concerned WhatsApp group member to the owners of MDPS, who later shared it with Vodacom KZN and the Parliament Portfolio Committee…

Cell C, which is 45% owned by JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms, appears to be sinking deeper into trouble. The struggling mobile operator has defaulted on the payment of interest on a $184 million (R2.7 billion) loan, which was due in December 2019, along with interest and capital repayments related to bilateral loan facilities with Nedbank, China Development Bank, the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Blue Label shares were hard hit by the news, sending its shares 12.58% lower at R2.78 by 02:11 pm on Tuesday in Johannesburg bourse. The company and Net…

We live in a digital world. Digital technologies are advancing at a rapid pace, connecting people around the world and creating new and exciting opportunities. More than any time in human history, people have greater access to knowledge, services and resources as a result of technological advancements. The impact of automation, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things (IoT) is felt almost everywhere, in all countries, industries, and everyday life. “However, while the impact of digitization is widespread, the benefits it yields are distributed unevenly,” says Tae Yoo, Cisco’s senior VP of Corporate Affairs. “It is important to understand a…

MDPS (Mobile Diesel Power Systems) is out of business because a report was tampered with which exonerated the KwaZulu Natal-based small business, the chairperson of the Parliament Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development Ruth Bhengu, said in a voice clip. The company is involved in a fierce battle with mobile phone giant Vodacom after settling out of court with Sweden’s telecoms giant Ericsson. The central claim is that Vodacom suspended its services after false claims related to buying diesel for running the mobile phone operators’ generators for its mobile phone towers in KwaZulu Natal. MDPS has never made any admissions…

Mini to launch Mini sharing in Sandton. Mini Sharing allows Mini owners to make their vehicles available to friends, family or colleagues via app. It’s no secret that Mini offers drivers an unrivalled exhilarating go-kart feel, transforming even the most mundane journey into something much more fun. The car-sharing scheme is being tested for local conditions ahead of its launch in the third quarter of 2020 as a pilot programme in the key urban area Sandton, in Johannesburg. Initially, Mini Sharing will be available to a closed group of users, although plans are afoot to expand the offering to other…

Strategic South African towns, which include Bethal, Jozini, Makhado, Welkom, etc, may receive priority support from the South African government. The support to a group of 61 towns may be in a form of state funding. The South African government revealed the plan this week in a new draft National Spatial Development Framework (NSDF). The plan is open for public comment until 20 March. The NSDF is described as the first of its kind and according to the government it seeks to make a bold and decisive contribution to bringing about the peaceful, prosperous and truly transformed South Africa, as…

Blue Label Telecoms expects its earnings for the six months ended 30 November 2019 to increase by at least 20%. The company informed investors on the JSE on Thursday that this translates to basic, headline and core headline earnings per share improving by at least 2.52 cents, 3.00 cents and 2.28 cents. The company, which owns 54% of struggling mobile phone operator Cell C, attributed the expected improved earnings to Cell C’s writedown. Blue Label Telecoms and Net 1 have written down to zero the value of their stake of the embattled mobile network, Cell C, which last year reported…

Africa’s most valuable company said in a statement on Wednesday that it intends to repatriate the proceeds to South Africa to buy back its own shares.

Skynamo (formerly Honeybee CRM) – a  Stellenbosch founded software firm – has secured R434 million ($30 million) from software investor, Five Elms Capital. Skynamo will use the investment to accelerate the adoption of its field sales mobile app and cloud-based management platform, while scaling up operations to improve service to its rapidly growing customer base in the US, UK Apostille and Southern Africa. The software company serves its customers from its South African and London offices and has chosen Atlanta as its US headquarters. Skynamo integrates with ERP and accounting software such as Sage, Acumatica, SAP, Xero and Quickbooks to provide…

by Prabashni Naidoo Autonomous, or self-driving cars will make driving safer, smarter and more efficient. Equipped with internet connections, often wireless local area networks, enables self-driving cars to speak to each other and the environment around them. One feature allows the cars to keep their distance and synchronise braking to avoid accidents. Autonomous cars will include features such as lane assist, collision avoidance and automatic calls to emergency services to create a safer driving experience.  Some automotive brands are taking automation a step further, innovating to enable vehicles to communicate with nearby infrastructure and even pedestrians, adding a new dimension…

MTN Cameroon CEO, Hendrik Kasteel, will be leaving MTN at the end of March, due to personal reasons.

Eskom, the state-owned power utility which supplies the country with 95% of the electricity is in crisis and unable to keep the lights on. Electricity is central to the broader development agenda. Electricity is also essential for basic things like charging one’s mobile phone or powering a household water pump and heater. For more read: What lies behind Africa’s lack of access and unreliable power supplies MTN, the country’s second-biggest mobile phone operator, is continuously seeking opportunities to extract energy efficiencies where possible and to maintain investment in renewable sources of energy. This strategy is to help MTN not to be 100%…

Toyota is exploring a new flight path for mobility through a new collaboration with Joby Aviation (Joby), an aerospace company that is developing and commercializing all-electric air taxis. The California-based aerospace company that has been working on electric aircraft for over a decade. The collaboration reflects Toyota’s recognition of the long-term potential of the urban air mobility. Toyota was part of a previous Joby funding round that closed in 2018, helping the secretive startup raise $100 million. As the lead investor in Joby’s $590 million Series C financing, Toyota is continuing to leverage emerging technologies to provide “Mobility for All”,…