Author: Staff Writer

As consumers continue to weigh the impact of COVID-19 on their finances, many will be considering options to protect themselves from financial difficulties. Earlier this week, FNB announced its new set of cashflow relief measures for customers whose finances have been impacted by COVID-19 to enhance the set of measures customers would have historically relied on, like Credit Life where applicable. The Bank acknowledges and agrees with personal finance commentators that credit insurance has always provided relief to customers who qualify and should be one of the options that customers consider over the next few months. It is with this…

Vodacom and Discovery have partnered to deliver a simple but powerful online healthcare platform for the benefit of all South Africans during the COVID-19 pandemic. This platform provides easy access for all South Africans to a COVID-19 risk tool, to help understand your personal risk for COVID-19 plus, where needed, to immediately schedule virtual healthcare professional consultations and get advice. Globally, telemedicine has proved invaluable in the management of this disease, with many governments and healthcare systems advocating for digital healthcare tools and virtual consults to be the first step and primary means of healthcare support during the COVID-19 outbreak.…

Vodacom has cut data prices by up to 40% and will provide free data to access essential services through Vodacom’s zero-rated platform ConnectU with immediate effect. The value of these initiatives is some R2.7-billion over the next year. Vodacom’s various 30-day data bundle prices will be cut across all of its channels by up to 40%, providing customers with even greater value and making it more affordable to connect. 30-day bundle size New Price Reduction 50MB R12 40% 150MB R29 33% 325MB R55 33% 500MB R79 21% 1GB R99 34% 3GB R229 23% 5GB R349 14% 10GB R469 22% 20GB…

South Africa has recorded five deaths resulting from Coronavirus, with 1 353 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19. The Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, made the announcement at a media briefing in eThekweni on Tuesday. To date, the country has conducted 39 500 tests. The first recorded death was that of a 48-year-old woman in the Western Cape, with the second being an 85-year-old from the Free State, who had attended the Divine Restoration Church Ministries conference, where a number of infections were detected. The third death was that of a Gauteng man, who succumbed to respiratory distress two days ago.…

As South Africa settles into an unprecedented 21-day national lockdown and banks look to do what they can to help ease the financial burden and very real anxiety the general public is facing, TymeBank is leading the way when it comes to offering tangible support to its customers. With the world having been forced to rapidly switch to a digital way of working, TymeBank could not be better placed. “Being South Africa’s first digital bank, we’re built for this. As other companies and banks are having to rethink and reinvent themselves to be fully functional, we’re already able to demonstrate…

Naspers has committed R 1,5 billion in emergency aid to the government’s response to the Covid-19 crisis. The group will contribute R 500 million to the Solidarity Response Fund announced by the President last week. In addition, Naspers will buy R 1 billion worth of personal protective equipment and other medical supplies in China – in partnership with the Chinese government and Tencent – to support South Africa’s health workers and fly it to South Africa as soon as possible. “By working with government and civil society we want to help our country overcome this very difficult period. We hope…

Electronic Communications, Postal and Broadcasting Directions issued under Regulation 10 (8) of the Disaster Management Act Electronic Communications Services Licensees, OTTs and ISPs that provide linear and non-linear services bears the responsibility to remove fake news related to COVID-19 from their platforms immediately after identified as such. What are Fake News? “Fake News” means statements made with the intention to deceive as contemplated in the Disaster Management Regulations, 2020 What are the types of Fake News? Disinformation: Information that is false and deliberately created to harm a person, social group, organization or country for the purposes to influence public opinion…

The Gauteng Health Department has confirmed a COVID-19 case in Alexandra, Johannesburg. “The confirmed case, was tested and was instructed to remain under self-isolation while awaiting results,” said the department on Monday. According to the provincial department, the man who has tested and was subsequently found to be infected with the virus, disregarded instructions to self-isolate and travelled to outside of the province before the lockdown. “Upon positive confirmation of results, our team of tracers working with law enforcement agencies tracked the confirmed case to Limpopo,” said the department. The man is currently under isolation in a health facility in…

The country’s communications watchdog said on Monday it has taken a decision to extend the validity period of existing radio frequency spectrum licences in line with regulation 10 of the Radio Frequency Spectrum Regulations. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has resolved to grant all radio frequency spectrum licence holders an extension to renew their licences by no later than the 30th of June 2020. In terms of the Regulations, the due date for the renewal of radiofrequency spectrum licences is 31 March annually. The Regulations further provide that failure to pay the prescribed licence renewal fee by…

Vodacom announced on Monday it has appointed Khumo Shuenyane as a non-executive director. The Vodafone-owned mobile phone group said Shuenyane’s appointment is effective on 21 July 2020. Shuenyane has served as an independent non-executive director of Investec Limited and Investec Plc (together ‘Investec Group’), and several companies within the Investec Group, since 2014. He was appointed chairman of Investec Bank Limited, Investec Group’s South African banking subsidiary, in 2018. He has over a decade of experience in the telecoms industry. He served six years as Group Chief Mergers & Acquisitions Officer for MTN Group and a member of its Group…

DStv to set up a dedicated pop-up channel for various religious groups in the country during this Easter Weekend. The channel, named Africa Easter Channel, is in collaboration with the renowned TBN Africa, DStv Channel 343. Across South Africa, over 80% worshippers observe and celebrate the Easter period, hence different and various Christian denominations be will be looked after by the channel. The current restrictions due to the global pandemic, COVID-19, will see South Africans staying at home during the Easter Weekend. Accordingly, Africa Easter Channel’s offering of music and sermons is bound to keep DStv viewers engaged and fulfilled during…

As we enter the fourth-day national lockdown, MTN announced on Monday it was enabling South African women to exercise whilst in isolation in their homes. Available on MTN’s Youtube channel and on social media @MTNza, GiGYMA is a digital home-based workout series that is easily accessible from any smartphone, tablet, laptop, or PC. While there has been a revival of healthy living amongst all South Africans over the past few years, the popularity of online fitness challenges and workouts has grown rapidly over the past two weeks. Now that South Africans can’t go to the gym, a walk or run…

Vodacom e-School platform is proving to be invaluable for the scores of school-going children at home on extended school break as the country grapples with Corovavirus (COVID-19). User registration on the platform since schools closed has been unprecedented over the past two weeks with the total number of registered users now close on 1 million. On Sunday 15 March, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a raft of measures to protect the country from the spread of the COVID-19. Schools closed from Wednesday, 18 March until after Easter Holidays. This meant that parents had to find alternative methods to help their children…

The first-ever BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe sees BMW bringing the four-door coupe concept that has already enjoyed great success in higher vehicle classes into the premium compact segment for the first time. It is now available in South Africa. Recommended retail prices in South Africa  (including VAT, excluding CO2 tax): 218i – R 515 000 220d – R 595 000 M235i xDrive – R 725 000 Standout features include the dynamically stretched silhouette, the four frameless side windows and the rear lights extending well into the centre of the rear end, merging into a High-gloss Black band that runs up to and encircles the…

Jaguar Land Rover South Africa has made 11 vehicles available to the South African Red Cross Society (SARCS) in order to keep the organisation mobile in its efforts to control and minimise the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The vehicles, which come from Jaguar Land Rover’s Experience and marketing fleets, have been supplied free of charge and will be dispatched nationwide to boost transport capacity for SARCS. Red Cross volunteers will now be deployed to critical areas where they will engage communities and educate on how the virus is transmitted and how to avoid risks. In many vulnerable areas the…

Social grant payments for the elderly and people with disabilities is in full swing as South Africa enters Day 4 of the 21-day lockdown to curb COVID-19. In preparation for the lockdown, social security agency – SASSA – announced that grants for the elderly and people with disabilities will be paid from 30 – 31 March 2020. The Social security agency’s decision to pay grants earlier is in response to the State of National Disaster, as announced by President Ramaphosa on 15 March 2020. On Monday, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu, together with SASSA CEO Totsie Memela, Acting MEC Panyaza…

Essential services businesses like grocery stores and veterinary practices can look to Bolt Business Delivery, now launched by the ride-hailing service in South Africa, to help them fulfil orders within the confines of the South African government’s lockdown regulations. Bolt’s ride-hailing services are authorised by the regulations to operate between 5h00 and 9h00, and 16h00 and 20h00 each day. The service connects business with drivers on the Bolt platform during these hours so that essential services businesses can deliver to South African residents unable to leave home. “Bolt has been working around the clock to provide innovative solutions to assist…

As it escalates its efforts to help customers, FNB announced on Monday that from 1 April – 30 June 2020 it will implement measures to provide relief to individual and business customers whose financial stability has been impacted by COVID-19. Jacques Celliers, FNB Chief Executive Officer, said the banks interventions will assist customers who demonstrate sound banking behaviour, such as having honoured their repayments to the bank on a consistent basis prior to COVID-19. For those customers that qualify, FNB said its COVID-19 interventions will be for all products. They will be available for a period of three months, covering…

As part of its long-term commitment to fuel cell technology, BMW Group will launch the second generation of its hydrogen-based powertrain in 2022 on a small series of the BMW i Hydrogen NEXT based on the current X5 generation. The premium carmaker offers first virtual insights into the powertrain system for the BMW i Hydrogen NEXT and reaffirms its commitment to following a carefully considered and systematic route to emission-free mobility. “We are convinced that various alternative powertrain systems will exist alongside one another in future, as there is no single solution that addresses the full spectrum of customers’ mobility requirements worldwide,”…

Following the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa on the days of social grants would be paid, a number of industry bodies have made representations on the relaxation of hours public transport vehicles are allowed to operate.  A similar request was made by the Minister of Social Development, Minister Lindiwe Zulu. Having considered Minister Zulu’s request and representations made by various industry bodies, including the taxi industry, I have decided to amend the Public Transport Directions in order to accommodate grant beneficiaries. Effective from tomorrow, 30 March 2020 until Friday, 3 April 2020, buses and taxis will be permitted to operate…

Liquid Telecom South Africa, part of the leading pan-African telecoms group Liquid Telecom, today announced that it had mitigated network outages due unexpected loss of connectivity following a recent break-in the WACS (West Africa Cable System) undersea cable. “To help ensure continuity of service, Liquid Telecom’s network traffic is automatically re-routed during such outages. We are responding to new and increased demand from customers with additional capacity across alternate routes,” said Reshaad Sha, CEO Liquid Telecom South Africa. “Liquid Telecom operates a five-cable system for our international internet capacity in South Africa. Our resilient architecture means the loss of the…

South Africa will participate in the Public Health Emergency Solidarity Trial, which has been initiated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to conduct a clinical trial to find an effective COVID-19 treatment. “WHO has convened an independent group of experts to review evidence from laboratory, animal and clinical studies to prioritise treatments for inclusion in the trial,” Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said on Saturday. The group has identified the following treatment options for inclusion in the trial: •           Remdesivir: a drug which was previous used in an Ebola trial; •           Lopinavir/ritonavir: a licensed treatment for HIV and Aids; •          …

President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared the Ranch Resort a green zone after everyone, who had been placed under quarantine there, has tested negative for Coronavirus (COVID-19). The group of 112 citizens was placed under quarantine at the Ranch Resort in Polokwane from 14 March 2020 after they were repatriated from Wuhan in the Hubei Province of the People’s Republic of China, following the outbreak of COVID-19. “We are now able to declare the ranch a green zone. We had placed our students, the cabin crew of the flight that fetched them, as well as our military medical officers and the…

Seacom today announced it is aware of the outage on the West coast undersea cable, WACs, that is currently affecting numerous South African ISPs. While repairs on the WACs undersea cable systems are being planned, many ISPs will need to re-route their traffic via alternative paths, such as Seacom’s East coast undersea cable or other routes. As a result of the WACs cable system issues, customers may experience increased latency as alternative routes are implemented. “Seacom is aware that due to issues on the WACs cable system on Africa’s West coast, many African ISPs and their customers could be experiencing…

A team of experts are working on creating a range of data warehouses, including the current geographic spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) current cases, health vulnerabilities and location of health and other facilities, among other things. This work is being done by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Department of Health. Globally there are 512 701 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 23 495 confirmed deaths and there’s 202 countries that are affected by the Coronavirus. “Through the Department of Science and Innovation…and the CSIR we have successfully commissioned and finalised the physical set-up of a core situational…