Author: Staff Writer

Absa Group announced today it has been selected to serve on the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council’s (PCI SSC’s) Board of Advisors in 2021 and 2022. The banking group said in a statement in this role will be able to help shape the development of payment data security standards and programmes globally. The PCI SSC leads a global, cross-industry effort to increase payment security by providing industry-driven data security standards and programmes that help businesses detect, mitigate and prevent cyberattacks and breaches. Absa Group Chief Security Officer Sandro Bucchianeri will represent Absa on the board for the third consecutive…

The South African EduTech startup Play Sense has become one of the first registered play-focused preschool franchises in the country. Play Sense raised R8.25 million in early-stage funding from USA-based Enygma Ventures in April. The private investment fund focuses on investing in women-led social impact businesses in Southern Africa. The Africa Trust Group is its local implementation partner. The digitally-enabled micro-playschool programme enables teachers to set up their own playschools at home under the Play Sense banner, with its imaginative play-centred curriculum for preschoolers as its primary drawcard. It has now become one of the first programmes of its kind…

Customers pay for goods or services via the channel of their choice. Transaction Junction’s omnichannel payment platform enables this, while affording retailers a holistic view of their clients. The convergence of the physical and digital worlds means that geographic monopoly is playing an increasingly smaller role in selling products and services. Moreover, competing on price alone is no longer an effective way to succeed in business, which is why customer experience (CX) has become increasingly important. Payment is a crucial part of CX, but with the introduction of multiple eCommerce channels, the advancement of payment technologies and the abundance of…

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has urged the public against doing any financial services business with Tradetheatre Capital Markets Pty, which it has warned is not authorised to give any financial advice or render any intermediary services. The FSCA said according to the Tradetheatre Capital Markets’ website, it is a trading platform that offers trading in Forex, CFD, Cryptos and/or Binary Options. The website claims that Tradetheatre Capital Markets Pty and Tradetheatre Middle East Ltd are authorised by the FSCA and the Financial Services Regulatory Authority in Abu Dhabi respectively. The Financial Services Regulatory Authority has confirmed that Tradetheatre…

Concor (formerly Murray & Roberts) has successfully completed a fast-track COVID-19 facility at Jubilee Hospital using innovative building technology. The construction company said this facility was handed over on 27 November 2020, having begun work on site some five months earlier. Following the national COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020, the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Department issued a tender for this facility for the Gauteng Department of Health. Concor won the bid and began earthworks in July 2020. The turnkey project in Hammanskraal north of Pretoria handed over ten modular units to the Gauteng Department of Health, adding another 300 beds…

With the COVID-19 pandemic having battered the South African fiscus in 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa has cautioned that the country will have to embrace innovative interventions to rebuild the economy in the New Year. The President said this on Monday in his first weekly newsletter of 2021. “Public finances are under extreme strain, now even more so because of the cost of our health response to COVID-19 and the social and economic relief measures we put in place to assist businesses and poor households,” he wrote. “The contraction of the economy also meant that tax revenue has declined significantly. There…

Checkers Sixty60 was recently recognised as one of Memeburn’s best apps of 2020 – the apps were those who helped to manage the stress and chaos of lockdowns and social distancing. While 2020’s unexpected turn of events presented many challenges, Sixty60 provided customers with an innovative and safe solution to have their groceries delivered at the touch of a button at the same value for money for which Checkers is renowned. Customer response has been exceptional due to the service’s lightning-fast service and ease of use, and order volumes skyrocketed during lockdown necessitating Checkers to rapidly expand Sixty60 throughout the…

Dimension Data has put up a for-sale sign for its Mweb Internet service provider (ISP) business. Techcentral exclusively reported today that Dimension Data has appointed Standard Bank to lead the sale process. Four years ago Dimension Data, which is owned by Japan’s NTT, bought 100% control of Mweb from MultiChoice Group – which at the time was owned by Naspers. The company is an ISP based in South Africa since 1997. It is a division of Internet Solutions Digital Ltd, a subsidiary of Dimension Data, and its headquarters are located in the Mweb Building in Parow, Cape Town. It is…

Curro Holdings, the South African JSE-listed independent education provider, has appointed JP le Roux as the Executive Head of its flagship technology-driven school, Curro Foreshore. Le Roux will take the helm effective January 2021. The appointment comes alongside the school undergoing a major revamp. With a wealth of experience and a master’s degree in mathematics education, Le Roux was previously the head of mathematics and the deputy principal at Cedar House School in Cape Town. He is most looking forward to steering the school to even greater success. Curro Foreshore was the first school in the group to adopt the…

In Q4, Microsoft was again the brand most frequently targeted by cybercriminals, as it was in Q3, according to a recent report. Check Point Research, the Threat Intelligence arm of Check Point Software Technologies, a provider of cybersecurity solutions globally, has published its new Brand Phishing Report for Q4 2020. The report highlights the brands, which were most frequently imitated by criminals in their attempts to steal individuals’ personal information or payment credentials during October, November and December. The report states that forty-three percent of all brand phishing attempts related to the technology giant (up from 19% in Q3), as…

South Africa’s Information Regulator has announced that it met Facebook South Africa on Wednesday to discuss its revised WhatsApp privacy policy. WhatsApp’s revised private policy sparked a global outcry after the popular Facebook-owned messaging app alerted its 2 billion users to accept the new terms if they wanted to continue using it. According to reports, WhatsApp will now share data with Facebook. “As part of the Facebook family of companies, WhatsApp receives information from, and shares information with, this family of companies,” Ars Technica quoted the new privacy policy. “We may use the information we receive from them, and they…

Africa’s largest data science academy EXPLORE Data Science Academy has added Data Engineering to its online training offerings. Starting Monday, January 18, 2021, the 12-month course will provide applicants with the specific skill set required to become data engineers – a key role in the successful digital transformation of a business. Shaun Dippnall, CEO of EXPLORE Data Science Academy, explains, “The use of vast quantities of data by data scientists now requires those with a specialised skill set to organise data and ensure its quality, security and availability to the organisation.  These are data engineers.” According to Dippnall apart from the skill…

As one of the pioneers in the use of a smartphone as a digital vehicle key since 2018, BMW is pressing ahead with the development and popularisation of its BMW Digital Key feature, which is available to iPhone users today. In line with this goal, the premium car manufacturer will introduce the BMW Digital Key Plus, a convenient and secure way to unlock and start your car without taking your iPhone out of your bag or pocket. This latest incarnation of the service is based on Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology, the technology found on the U1 chip of iPhone. The BMW Digital Key Plus feature…

F5 Networks is buying privately distributed cloud services platform Volterra for $500 million (R7,6 billion). With the addition of Volterra’s technology platform, F5 Networks is creating an edge platform built for enterprises and service providers that will be security-first and app-driven with unlimited scale. F5 Networks also reiterated its commitment to return $1 billion of capital over the next two years, including the initiation of a $500 million accelerated share repurchase in fiscal year 2021. “Current edge solutions are simply inadequate for today’s enterprise customers. It’s time to break out of closed edge systems that only perpetuate the pain of…

Seattle Coffee Company understands that while its business is coffee, customer service is equally as critical. To this end, it has partnered with Transaction Junction to make both payments and tipping a simple and easy process. In the hospitality industry, the need to focus on customer service is paramount, and delivering such service effectively is predicated on two specific angles. The first of these lies in having well-trained, focused staff to ensure that all the customer’s requirements are adequately met. The second lies in facilitating a manageable payment, regardless of which payment method the customer chooses to use. For Seattle…

The number of South African school students succeeding in maths at a school level is in steady decline. The COVID-19 pandemic has placed even more strain on learners wanting to improve and further their maths skills. Summarising the Department of Basic Education’s school report of 2019, the department claims that since 2015 there has been a steady decline each year in the number of students who sit and write exams for subjects vital to the growth of the economy such as maths and science. To participate in easing this economic concern, Ivy Academy has stepped in to fill the gap…

MTN announced on Monday that it will reward customers who download the COVID-19 Alert SA app with 1GB of free data for their efforts in fighting the pandemic. The COVID Alert SA app, which was designed by Discovery for the National Department of Health, uses Bluetooth contact-tracing technology. The app lets people know when they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. It does this in a way that always preserves app user privacy and anonymity. “One of the critical aspects of combatting COVID-19 is the ability to detect positive cases early and to isolate…

Top Sub-Saharan African banks suffered a 15% drop in fees from advising on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in 2020 as a fall in overall dealmaking transactions ate into their revenues. An estimated $523.7 million (R8 billion) worth of investment banking fees were earned in Sub-Saharan Africa during 2020, down 15% from 2019 and the lowest annual total in six years, according to data provider Refinitiv. Fee declines were recorded across M&A advisory, debt capital markets underwriting, and syndicated lending. Advisory fees earned from completed M&A transactions generated $108.3 million (R1,6 billion), down 55% year-on-year to the lowest level since 2013. …

MyBroadband Insights has released the 2020 Mobile Network Quality Report, which shows that MTN has the best mobile phone network in South Africa. The report is based on 1.2 million speed tests which were performed by 41,000 MyBroadband Speed Test App users across South Africa between 1 January and 31 December 2020. The research shows that South Africa had an average download speed of 29.33Mbps and an average upload speed of 11.24Mbps last year. MTN had the highest average download speed at 52.84Mbps, followed by Vodacom on 29.39Mbps, Telkom on 21.58Mbps, Cell C on 17.46Mbps, and Rain on 11.90Mbps. During…

Apple is in negotiations with multiple global automakers. Hyundai is one of them and we are in the early stages of talks. Nothing has been decided, Hyundai Motor Co. said in a statement. The official comments come in response to an earlier report by the Korea Economic TV,  a unit of The Korea Economic Daily, that Apple has approached Hyundai Motor Group to propose cooperation in its efforts to develop an electric car as well as rechargeable batteries used in EVs. A Hyundai Motor official initially denied the report, according to The Korea Economic Daily. The South Korean automaker Chairman…

The South African Medical Association (SAMA) has attacked the government for its failure to prepare for the COVID-19 second wave. The Sunday Times reported that SAMA argued that South Africa is not as well-prepared as it was for the first wave. The association also said that the government did not do enough to replace hospital workers who died due to COVID-19. On 1 January 2021, South Africa reported a record 18,000 new cases. On 9 December 2020, Health Minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize confirmed that South Africa had entered a second wave. As of yesterday, the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in…

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) announced on Monday that it has received six submissions of applications in response to the Invitation to Apply (ITA) for the International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) spectrum issued on 2 October 2020. The country’s communications watchdog said submissions were received from the following entities, in no particular order: 1. Cell C 2. Rain Networks 3. Vodacom 4. Telkom 5. Liquid Telecoms 6. MTN The regulator added in a statement that it also received a further submission from Women Building a Better Society (WBBS) but unfortunately, the application was submitted after the cut-off time…

Picodi.com analytics compared iPhone 12 Pro (128 GB) prices with the average wages in selected countries in order to count the number of workdays required to buy the new Apple flagship. The official price of the iPhone 12 Pro in 128 GB version in South Africa is going to be R23,499. However, buyers will find neither a charger nor earphones in this year’s flagship’s box. According to the latest GUS data, the average wage in our country amounts to R22,579 gross (R19,327.63 net). It means that a statistical South African would have to work for 25.5 days to afford the…

Luitingh and Associates, the Cape Town firm of attorneys launching the liquidation application against the bitcoin investment scheme, Mirror Trading International (MTI), is appealing to all potential creditors to advise the attorney firm of any claim against the scheme. The appeal comes at a time when two high court applications for the liquidation of MTI were filed by investors unable to withdraw funds. Two applications for the liquidation of Mirror Trading International were filed in the high court last Wednesday by investors unable to withdraw funds. Read: MTI CEO goes AWOL, lawyers pull out (Dec 22) MTI does not know…

The National Coronavirus Command Council could impose tougher restrictions nationwide as the coronavirus infections rise exponentially leaving private and public hospitals running out of intensive care beds and oxygen. The Sunday Times reported that the council meets this week to discuss a Covid-19 resurgence. “I can confidently say that the meeting will be on Tuesday,” a government insider told the newspaper. It followed Wednesday’s comment by health minister Zweli Mkhize that “we will need to review the current restrictions and consider further measures to ensure that we curb this alarming rate of spread”. The Sunday Times said new measures could…