Author: Staff Writer

Naspers-backed SweepSouth, Africa’s largest online home services platform, today announced it has bought Egyptian startup Filkhedma, a home services marketplace operating across three cities. Filkhedma services tens of thousands of customers with cleaning, maintenance, and beauty services while empowering over 2 000 service providers through technology with consistent incomes and professional development. “We are thrilled to have Filkhedma as part of the SweepSouth family,” says Aisha Pandor, CEO and Co-founder of SweepSouth. “It’s not only their services that align with ours, but also their values and culture. Just like us, Filkhedma is passionate about providing quality and trusted home services,…

With the rollout of 5G networks rapidly gathering pace, it’s only a matter of time before it plays a role in all our lives, even if we’re not always aware of it. But as is the case with any emerging technology, people have raised concerns about what security implications will come with the adoption of 5G. While awareness of cybersecurity issues is undoubtedly a good thing, it’s also important to be aware of the work being done to ensure that 5G networks are as secure as possible as well as the security benefits that come with the adoption of 5G.…

With the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) already having a profound impact on almost every aspect of our lives, it’s critical that the South African tertiary education sector empower graduates with the skills they need to compete in the new world of work. That importance was underlined at the Huawei South Africa ICT Talent Development Annual Awards, which took place virtually on 10th of December 2021. The awards recognise the top students and instructors from Huawei’s ICT Competition and its ICT Academy. The program is aimed at driving the development of ICT talent for industry development and digital transformation and is…

Huawei South Africa has partnered with the MTN SA Foundation and the Department of Social Development, supporting digital access and ICT skills development for the Letlhakeng Community in the North West Province. The MTN SA Foundation donated a state of the art 20-seater multimedia centre to the Letlhakeng Community Care Centre, inclusive of data connectivity for 24 months and ICT training for staff members. Huawei further supported the centre with up-skilling of 40 young people with ICT, Coding and Robotics training and provided them with Huawei Pads (Tablets). Huawei and MTN also contributed to 200 Christmas food hampers for vulnerable…

Remgro has been approved for a secondary listing on A2X Markets and its shares will be available for trade from 3 January 2022. Remgro will retain its primary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and its issued share capital will be unaffected by its secondary listing on A2X. Originally established in the 1940s, Remgro is a well-known South African investment holding company with interests in a range of industries, including the healthcare, consumer products, financial services, infrastructure, industrial and media industries. Investments include Mediclinic International plc (44.6%), Rand Merchant Investment Holdings Limited (30.6%), Community Investment Ventures Holdings Proprietary Limited…

The imminent arrival of 2022 will mark the 16th year since the incomplete introduction of number portability in South Africa. The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) has had a decade and a half, plus one year, to fully implement number portability. Yet, while over one million geographic numbers and eight million mobile numbers have been ported, it remains impossible to port non-geographic numbers used by local businesses, non-profit organisations and consumers for toll-free, shared-cost, premium rate and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services (i.e. numbers starting with 0800, 0860, 0861, 0862 and 087). According to ICASA, the latest delay…

As part of its multi-million Rand investment in agriculture, Microsoft South Africa has selected The Awareness Company as the beneficiary of its AgriTech Programme. The Awareness Company will develop and roll out three high-impact solutions in the agriculture sector within the next year – positively impacting one of the country’s critical sectors, helping to drive growth and job creation. The AgriTech Programme’s main objective is to drive digital transformation in the agriculture sector by collaborating with a technology company that will develop high impact solutions and empower smallholder farmers. South African smallholder farmers face various challenges that prevent them from…

The holidays are nearly here and with them the desire to treat yourself or a loved one to an upgraded phone, just because. The first question you’re likely to ask yourself as you browse new models is “To 5G or not to 5G?” Once you check the Ookla 5G Map to see if your operator has deployed 5G in your area, you’ll probably want to know if the 5G speeds are worth the extra cost. Ookla has analysed Speedtest Intelligence data from the most popular Android and iPhone devices around the world during Q3 2021 to help you see if it’s worth…

Superside, which operates a network of freelance creatives that are tapped by companies to work on logos, display ads, packaging, bigger marketing campaigns and other design-based efforts, has bagged $30 million or R637 million. The Series A funding round co-led by Prosus Ventures and Lugard Road Capital. Prosus Ventures is the venture investing arm of Prosus, which is majority-owned by global consumer internet group Naspers. The funding will help fund Superside to expand in South Africa. Through its unique subscription model, Superside connects companies with a dedicated team of vetted, award-winning designers and project managers to provide quality design work,…

On 1 November this year, South Africa welcomed the introduction of the DebiCheck payment system to tighten measures against debit order fraud and abuse. But as with many new policies and procedures, there has been adoption, but it is far from universal. According to Andrew Springate, CEO of PAYM8, a technology and financial gateway service provider, “A lot of information around why DebiCheck has been introduced has been shared since 2018, but there’s still a great deal to be done by all parties to drive widescale adoption and avoid the inevitable headaches that come with not having DebiCheck in place.”…