Author: Gugu Lourie
The ongoing kerfuffle between MTN, Africa’s largest mobile phone operator, and the Nigerian authorities took another twist on Friday. In a surprise announcement, MTN informed investors that the Nigerian authorities have adjusted the fine upwards again to $3.9 billion (R56 billion) from $3.4 billion (R48.9 billion). By Gugu Lourie On Thursday, MTN announced that the Nigerian government has reduced the fine imposed on its Nigerian operation to $3.4 billion from $5.2 billion. The fine relates to the late disconnecting of 5.1 million MTN Nigerian subscribers in August and September 2015. The South African-based mobile phone operator said it has…
The new cybercrimes bill is flawed, too broad and brings the country one step closer to the securitisation of the internet, the Right2Know Campaign (R2K) has said. By Thulani Gqirana, NewsAgency It was basically the secrecy bill of the internet as it stood now and handed the keys of the internet to the state security ministry, R2K said. Public comments on the draft cybercrimes and cybersecurity bill, which was gazetted earlier this year by the justice department, closed on Monday November 30 and, so far, it has not been well received. The bill seeks to create offences and impose penalties on…
Thousands of revellers descending on Durban for the Rage Festival have fuelled simmering tensions between Uber taxi drivers and minibus taxis contracted by the organisers. By Jeff Wicks, NewsAgency A video purportedly showing ‘Rage Rides’ taxi drivers assaulting an Uber driver, one of many points of contestation between the two, has surfaced. The video is understood to have been shot at the weekend on Durban’s Stamford Hill Road. The minibus taxis have been contracted by the festival to transport partygoers between events, and work on a token system. Festival spokesperson, Darren Sandras, said that they were aware of escalating tensions, and had…
South African Roads Agency (Sanral) general manager: communications Vusi Mona launched a stinging attack on the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) on the second anniversary of the controversial e-toll system. By Eugenie du Preez, NewsAgency Outa listed five reasons why Gauteng’s e-toll system has, in its opinion, been a failure, and said the scheme was “doomed from the outset”. In an emailed statement to Fin24 on Wednesday, Mona said he wished to “debunk some of Outa’s numbers”. The anti-tolls body, said Mona, has “no respect for the pronouncements of the judiciary or for our democracy”. This is because six courts…
Tapping e-commerce, ramping up banking services and regaining trust are key reasons why banker Mark Barnes was hired as the South African Post Office (Sapo) CEO. By Gareth van Zyl, NewsAgency. This is according to the minister of telecommunications and postal services Siyabonga Cwele in an interview with Fin24 along the sidelines of a Telkom roundtable discussion in Sandton on Thursday. Barnes, who remains involved at investing and trading solutions company Purple Group, was previously an investment banker at Standard Corporate and Merchant Bank (SCMB). He was also former head of private equity firm Brait. Last month, Cabinet approved Barnes’ appointment as…
On the second anniversary of the launch of e-tolls, a road tax for users of Gauteng freeways, the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) looks back at a system it says “was doomed from the outset”. By Eugenie du Preez, NewsAgency Gauteng’s e-toll scheme was launched exactly two years ago, on December 3 2013. This, said Outa, took place “despite overwhelming public dissension and warnings that it would not be an effective ‘user-pays’ mechanism to service the Gauteng freeway upgrade bonds”. The anti-tolls body said its research studied international examples of both failed and successful electronic tolling schemes, and identified eight…
Truecaller announced on Thursday that its community has reported over 800, 000 spam calls in South Africa, with a total of 50 000 spam and unwanted calls detected every day across the country. By Staff Writer Truecaller’s data highlights an issue that is becoming an increasing cause for concern in South Africa as spammers become more adept at harassing and taking advantage of smartphone users in South Africa. More than 1.4 million South Africans use Truecaller from among the global Truecaller community of over 200 million. The app enables users to block unwanted and spam calls they have reported…
Hackers have doubled the number of cyber attacks against South Africans as the expansion of internet access brings more people online. By Duncan Alfreds, NewsAgency This is according to cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab which has been tracking the number of attacks through its antivirus network. “These statistics state that the number of attacks on South Africa increased from 25 million in all 2014 to 81.6 million in 2015, until mid-November,” Mohammad Amin Hasbini, senior security researcher of the Global Research and Analysis team at Kaspersky Lab, told Fin24. He said that the increase could be attributed to increasing numbers of…
Struggling technology firm Altron continues to clean up its balance sheet and on Thursday announced that it is in a process to sell its cable manufacturer business to Shanghai-listed Hengtong. By Gugu Lourie Altron said its subsidiary Powertech has entered into a binding heads of agreement with Hengtong to sell Aberdare Group. As part of the transaction, Powertech will dispose of 75% of its shareholding in Aberdare Cables and Aberdare International will dispose of 100% of its shareholding in Aberdare Europe to Hengtong. Alcon Marepha, CBI Electric Aberdare ATC Telecom Cables and Aberdare Cables Asia are excluded from the deal.…
The chairperson of the state-owned Universal Services and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA) and USAF – which both reports to the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services – has resigned. By Gugu Lourie USAASA said in a statement on Thursday that Pumla Radebe last night tendered her resignation to the Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Siyabonga Cwele. The organisation didn’t provide reasons for Radebe’s resignation. But Radebe said: “It has been a trying road I have travelled together with my former and current colleagues. We have stood our ground; we have stayed the course to get the entity…