Author: Staff Writer

Phuthuma Nathi is looking for 22 000 shareholders who owned shares and did not receive dividends between 2006 and 2020. There is R207 million in unclaimed dividends, waiting for their rightful owners. “This money belongs to our shareholders. We’re calling on them to contact us to get their money. In these tough economic times we want to do everything in our power to give them what is rightfully theirs,” say Mandla Langa, chairman of Phuthuma Nathi. The MultiChoice BBBEE share scheme, Phuthuma Nathi, is one of the most successful schemes in South Africa. It is truly broad-based with more than…

Investec, as mandated lead arranger, has provided Vox, a market-leading end-to-end integrated ICT and infrastructure provider, with access to debt facilities to fund their fibre rollout plans. Investec was the mandated lead arranger on the Vox deal who structured the debt package, managed the entire process and brought in Rand Merchant Bank and Standard Bank as fellow lenders. “The roll-out of fibre via our subsidiary Frogfoot, is key to helping revolutionise the lives of local families and businesses, by providing a fast, affordable and reliable platform for communication. However, the fibre telecommunications game is a competitive one and the right…

AURA, South Africa’s security and medical response platform, has launched WhatsApp security chatbot in partnership with Tracker, one of the country’s most trusted names in stolen vehicle recovery. Powered by Aura, Tracker’s unique Tracker CareGuard service offers rapid mobile emergency response anywhere, anytime within South Africa. The new cutting-edge solution enables subscribers to request immediate mobile armed response assistance wherever they are by sharing a location pin in WhatsApp. Warren Myers, Founder and CEO of Aura says the new WhatsApp service illustrates the power of technology in preventing and combating crime and the role it plays in enabling South African…

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday extended the Special 350 COVID-19 Grant, by a further three months. SASSA has processed in excess of 9.6 million applications each month from May 2020 to January 2021 and has paid more than 6.5 million grants per month. The total amount spent on this grant to date has exceeded R16 billion. The following should be noted about this grant: There is no need to go to a SASSA office; all SRD processes are done online. Any amendments on your application can be made at https://srd.sassa.gov.za Those persons already who have received this grant and are…

The month of February is always when people think of new ways to celebrate their love for their partners. It is also when cybercriminals, as previously reported, think of new and creative ways to target and lure new victims with malicious activity. Especially during the current global restrictions enforced by the pandemic, which has driven significant increases in online shopping. As people go online to purchase gifts for their loved ones during this period, Check Point Research (CPR) has observed a surge in malicious phishing email campaigns in the second half of January with over 400 malicious Valentine’s day themed…

IROKO, a Nigerian-based video-on-demand (VoD) company, may list on London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) Alternative Investment Market within the next 12 months. The company aims to raise between $20 million (R294 million) and $30 million (R441 million) and would value the whole business at between $80 million and $100 million (R1.4 billion). Speaking from Accra to The Africa Report, IROKO’s co-founder and CEO, Jason Njoku said discussions with brokers would start in the coming weeks. Njoku, who holds an 18% stake in the debt-free company, founded the business with Bastian Gotter in 2011. IROKO has the world’s most extensive online catalogue of…

Dimension Data has partnered with Mimecast to provide a Managed Secure Email service to help organisations address the growing number of advanced threats targeting users, including spam, business email compromise attacks, malware and spear-phishing. Managed Secure Email will help ensure that organisations are secure by design, offering protection from malicious activity, human error and technology failure. Mimecast’s State of Email Security 2020 report found that organisations saw a 53% increase in phishing attacks and a 45% increase in ransomware attacks in the last twelve months. As email-borne attacks grow, a layered approach to cyber resilience is required to protect any…

Huawei’s CEO Ren Zhengfei has pledged to stick to a globalisation strategy despite external pressure. He has called on the new US administration to come up with more open policies that are in the interests of US companies and the US economy as a whole. These are the first public remarks the Huawei founder has made since the change of the US administration in January. In May 2019, the US commerce department added, Huawei into the Entity List, which prohibits the company from purchasing US technologies as well as software services. In 2020, the Trump administration further restricted Huawei from…

Meat Naturally and Agricool Finance were awarded joint first place in the 10th Annual Social Innovation Awards, while Leafline Washable Sanitary Wear scooped first place in the Disability Empowerment Awards. All three winners were awarded R1.3 million in grant funding by the SAB Foundation Social Innovation and Disability Empowerment Awards. A total amount of R12.6 million in grant funding and business development support was given away to all our 17 Finalists. The Social Innovation Awards are aimed at innovators, entrepreneurs and institutions with prototypes or early-stage businesses that solve a social problem through a sustainable business model. Joint first place…

Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC) has committed $10 million (R148 million) to venture capital firm Knife Capital’s new African Series B expansion fund, Knife Fund III. The Fund’s aim is to invest behind the aggressive expansion of African innovation-driven companies and fill a critical follow-on funding gap. The commitment positions Mineworkers Investment Company as an anchor investor to the Fund alongside other local and international investors. “The move to change the way local institutional investors approach venture capital investment has been in the pipeline at MIC for a number of years now. Our venturing into the earlier-stage alternative asset class space…

Net1, a JSE-listed company, announced that it has appointed Lincoln Mali as CEO of Net1 Southern Africa, a new position for the company. Mali is currently the Head of Group Card and Payments at Standard Bank Group. The company said Mali is a highly accomplished financial services executive with over 25 years in the industry. He also chairs the board of directors of Diners Club South Africa and is a member of the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) Business Council for Visa. “After a thorough and rigorous search process, we are delighted that Lincoln Mali has agreed…

Telkom Business has launched an Unlimited Voice Plan offer to help small business subscribers save up on unlimited voice calls by almost 30%. The proposal targets small business owners who are new customers and those previously with Telkom but had to suspend or cancel the service due to lack of affordability. The new plans will also be available to existing Telkom Business customers who wish to add voice line to their existing package. Telkom Business said the new unlimited voice call plans available for R199 per month. “This offering includes monthly line rentals as well as usage, saving the average…

Long-time Vodacom customer Rilwelani Mmbooi, a 27-year-old mother from Limpopo, has been announced as the second grand prize winner of Vodacom’s ShakeOff 2020 campaign, driving home in a brand-new Mini Cooper. Mmbooi, an avid fan of Vodacom’s promotional competitions, would use the USSD (*133# or *135#) channel to access the ShakeOff Summer menu and play with the hopes of winning free data, never expecting that she would one day be a grand prize winner. Since the 2019 Shake!Up campaign, Mmbooi has been shaking daily and recently moved from shaking on USSD to the My Vodacom App, where she could see all…

Vodacom announced on Monday that finally its customers using Apple’s latest iPhone 12 can finally be connected to the mobile phone company’s 5G network. The Vodafone-owned mobile phone firm said in a statement: “Vodacom is pleased to share that we’re now offering 5G cellular support for the powerful new iPhone 12 line-up.” The company did not provide details on why its support for 5G on Apple’s new iPhones was delayed for two months. The sales of the news iPhones by Vodacom stated on Friday, 18 December 2020. The new Apple iPhone 12 family, including iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone…

VidlyIT, a solution that uses IoT smart water meter sensors to assess, aggregated smart reports on the water quantity and quality in circulation, has won the Empire Partner Foundation Hydro Solution Hackathon. The Empire Partner Foundation is a non-profit organisation started by a group of young South Africans. Its goal is to build South Africa, and eventually, the continent of Africa, by solving critical challenges through tech. The Empire Partner Foundation has committed to mentoring VidlyIT for 6-months. “This is one example of how the Empire Partner Foundation is uncovering potential, empowering the technology enthusiasts for impact” the Empire Partner…

Synthesis Software Technologies, a software development and consulting company, has recently attained the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Security Competency. This adds to the company’s announcement of securing the AWS Microsoft Workloads Competency and Synthesis’ growing list of AWS Competency designations. This achievement showcases Synthesis commitment to elevate and enhance its clients’ security posture in the cloud. A select number of AWS Partners that have achieved the AWS Security Competency have proven technical security proficiency and have demonstrated capability with a number of secure cloud implementations. Synthesis achieved the AWS Security Competency after qualifying through a rigorous process to meet AWS’s…

Vodacom has pledged R10 million to fund a private sector-led, multi-sectoral Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) Response Fund 1 to support the implementation of the National Strategic Plan (NSP), and the wider GBVF response in the country. Pioneered by the International Women’s Forum South Africa (IWFSA) and the Presidency in collaboration with several strategic partners, the GBVF Response Fund 1 is the brainchild of a resolution of the Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Declaration, which followed the 2018 GBVF Summit and is aimed at finding sustainable solutions to ending the scourge of GBV in South Africa. “We are delighted about the…

Microsoft today announced Microsoft Viva, a new employee experience platform designed to help people connect, focus, learn, and thrive at work. The platform aims to replace the old intranet sites and help businesses with remote working. Microsoft Viva said is built on Microsoft 365 to bring together communications, knowledge, learning, and insights into an integrated employee experience that empowers people and teams to be their best‚ from anywhere. “We have participated in the largest at-scale remote work experiment the world has seen, and it has had a dramatic impact on the employee experience,” Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft, said in a…

Avon Justine joins the global community to commemorate World Cancer Day on 4th February 2021 by reaffirming its commitment to work with organisations that support breast cancer survivors. As a company for women, Avon Justine has used the power of beauty and its brand to champion awareness and education about the importance of early detection, which has been clinically proven to improve the chances of successful treatment. Avon Justine has supported non-governmental organisations such as the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA), Look Good…Feel Better, Journeysys and Wings of Hope by hosting events like the iThemba Walkathon, the biggest cancer…

JSE-listed Altron has announced the appointment of Nametsegang Maruping as Group Executive: Human Capital, with effect from 1 February 2021. Maruping is currently Head of Human Capital in Altron Rest of Africa, a position which she retains. Maruping joined Altron Rest of Africa in 2018 as the Head of Human Capital. She was responsible for leading and providing human capital strategic oversight across Africa and the Middle East with a key focus on Botswana; Kenya; Mauritius; Middle East, Mozambique; Namibia and South Africa. Prior to joining Altron, Maruping worked at companies such as Absa, Standard Bank and Unilever as well…

Aerobotics has brought on agricultural industry leader and technical agronomist Liaan Janse van Vuuren to further develop its intelligent tools for increasing and protecting yields. As an industry stalwart, Liaan is training Aerobotics’ artificial intelligence in the field to equip growers and their advisers with an eye in the sky that sees everything and misses nothing when it comes to crop performance. Aerobotics’ aerial imagery supports its industry-leading product suite, that includes insights on-farm health, tree canopy size, tree counts and missing tree counts. The company’s agricultural customer base use these insights to protect and increase the production of every…

Ukheshe announced on Thursday the appointment of Prins Mhlanga as a non-executive director of the digital FinTech platform provider. Mhlanga is a South African entrepreneur with a long career in the ICT space. He is currently the founder and CEO of the Ocean on 76 Group. Mhlanga is also a former Managing Executive of Digital Media at Vodacom. Since launching two years ago, Ukheshe has established itself as a leading payment technology specialist successfully collaborating with several blue-chip payment brands. The appointment of Mhlanga comes at a time when the company has refocused on the B2B sector and is streamlining…

The two most critical components in an organisation’s journey to becoming digitally transformed are data and analytics. According to Andreas Bartsch, Head of Service Delivery at PBT Group, it comes down to being able to leverage information as a critical asset that delivers business value. “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of embracing a digital way of thinking especially given the normalisation of the distributed work environment. But more than the tools required to keep employees productive regardless of their physical location, decision-makers must reassess how they view their organisation in this new world,” says Bartsch. Putting data first…

Clinicians can now self-register to get their COVID-19 inoculation, as government prepares for its historic vaccination rollout in the next coming weeks. Launching the Electronic Vaccine Data System (EVDS) on Wednesday, Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said more than 34 000 frontline workers have already registered. Healthcare workers can register on http://vaccine.enroll.health.gov.za. In line with the phased approach of the vaccine rollout plan, the Minister is calling on all health workers to self-register on the portal. According to Mkhize, those who have so far registered include clinical and non-clinical healthcare workers from both the public and private sectors. Mkhize said…

Cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, has been steadily increasing in its popularity as a speculative investment by South Africans and, it appears, is now squarely within the focus of the South African Revenue Service (SARS). This is according to Thomas Lobban, a legal manager for Cross-Border Taxation at Tax Consulting SA, who argues that when a taxpayer files a tax return, SARS may send a request for verification or “audit request” in which it seeks clarification or supporting documentation from a taxpayer. Lobban said the information sought by SARS is inevitably linked to the disclosures made by the taxpayer in that…