Author: Staff Writer
South Africa’s communications watchdog ICASA will hold virtual public hearings next week on the draft Mobile Broadband Services Regulations published on 26 March 2021 for public comments. The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) said in a statement on Friday that virtual public hearings will be held on 12 and 13 August 2021. The draft Regulations, amongst other things, define relevant wholesale and retail markets or market segments for mobile broadband services and determine whether there is effective competition in those relevant markets and market segments. Most importantly, the draft Regulations impose appropriate pro-competitive licence conditions on those licensees with significant…
Cheer on your favourite English Premier League (EPL) team safely from the comfort of your home as the newly launched Vodacom Sports Radio brings all the action of the 2021/22 season live to mobile phone users in South Africa. EPL is one of the most widely followed soccer leagues in the world, and through Vodacom Sports Radio, Vodacom customers can conveniently use their mobile phones and tablets to keep up with the latest news, listen to live matches and follow their favourite teams. “We’re excited to add another innovative digital service to our product portfolio and to connect our customers…
The much-awaited season of Spring is just around the corner, and what better way to celebrate the time of rebirth and renewal than with a delightful new fragrance from Justine. The new La Vie Eau de Parfum, meaning “life” in French, is just the scent any woman needs to celebrate the season of happiness and new beginnings. La Vie Eau de Parfum is an enchanting feminine fragrance that opens in the joyful reverie of vibrant grapefruit, apple and delectable pink pepper notes. A bubbly heart introduces spirited jubilation with blooming sambac jasmine, lily of the valley and orange blossom that…
Acting Gauteng Police Commissioner, Major General Tommy Mthombeni, has ordered an urgent investigation into a disturbing video clip circulating on social media of officers allegedly arresting a learner in Krugersdorp. A short video posted on Twitter on Thursday depicts police members manhandling a girl child in uniform. In a statement, Gauteng South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesperson Colonel Noxolo Kwanza said Mthombeni had subsequently sanctioned an urgent departmental investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident. The incident all allegedly happened in the streets of Krugersdorp on Tuesday. “At this stage, it has been established that the 18-year old female learner…
Tech group EOH announced today has been approved for a secondary listing on A2X Markets and its ordinary shares will be available for trade from Friday 13 August 2021. EOH Limited will retain its listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and its issued share capital will be unaffected by its secondary listing on A2X. Megan Pydigadu, EOH Group Financial Director said, “EOH’s decision to list on A2X will give our shareholders access to an additional platform with lower transaction fees. This is in line with the Group’s commitment to continuously find ways to increase value for shareholders.” EOH is…
The South African National Parks (SANParks) says it will be going cash-free from 1 September 2021. The cash-free payment system will be implemented in two phases with several parks implementing this approach from the 2021/22 financial year and the remaining parks implementing the system in the 2022/ 23 fiscal year. “From 1 September cash will no longer be accepted as a method of payment in some of the parks. SANParks clients will be encouraged to make use of pre-booking payment systems and or speed point payment system in parks. “All trade and tourism activities will be cash-free and therefore cash…
TikTok For Business in South Africa announced today the launch of Spark Ads, a native ad format that allows advertisers to use organic user posts as part of their ad campaigns on the app. This makes it easier to leverage trending content and supplement larger campaigns. “We’re excited to officially launch Spark Ads,” said Scott Thwaites, Head of Emerging Markets, TikTok Global Business Solutions, “so that we can further enable brands to grow through real connections with our community, by elevating and sharing relevant, native content.” Thwaites added that Spark Ads was created with a one-of-a-kind solution in mind, the…
Johannesburg Water is implementing water restrictions from due to droughts. The water agency reminded the city residents on Twitter that level 1 water restrictions are still in full force. Here’s what you can and can’t do: Johannesburg Water wishes to remind residents that South Africa is a water-scarce country and urges everyone to save water whenever possible.
The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns worldwide have challenged conventional ideas on how we work and what a workplace should look like. Will the traditional 9-5 workday and five-day work week at the office come to an end as new, more flexible work patterns emerge? International research conducted by JLL and released by Tétris Design & Build (owned by JLL, a Fortune 500 company) titled Worker Preferences Barometer reveals that this may be the case, although offices will still play a leading role in the way we do business. The study, which surveyed 3,300 office workers across ten countries, showed…
The rapidly growing number of subscribers to Liberty’s Stash tax-free investment app is showing the difference in investment outlooks by different age groups and living circumstances in South Africa. Broadly, the app shows that younger investors are more tech-savvy and look online for investment options that provide them with flexibility, while older Stash investors over 40 are more focused on long-term savings goals. The app is also generating a considerable amount of interest in investing among people who don’t live in major cities but in semi-urban and rural areas. Liberty said Stash has a 111,000 active TFI accounts and over…
Naspers, through its early-stage tech investment vehicle Naspers Foundry, announced a R120 million or $8.3 million investment in Naked, the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven InsurTech company that offers a new, fully digital way for consumers to insure their cars, homes, and valuables. The transaction is Naspers Foundry’s second InsurTech investment in two weeks and its biggest investment to date. The investment is part of Naspers’s R1.4 billion commitment to grow South Africa’s early-stage tech ecosystem through Naspers Foundry. “Our ambition is to build insurance that people love by offering an experience that is affordable, convenient and transparent. We have come a…
SAP Africa has announced the appointment of Tracy Bolton as its new Chief Operating Officer for the Africa region. Cathy Smith, Managing Director at SAP Africa, says Bolton has played a crucial role in helping SAP expand its offering to new customers and drive cloud adoption among African enterprises. “Tracy has demonstrable success in leading our teams as they execute against strategic plans to deliver tangible customer outcomes. Her experience and knowledge will be invaluable as she takes on her new responsibilities.” Bolton, a 25-year IT industry veteran who has held several leadership positions at SAP over the past nine…
Telkom today revealed that it has added Instant Messaging (IM) platform, Telegram, to its FreeMe offer, both on Postpaid plans and Prepaid bundles. This after observing a keen interest by a significant portion of its customers in this platform and a sizeable uptake to it, at the start of 2021 as many sought out IM application alternatives mainly due to privacy reasons. Within 72 hours of WhatsApp’s privacy policy update at the start of the year, approximately 25 million users across the world had downloaded alternative IM platform Telegram and over 800 000 joined Signal. South Africa was no exception, as…
Vodacom has launched three new 30-day promotional LTE bundles available exclusively to new prepaid customers. Everyday-ta! Data Bundles come standard with a bolt-on YouTube data allocation, enabling customers to stay connected on SA’s leading network. To enjoy access to the Everyday-ta! Data Bundles, customers need to simply buy a bundle via the My Vodacom App or *135*111#. The bundle will be rationed in equal daily amounts, over the validity period with a YouTube allocation. For example, a customer opting for a 30GB Everyday-ta! Data Bundle at R299, will get a 1GB anytime data, every single day for 30 days,…
Movile, one of Latin America’s leading and longest-standing investors and growth accelerators for technology companies, has received a new investment from Prosus totaling$200 million or R2.8 billion, the largest primary investment in a single round since Movile’s founding in 1998. Prosus, a global consumer internet group and one of the largest technology investors in the world, has been an investor since 2008 and is the majority shareholder of Movile. The new funds will go towards expanding Movile’s current companies, including iFood, a leading foodtech company and one of the biggest tech success stories to date in Latin America; MovilePay and Zoop, two of…
Following the devastating scenes of unrest and violence in parts of South Africa, and the vandalising of infrastructure, Absa has introduced a range of customised relief measures for customers impacted by the recent disorder. “Through and post the crisis Absa has had to deliver uninterrupted banking services to our customers. The immediate need was to ensure that the closure of a branch or an ATM in an area, did not equate to eliminating access to banking. We have been hard at work restoring branch and ATM operations that were impacted in parts of South Africa,” says Bongiwe Gangeni, Deputy Chief…
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) will implement tax relief measures in response to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and recent civil unrest. At the weekend, the revenue collector said the relief measures, which were announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa a week ago, are to assist affected and tax compliant businesses to recover and ensure livelihoods for their employees. “SARS will implement these tax relief measures because compliant taxpayers have paid their fair share of tax, making it possible for the government to provide such a temporary safety net in a time of extreme difficulty,” SARS said in a statement. SARS…
Capitec clients can now get cash back on their purchases at Dis-Chem and Baby City by simply paying with their Capitec Debit or Credit card. A benefit that can collectively save their clients that shop there over R25 million per year. The 2% cash back will automatically be paid monthly into their free Capitec Live Better Savings Account, which offers a percent higher interest rate than clients earn on their main transactional account. Francois Viviers, executive of Marketing and Communications at Capitec says “Research shows us that people are tired of traditional rewards programs that require you to jump through…
This week the Banking Association of South Africa (BASA) came to an agreement with South Africa’s banks that Saswitch fee, a fee that customers pay for using other banks’ ATMs, will be waived for a period of two months with effect from 1st August 2021. This is in response to the recent civil unrest where some ATMs in Gauteng and KwaZulu -Natal were damaged and are currently not available for use. Kabelo Makeke, Head of Consumer and High Net Worth clients South Africa says, “We understand that some of our clients are adversely affected by the unavailability of the damaged…
By some estimates, South Africa has as much as R35 trillion worth of untapped mineral wealth. Despite that, the country has in recent years not attracted sufficient investment to allow for new mines to be opened or for substantial exploration campaigns to be carried out. One way to fuel new growth in the sector is for it to embrace digital transformation. Despite the unique challenges associated with South Africa’s mining conditions, embracing new technologies and digitally driven processes could result in mass benefits to the local mining sector. That was the messaging from a mining roundtable hosted by Huawei and…
MakwaIT, a 100% youth and black-owned Information and Communications Technology (ICT) company is committed to closing the ICT skills gap by assisting in the development of skills through a specialized ICT skills incubation program. The incubation is a 12-month contractual program for both unemployed but determined youth with no prior ICT skills as well as youth who have formal IT education but no working experience and are extremely eager to pursue a thriving career in the ICT sector. The MakwaIT Academy has been offering global-standard practical experience and theoretical training to South African self-starters since February 2020. To this day,…
InsurTech firm Flock announced on Thursday it has raised $17 million or R248 million to reinvent insurance for connected vehicles. The InsurTech firm will use the funds to supercharge its expansion into new geographies and product lines. Flock is a venture capital and Government-backed London InsurTech using data to insure connected motor fleets and commercial drone operations. The round was led by Social Capital, the Californian investment firm run by Chamath Palihapitiya, a renowned tech investor, Chairman of Virgin Galactic, and an early backer of Slack, Tesla, and Bitcoin. Our incredible existing investors Anthemis and Dig Ventures also participated. The company said the funding marks…
Standard Bank’s Instant Money cash transfer product has more than tripled its access points in nine months. Today, the bank announced that the service is now available at about 50 000 access points in South Africa. In November last year, the bank had 15 000 access points. Instant Money is a money transfer product that allows consumers who do not have a bank account to send and receive cash. Funds can be transferred using internet banking, ATM’s, the banking app and cellphone banking. The service is also available at various retail partners. With Instant Money, a limit of R 5000…
Kaspersky’s international study on dating and the impact of technology on relationships has found that the majority of users positively perceive the role of smart algorithms in dating services – 44% of those surveyed in South Africa would trust the matchmaking choice of AI, and 65% noted that the recommendations of the algorithms fully correspond to their preferences. This positive perception of AI, in general, is backed up by a global survey commissioned by ARM where 54% of respondents admitted that they were interested in using AI to serve as a personal companion or assistant. Online dating is no different,…
What do you get when you blend make-up tutorials with inspirational and uplifting stories of successful women? Behind the Beauty – an Avon YouTube masterclass relevant for the beginner, or expert, proudly hosted by renowned make-up artist Precious Xaba. Featuring open and honest discussions with South African personalities and celebrities about the real challenges they have faced, or are facing, in their lives, Behind the Beauty aims to unmask what lies behind the personalities whom the public adore and create a community forum for inspiration to help others overcome similar barriers to success. Behind the Beauty launches this month and…