Author: Staff Writer
The National Treasury says its technicians are working around the clock to solve a technical problem that saw its e-Tender portal experience technical difficulties. In a statement, the department on Wednesday said the ICT server infrastructure that hosts the e-Tender portal suffered a crash caused by a technical failure. “This resulted in data corruption, leading to the unavailability of the site. Technicians have been hard at work to solve the problem. Updates will be provided on progress and it is expected to be resolved as a matter of priority,” National Treasury said. The e-Tender portal downtime does not impact on…
Absa Group, one of the largest financial service providers in Africa, has launched a cloud incubator initiative in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), a cloud services provider, to enhance its cloud computing skills across its operations in Africa. As one of the largest cloud adopters in Africa, Absa is promoting cloud fluency as part of its broader efforts to promote learning, experimentation and innovation across the organisation to enhance the banking experience for its customers. By migrating to the cloud, companies can eliminate the expense of building and managing on-site data centres while gaining the ability to reduce infrastructure…
Microsoft revealed that it is the first cloud provider that is exploring two-phase immersion cooling technology. The tech giant said this experiment is part of the company’s multi-pronged strategy to make datacentres more sustainable and efficient to build, operate and maintain. The liquid cooling project is similar to Microsoft’s Project Natick, which is exploring the potential of underwater datacenters that are quick to deploy and can operate for years on the seabed sealed inside submarine-like tubes without any onsite maintenance by people. Instead of an engineered fluid, the underwater datacentres is filled with dry nitrogen air. The servers are cooled with…
Rectron, one of South Africa’s leading distributors of IT products, continues to strengthen its enterprise offering with the addition of Newland ID, a manufacturer of barcode scanners, to its portfolio. As part of the agreement, Rectron will be distributing the full Newland ID range, comprising (wireless) handheld scanners, stationary scanners, mobile computers, tablets, micro kiosks, and OEM scan engines, as well as offering pre-sales support and first-line technical support. This includes managing all repairs and RMA-related incidents in house and with third parties where necessary. “Through Rectron, the South African market will now have full access to the Newland ID…
As healthcare organisations scrambled to cope with huge surges in patient numbers in the wake of the pandemic, the past year has seen a major step-change in the adoption of technology and digital services. But on World Health Day, any progress they have made in their digital transformation risks being washed away by the deluge of resulting data. According to research by Aruba, a HPE company, as of last year, the healthcare sector was among the furthest ahead in terms of its adoption of advanced technologies and the sense of urgency it felt around this. Around three-quarters of healthcare IT leaders had started to implement trials or applications…
Vodacom Group and Vodafone Foundation will donate R74 million to support the vaccine roll-out to vulnerable and hard to reach communities across its markets in Africa. The contribution will buy cold-chain technology and provide logistics support to help to ensure the safe delivery of COVID-19 vaccines that need to be stored at extremely cold temperatures. Separately the organisations will donate €0.8 million (R13 million) to Lesotho to purchase vaccines. The Vodacom Group and Vodafone Foundations have already contributed €10 million (R176 million) in cash and in-kind donations in response to the pandemic. “Targeted donations from Vodafone Foundation and Vodacom Group…
General Motors (GM) is building a Silverado electric pickup truck to offer customers an estimated range of more than 643 kilometres on a full charge. The company said in a statement it plans to deliver more than 1 million electric vehicles globally by 2025. The Chevrolet Silverado electric full-size pickup is designed from the ground up to be an EV, harnessing the best of the Ultium Platform and Silverado’s proven capability. It will be built at the company’s Factory ZERO assembly plant in Detroit and Hamtramck, Michigan. “The vehicles coming from Factory ZERO will change the world, and how the…
South Africa’s largest landlord Growthpoint Properties has opened its first specialised surgical hospital. The hospital is known as Cintocare Private Surgical Hospital. Cintocare Hospital in the green Menlyn Main precinct is a tailor-made, high-performance clinical centre of excellence focused exclusively on head, neck, spinal and vascular surgery. Construction of the R470 million specialist surgical hospital began in July 2018 and, despite the COVID-19 lockdown, was completed on time at the end of 2020. The hospital was built by Growthpoint Healthcare, which invests exclusively in and manages healthcare property assets in South Africa, including hospitals, clinics, biotechnology facilities and laboratories. Growthpoint holds…
Africa Data Centres, Africa’s largest network of interconnected, carrier- and cloud-neutral data centre facilities, has confirmed a significant investment in constructing a new data centre facility in Lagos, Nigeria. Liquid Intelligent Technologies own Africa Data Centres. Nigeria is a key African market, says Stephane Duproz, CEO of Africa Data Centres. “This region is hungry for digitisation and to pave the way for our hyperscale customers to deploy digitisation solutions to West Africa, Africa Data Centres’ construction of a 10-megawatt data centre in Lagos is well underway. The Lagos build marks a significant step forward in its ambitious long-term strategy to…
Vodacom aims to focus on celebrating the human spirit and what it can achieve in partnership with technology. The new brand tagline, ‘Further Together’ it places the emphasis on how – through partnerships and collaboration – it is possible to connect everyone to the digital economy so that no one is left behind, says Balesh Sharma, Managing Director Vodacom South Africa. Vodacom launched “The future is exciting. Ready?” as its previous brand positioning only three-and-a-half years ago in October 2017. As the world transitions to recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vodacom is celebrating what the human spirit…
The Pegasus Vertical Business Jet (VBJ), being developed in South Africa, is entering its next phase with two quarter-scale models to be ready for testing and engineering by May 2021 and a full-scale unmanned hover model by the end of the year. This follows the successful hover demonstration of a 1/8-scale model in July last year and the registration of patent rights in South Africa, Europe, and the US. The aircraft is set to revolutionize business travel globally and free travellers from the burden of the time-consuming drive to the airport. The aircraft, that combines and enhances the characteristics of…
South Africa’s only manufacturer of mobile devices has praised the South African Government’s massive vote of confidence in its decision to recognise Mara Phones as its preferred device brand in all procurements for the next five years. In the recently awarded RT15-2021 contract for ‘the supply and delivery of mobile communication services to the state for the period 01 April 2021 to 31 March 2026’, National Treasury requires preference to be given to local mobile device manufacturers and Mara Phones has been given first preference in the published list of nominated OEMs. “All other device brands supplied by Vodacom, MTN,…
A South African worker employed by one of the country’s biggest insurer was fired for tweeting to President Cyril Ramaphosa and the South African Police Service (SAPS). The case of this worker fired for a tweet was recently held by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). At the end of March 2020, Ramaphosa declared the national state of disaster and the insurer decided to send its workforce home. Sean Jamieson, a senior associate at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, wrote in the law firm’s blog that two days later, management received confirmation that it was regarded as an essential service.…
Eskom loses a court battle to stop US-based software giant Oracle from withdrawing its crucial services over a dispute relating to billions of rands owed by the power utility. The Sunday World reported that South Africa is now at the mercy of Oracle to save it from plunging into darkness and keep the lights on. Eskom failed to convince the Johannesburg High Court to stop Oracle from withdrawing its crucial services. Oracle provides an online vending system that records 77 million transactions of electricity a month. The embattled power utility also uses Oracle’s products and services for load monitoring of…
Today, Vodacom is reducing pricing on certain 30-day data bundles by up to 14% as part of its ongoing commitment to reduce the cost to communicate and connect more people to the digital economy. The latest price reduction includes the frequently purchased 1GB bundle, which is now R85, a 14% reduction from R99. As part of these price adjustments Vodacom is also giving greater value to customers by allocating up to 33% more data on selected 30-day bundles, to ensure customers get more value at last year’s prices. This will promote digital inclusion and assist our 43 million customers in…
Today, Vodacom is celebrating the achievements of 146 youth, including 89 women who graduated with certified ICT certificates from the mobile operator’s Youth Academy programme at a virtual graduation ceremony. The graduates spent 12 demanding months training through the Vodacom Youth Academy, whose sole purpose is empowering unemployed youth from impoverished backgrounds with ICT skills. The programme is designed to inspire graduates to use the ICT skills they’ve acquired to better their lives through furthering their education, looking for entrepreneurial opportunities or seeking employment. To date, the programme has trained 1 479 unemployed youth. Vodacom’s commitment is to train another…
The Huawei Mate 40 Pro and Samsung A-Series range of devices are now available for sale through Telkom’s online channel and in stores across the country. The Huawei Mate 40 Pro device comes with an impressive 3D Face Unlock feature – no doubt keeping up with the latest advancements in smartphone technology. It also has an On-Screen Fingerprint, a front and rear camera and a sleek 6.76 OLED Display. The Huawei Mate 40 Pro is bundled with a free Bluetooth headset and wireless charger while stocks last. Samsung devices Telkom Mobile and Telkom Business customers may purchase the Samsung A32,…
Prosus, one of the largest technology investors in the world, today announced Romain Voog as CEO of OLX Group. Serving 300 million monthly users in more than 30 countries across five continents, OLX Group is a global classifieds business operating 20+ consumer brands built by a global workforce of 10,000. Voog joins OLX Group from Airbnb, where he was VP for Worldwide Sales Operations and Geographies. The company said his deep global consumer internet experience is bolstered by previous leadership roles including CEO for Global Fashion Group, and president of Amazon France. Voog started his career in consulting at Bain…
Telkom has launched a new tariff plan named Thola More. The new prepaid plan will replace the company’s voice-focused offering – SIM Sonke, effective today to include data and extra SMS and calling benefits upon recharging. Telkom Thola More is a prepaid tariff plan that offers prepaid customers additional free benefits including data, SMSs and Telkom-to-Telkom voice call minutes when they recharge their account with R5 airtime or more. The benefits apply to new and existing customers who migrate to the tariff plan. “Essentially, customers be will rewarded with free all-network data, on-net minutes and SMSs as specified in the…
MTN is rolling out an updated, more affordable range of capped broadband plans today. MTN’s new fixed long-term evolution (FLTE) proposition includes a new promotional price entry point for MyMTN Home of R269 for 120GB. A new 500GB plan is also added at R699 over 24 months, including a Fixed LTE Wi-Fi router. Customers who sign up on selected MyMTN Home packages on a SIM only month-to-month payment plan will get their first month free. To take advantage of this offer the customer needs to purchase a Fixed LTE router from any MTN store from R1999, the offer is valid…
Dimension Data announced on Thursday it has acquired Acacia Cloud Solutions, a market-leading cloud implementation partner with an exceptional AWS (Amazon Web Services) pedigree. The move cements Dimension Data’s commitment to invest in cloud services and solutions that meet the digital transformation and hybrid cloud requirements of organisations in the Middle East and Africa region in an increasingly competitive and digital business operating landscape. The acquisition will expand Dimension Data’s AWS capabilities and provide its clients with innovative cloud managed services solutions that deliver relevant optimisation tools and speed to market. This will see both companies building more capacity and skills…
The National Treasury has chosen to retain the services of Vodacom, awarding the company with a new mobile communication services contract. The RT15 2021 Transversal contract allows all state entities to utilise the contract for mobile communication services, which will further assist with cost containment. In 2016, Vodacom was appointed as the sole provider of mobile telecommunication services to the government. The contract comes to an end. The new 2021 transversal contract is for sixty (60) months commencing on 01 April 2021 to 31 March 2026. It has been awarded to multiple Service Providers, including Vodacom, MTN, Telkom and Cell C. For more…
The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies will conduct public hearings into the Draft White Paper on Audio-Visual Content Services Policy Framework. Last year, the department gazetted the Draft White Paper on Audio-Visual Content Services for public comment. The Public hearings on the Draft White Paper on Audio-Visual Content Services Policy Framework are set to start in April. The objectives of the Draft White Paper are to solicit inputs from the sector and all affected stakeholders to ensure that it covers all aspects of audio-visual content players, in preparation for the final White Paper. The draft White Paper, among others,…
Telkom has welcomed the National Treasury to its growing list of clients following a competitive pitch process after which the company was added as one of the official service providers. As part of the RT15-2021 Transversal contract, Telkom will provide government institutions with Mobile Communication Services for the period commencing 1 April 2021 and ending 31 March 2026. The Transversal Contract RT15-2021 is a 5-year tender that offers successful mobile service providers the opportunity to serve the South African government with all its mobile and enterprise solutions including hardware and software as well as accessories. “We couldn’t be prouder to…
MTN South Africa announced on Wednesday that MoMo (Mobile Money) subscribers will be able to cash-in and cash-out at 1,647 Pick n Pay stores across the country. Customers should be registered on MoMo app to use the new service. They will require an 8-digit Voucher Number and a PIN number to perform a MoMo transaction at the Pick n Pay point of sale tills. “We’re pleased to extend our relationship with Pick n Pay by offering quick and convenient cash-in and cash-out services to our 2,8 million MoMo subscribers through Pick n Pay stores,” says Felix Kamenga, MTN SA’s Chief…