Author: Gugu Lourie

South African internet micro-jobbing service Money for Jam (M4JAM) has ceased trading after failing to make a profit, the company’s CEO Andre Hugo has told Fin24. By Gareth van Zyl M4JAM was launched in 2014 on instant messaging service WeChat and it enabled users to perform ‘micro-jobs’ to earn money. The M4JAM business model was further based on taking a licence fee from clients on every successful completed job. The startup’s representatives told Fin24 last year that the service surpassed 70 000 users. WeChat Africa, a Naspers and Tencent joint-venture, also invested into the social jobbing platform. But despite these…

While Blockchain technology is certainly worth investigating, CIOs should not be fooled into thinking it is the panacea for all the potential use cases currently under discussion. It’s advisable to apply a healthy dose of skepticism. By Martha Bennett, Forrester’s principal analyst Stories about digital currencies in general, and Bitcoin in particular, are still filling news feeds. However the industry is now more focused on the underlying technology of the blockchain and the concept of the shared ledger. This is most clearly evidenced by the raft of startups which have been attracting headlines and investment dollars. A number of established…

First National Bank (FNB) says it plans to close over 20 outlets amid the growing adoption of digital banking channels. By Duncan Alfreds, NewsAgency FNB came to the decision after it launched a review of branch related functions. The bank found that, during the expansion of its digital banking platform, there was a duplication of services and “unrealised efficiencies in our points of presence”. “During this review, some sales and service outlets close to our full-service branches were identified as not being well utilised by customers and these functions are being transferred into the nearby full-service branch,” Lee-Anne van Zyl,…

Two South African young men, who moved to Silicon Valley, one of the world’s centres of technological excellence in California, have developed an app for public transport navigation. Tyler Hoffman and Unathi Chonco, former learners of Pretoria Boys High School and University of Pretoria, have released Transit Wise, which they believe will revolutionise public transport in South Africa. “I hope that we can bring a major reform to public transport as we know it, because these systems can be really useful if maintained and used properly,” said Chonco, who is from Westville outside Durban. Transit Wise, which is available for…

Mobile network Vodacom South Africa is considering various options for its sluggish mobile money transfer service M-Pesa. By Gareth van Zyl, NewsAgency M-Pesa enables customers – particularly unbanked users – to transfer money from person-to-person using mobile phone and text-messaging technology. In 2010, Vodacom launched M-Pesa in South Africa and the company set a target of reaching 10 million local users. Vodacom then relaunched the service in August 2014 in a bid to spur interest in the product. The M-Pesa relaunch in 2014 further involved a simplified registration and FICA process and the establishment of 8 800 points of presence.…

Following a rigorous seeding tournament, Telkom today announced the line-up for the first event in the Telkom DGL Masters series taking place at the rAge Expo 18-20 March 2016, Cape Town. The purpose of the seeding tournament, which took place between 22 February and 6 March 2016, was to match up the teams for the knock-out stage of the DGL Masters, rAge Cape Town. As a result of this the line-up will be: The eight teams representing each of the eight Masters Multi-Gaming Organisations (MGO’s) will be competing for the R100000 prize pool. The prize pool is broken down by placement: First…

MTN has appointed Larry Annetts to the position of Chief Consumer Officer effective from today as part of the organisation’s ongoing quest to improve service quality and provide its customers with a distinct experience. Annetts’ role will include consumer marketing, he will also be responsible for overseeing all activities related to the sales and marketing division. He will also be expected to maintain a focus on innovation and efficiency and drive a holistic approach to deliver segmented propositions to the consumer whilst supporting other revenue streams within MTN SA. Annetts has a proven track record of streamlining operations, inculcating a…

Domains.co.za is helping to make the Internet a more secure environment in which to conduct business, pursue leisure activities and socialise with the launch of Secure Socket Layers (SSL) certificates at R25.month including installation. A Secure Socket Layers, or SSL, certificate encrypts online data that is being sent or received while Internet users navigate websites. This data typically includes sensitive information such as telephone numbers and credit card details. By creating a secure connection between the user’s computer and the server that a particular website is hosted on, potential customers receive peace of mind. “For the price of a good…

INX-ZA has for the first time expanded the Johannesburg Internet Exchange (JINX) beyond the Rosebank facility that has served Africa’s oldest Internet exchange for twenty years. JINX began as a project of the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) and is now independently managed by INX-ZA which currently operates the only community-run, public Internet exchanges in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.  This local Internet milestone follows an agreement between INX-ZA and leading web hosting company and data centre operator, Hetzner. The partnership has seen INX-ZA extend the reach of JINX to Hetzner’s well-positioned, vendor-neutral and fully-redundant data centre in Samrand, near…

South Africa’s businessman and billionaire Patrice Motsepe joins the race to connect South African households to faster broadband, which has the capacity to change people’s lives and connect them to the global economy. Motsepe’s firm African Rainbow Capital announced on Monday it has bought 18,14% shareholding in Metrofibre Networx. Following the investment by African Rainbow Capital, Sanlam Private Equity remains the controlling shareholder of Metrofibre Networx. African Rainbow Capital is a subsidiary of Ubuntu-Botho Investments (Pty) Limited (UBI), a broad based black empowerment investment holding company. UBI was created in 2004 with its main purpose of being Sanlam’s empowerment partner. The shareholders…