Author: Gugu Lourie
Mix Telematics president and CEO Stefan Joselowitz’ total compensation was R8.1 million in 2013, dropping by R2.4 million from the previous year, according to the vehicle tracking company’s integrated annual report. The total remuneration consist of a R5.5 million salary and allowances, plus R2.6 million performance bonus. Megan Pydigadu, who is the chief financial officer and a member of the board of directors since 2010, also saw her total remuneration drop to R3.4 million in 2015 from R5.5 million in 2014. Charles Tasker, the chief operating officer, saw his total remuneration being cut by R1.79 million to R4.9 million from…
By Ujuh The telecommunication sector is facing a great deal of uncertainty over the future direction of broad based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) rules for the ICT sector. This is reflected in statements made by the largest mobile phone network operator in the country, Vodacom. The uncertainty comes amidst the introduction of news and tougher BBBEE codes of good practice which kicked in at the beginning of May and threatens to cause massive BBBEE downgrades. Corporations in the telecoms space are worried because the new direction of BBBEE rules will come to impact on the process of spectrum allocation. Some…
By Ujuh Vodacom has positioned its enterprise development programme, the Innovator Trust, as a buyer of its black economic empowerment (BEE) shares called Yebo Yethu. This is reflected in the 2014/15 annual report where Vodacom declares that the Innovator Trust acquired more than 540 000 YeboYethu. This, says Vodacom, has come to advance its BBBEE credentials The group said “The Innovator Trust utilised the loan funding obtained from Vodacom to acquire YeboYethu shares from the black public. As a result, the Group reclassified R322 million from equity to liability in terms of IFRS 2: Share-based payments.” The Vodacom YeboYethu empowewrment…
Vodacom boss Shameel Joosub was paid close to R11 million for the year ended-March 2015, after the country’s biggest mobile phone operator paid more than R13.5 billion to equity shareholders and debt funders, and grew subscriber base by 7.2% to 61.6 million. Joosub guaranteed salary rose 5% to R7.3 million in 2015 compared with R6.95 million in 2014. His R10.9 million total remuneration included a R3.7 million bonus, according to the operators’ 2015 integrated annual report. While Ivan Dittich, Vodacom’s chief financial officer was paid a guaranteed salary of R4.7 million, showing a 4.3% increase versus R4.6 million in 2014.…
“The luxury car has a cinema (tablet and TV screens), remote control parking, and massage seats, gesture control for audio and telephone calls, wireless and inductive charging of a smartphone and automatic air-con, etc.” By Staff Writer The new BMW 7 Series was launched this week. With the new BMW 7 Series, BMW has redefined what an exclusive, luxurious driving experience looks like in contemporary, pioneering form. Groundbreaking technologies in the areas of operating systems, intelligent connectivity and interior ambience underline its mission to bring together unbeatable driving pleasure and long-distance comfort in a luxury sedan. The modern luxury car defined by…
By Staff Writer The labour court has, with immediate effect, issued an order interdicting and restraining striking employees and participants from coming within a 100 meter radius of any of MTN’s premises for the duration of the industrial action. The strike by members of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) has been marred by violence and intimidation since it commenced last month. In a bid to safeguard the safety and wellbeing of its employees and to protect its facilities and infrastructure, MTN sought and was successful in obtaining an interdict barring striking employees from disrupting the company’s normal operations and intimidating…
MTN South Africa has expanded its Rush Hour bundles with the introduction of the 100MB data and R2 voice Rush Hour bundles. The new bundles, which are available with immediate effect, will provide MTN customers with additional choice and value for money. The Rush Hour 100MB Data Bundle can be purchased for R10 and will be valid for one hour. In addition, the R2 Rush Hour Voice bundle will be valid for 10 minutes from the time it is activated. Either bundle can be activated by dialling *141*2*776#. “Our Rush Hour bundles provide customers with compelling voice and data solutions…
By Michael Cowling At Apple’s recent World Wide Developer Conference, one of the tent-pole items was the inclusion of additional features for intelligent voice recognition by its personal assistant app Siri in its most recent update to its mobile operating system iOS 9. Now, instead of asking Siri to “remind me about Kevin’s birthday tomorrow”, you can rely on context and just ask Siri to “remind me of this” while viewing the Facebook event for the birthday. It will know what you mean. Technology like this has also existed in Google devices for a little while now – thanks to OK…
By Sunil Maharaj & Simon Barnes Broadband has the potential to be an enabler for reducing poverty, improving education, promoting gender equality, improving health services, ensuring environmental sustainability and providing a platform for global partnerships for development. By some estimates, a 10% increase in broadband penetration in low- and middle-income countries can result in a 1.38% increase in economic growth. Africa has a long way to go before it can reap any broadband dividend. In 2014, only 19% of Africa used the internet compared to the world average of 40.4%, and Europe’s 74.8%. Nor is the rate of broadband penetration growing at…
By Staff Writer The latest audio music parody is doing the rounds on social media and some have classified it as another hit for our President Jacob Zuma. “Dawg when the Pres is gone and Nkandla remains, this hit will be remix by other dawgs,” said Gwyza. Dika said: “The Pres is already listening to it and giggling to it. He hehe he.” The name and source of the musical parody is not known. https://soundcloud.com/techfinancials-co-za/nkandlanewmusicparody-1 Business Day editor Songezo Zibi, recently argued: “The Nkandla scandal is the tipping point at which SA must decide whether it is a real…
By Staff Writer Samsung Electronics South Africa is opening a new brand store at the Menlyn Park Shopping Centre in Tshwane on 12 June 2015. In collaboration with retail partner, New World, the store will serve to enhance shopper experiences at the recently revamped complex. Michelle Potgieter, Director of Corporate Marketing and Communications at Samsung Electronics South Africa, says: “Brand Stores inspire our consumers by providing direct access to our newest, cutting-edge technologies, enabling them to experience the devices first hand and gain further insight into the products from our team of knowledgeable and professional sales people and on site…
South African-based fleet management Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider, Mix Telematics, continues to rely on its global reach to remain competitive in a tough market. The company – which in August 2013 listed on the New York Stock Exchange – delivered solid revenue growth, strong profitability and cash flow in the financial year 2015. Mix Telematics grew its subscription revenue 17% to R998m in the year 2015, with the number of vehicles covered up 14% to 512 000. The company also ended the fiscal year with a bigger cash pile of R945m up fromR876m in the previous year. Mix Telematics develops its…
By Staff Writer Trade Union Solidarity announced on Wednesday afternoon that it has decided to establish a crisis task team to tackle the major retrenchments at Telkom, which is undergoing massive restructuring. The task team will include top lawyers of the trade union as well as researchers, counsellors and financial advisors. Solidarity said it will also launch a four-point plan to form the basis of its fight with Telkom. Telkom’s plans include reducing its workforce by 4 400 through Voluntary Severance Packages and Voluntary Early Retirement Packages. Earlier this year, 724 employees have already accepted packages. If this new target is…
Analytics (or rather deriving insights from data) is an emerging field in South Africa. Due to differing strategic views, lack of infrastructure, or lack of skilled resources, few companies have fully capitalised on the information available in their local markets, much less so in subsidiary markets. By Yudhvir Seetharam, head of analytics at FNB Business Given both the emergence of the field, the first stab at getting analytics to grow would be to simultaneously ensure infrastructure is in place and hiring/retaining the skilled professional. Secondly, businesses need to start thinking with numbers in mind – ensuring that reasoning, figures and insights…
As part of its turnaround plan Telkom is planning to retrench close to 7 800 employees within two months, according to Solidarity Union. Telkom’s net revenue rose 3.1% to R26 billion and net debt slashed 92,8% to R151 million in the year to end-March 2015, paving the way for it to reward its shareholders with a dividend and a special divided totaling 245 cents per share There are hurdles along the way as the firm deals with its cost cutting exercise, which involves staff retrenchments and outsourcing, plus intense competition in the market. Trade union Solidarity questioned the scale of…
By Patrizio Piraino Countries with a more unequal distribution of income tend to have less economic mobility from one generation to the next. This relationship is often referred to as the “Great Gatsby Curve”. Generational mobility refers to the extent to which individuals have the opportunity to succeed economically regardless of the background of their parents. There is growing global evidence on the nature of this relationship as well as on unequal access to opportunities in general. This has helped shine more light on the continued persistence of inequality. Comparisons between countries point to a number of factors that result in…
By Staff Writer MTN has postponed its 21 Days of Y’ello Care Half-Marathon planned for Saturday in Johannesburg due to security risks posed by the fading strike action. A new race date will be communicated in due course. Whereas MTN is delighted that the vast majority of the striking employees have returned to work, the company will leave nothing to chance owing to the violent nature of the industrial action over the past three weeks. “MTN has the best interests of its stakeholders and the participants at heart and will not put their lives at risk. The current atmosphere is…
Cell C on Tuesday announced it has concluded the renegotiation of its roaming agreement with Vodacom, which includes access to 3G services on the Vodacom network. By Staff Writer “This agreement allows Cell C to provide a seamless experience to our customers, even those in outlying areas where we have limited coverage. Cell C customers in those areas will now also have access to Internet technologies on Vodacom’s 3G network,” says Cell C CEO Jose Dos Santos. Alongside the investment in its own network, Cell C is using this agreement to provide the best possible experience for its customers and gives…
Microsoft is delivering on their promise of mobile productivity at an affordable price with the introduction of three new smartphones, the Microsoft Lumia 640, Microsoft Lumia 640XL and the ultra-affordable Microsoft Lumia 430 Dual SIM. By Staff Writer The Lumia 640 and 640XL become the latest LTE / 4G devices to join the Lumia portfolio, with monthly contract prices starting from R219– dual SIM version, R199– single SIM version and R269 for Lumia 640 XL – dual SIM. Shaun Durandt, Microsoft Mobile Devices’ South African sales lead said: “People are looking for a phone which brings them more flexibility to switch…
Telkom has finally shed its image as South Africa’s “poster child for bad customer service” – thanks to chief executive Sipho Maseko and his management team ably supported by the board led by Jabu Mabuza. By Gugu Lourie Investors, who were patient with the once struggling telco, also played their part in turning around the giant telecoms company. The shareholders include the South African Government, Public Investment Corporation, Old Mutual, Allan Gray, Investment Solutions and retail investors. Telkom earnings published on Monday indicate that the turnaround is yielding positive results under the stewardship of Maseko and Mabuza. This positive development…
Shareholders at Telkom must be smiling from ear to ear as Africa’s largest integrated communications firm announced on Monday that it would reinstate a dividend payment. Telkom declared its first dividend in more than 3 years, announcing it will pay a dividend and a special divided totaling 245 cents per share. However, it will take the firm a while to pay the kinds of dividends that its rivals do. During the year to March, Telkom reduced its net debt by 92.8% to R151 million and free cash flow increased to R3.9 billion. “Our healthy financial position will not only allow us…
By Gugu Lourie South Africa’s Telkom extended a run of strong subscriber growth, added 73, 428 new broadband subscriber line customers to its network. The gains by the once struggling telco has prompted it to create a new infrastructure network business. The company said on Monday ADSL customers rose 7.9% to more than 1 million in the year to end-March 2015 compared to 931 858 in 2014. But Telkom is being challenged by its rivals and new players in the market dominated by mobile broadband. Rivals such as Afrihost, owned by MTN, Neotel, Vodacom, OpenWeb and others are competing seriously with…
Telkom Mobile, a business unit of information and communication solutions provider Telkom, posted a 21,2% rise in customers to 2.19 million total subscribers in the year to end-March 2015. The number was driven by the addition of 383 099 new subscribers. The Pretoria-based firm said on Monday Telkom Mobile increased mobile data revenue by 50.6% to R988 million. Data revenue now constitutes approximately 35,9% of group revenue, which increased 4,5 percent from the prior year. Telkom added that the mobile business managed to reduce the EBITDA loss by 48,7% by increasing service and subscriptions revenue (excluding equipment sales) by 48,0…
MTN has noted the statements attributed to the Communications Workers Union (CWU) which seek to defile the reputation of MTN by levelling unfounded allegations against the company. By Staff Writer MTN has welcomed the audit of CWU membership at MTN by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to verify whether it meets the required 30% membership threshold to qualify for recognition. MTN has repeatedly maintained that it is not opposed to collective bargaining and recognition of the CWU provided its membership at MTN is fully audited. MTN has tabled an offer of 8% to the CWU and the organisation…