Author: Staff Writer

The recent court case against former cop, Rosemary Ndlovu, has put insurance fraud under the spotlight. Ndlovu is accused of plotting the murder of relatives so that she could claim several insurance policies. As key learnings, BrightRock’s head of the legal, Glenn Hickling, addresses some questions to educate consumers about insurance fraud and how it applies to them.   What is insurance fraud and what are some of the most common frauds? Insurance fraud is a deliberate act of deceit – such as withholding material information or providing false information – to benefit unlawfully from an insurance policy. Insurance fraud…

Rapid population growth and increased urbanisation will have a significant impact on South Africa’s transport infrastructure as freight and passenger transport demand rises. The transport sector’s only option to keep up is through digitalisation, Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) COO Tshepo Kgobe told delegates attending the Huawei Connect 2021 Transportation Summit held in the midst of Transport Month in South Africa. A GMA study conducted in 2019 found that by 2025 Gauteng’s roads would be so congested that traffic on the freeway would slow down to 10 kilometres an hour. This means that it will take four hours to travel from…

While South Africans have been embracing virtual cards for some time, the use of this digital payment method has seen a dramatic rise recently. Data from Standard Bank shows that physical card uptake in 2020 slowed significantly, down over 50% from 2019. Meanwhile, the number of virtual cards issued grew by over 400% in 2020. “We’re seeing a similar trend in 2021, with more than 24 000 virtual cards issued year-to-date,” says Arno von Helden, Co-founder, and Head of Standard Bank’s Shyft Forex App. “Online purchasing, which has increased exponentially since March 2020 when the COVID-19-induced lockdown commenced, is a…

Diversified mining company Exxaro Resources’ Cennergi and the Amakhala Emoyeni Community Fund Trust (AECFT, the beneficiary of ED and SED funds from the 134 MW Amakhala Emoyeni Wind Farm) in partnership with the Blue Crane Route Local Municipality did an on-site inspection of the erection of thirty (30) solar powered streetlights. The battery pack streetlights aim to assist with lighting up the most vulnerable parts of Cookhouse to prevent crime and promote safety. Roland Tatnall, Exxaro’s MD for Energy explained that the electrification of this area through solar energy highlights Exxaro’s sustainable energy values and how the mining company is…

SEACOM’s consumer-focused, fibre to the home (FTTH) and fibre to the small business offering, WonderNet, is launching a ground-breaking campaign to shine a light on cyber wellness, cyber safety, and the importance of healthy digital habits. In partnership with Cyber Safety Change Agent and SaveTNet founder Rianette Leibowitz, the company hopes to educate customers about the importance of online safety, and enable them to be responsible digital citizens. The initiative will focus on cyber wellness in the home, office, and at school. Demystifying cyber wellness and cyber safety Consumers might be familiar with terms around cybersecurity, cyberattacks, and cyberbullying, but ‘cyber wellness’ is relatively new. However, WonderNet believes that as…

With the growing number of online transactions taking place each day comes a marked rise in cyber-attacks and security events. According to Ryan Mer, Managing Director, eftsure Africa, a Know Your Payee™ (KYP) platform provider, fraudsters are constantly finding new ways to exploit vulnerabilities and attack corporate payment systems. “Many scams, hacks and security breaches begin with social engineering, a term used to describe the act of convincing someone to divulge information that they shouldn’t share or take an action that’s not in their or the organisations best interests, such as clicking a suspicious link, or changing a supplier’s banking…

Huawei’s Rotating Chairman Ken Hu has kicked off the 12th annual Global Mobile Broadband Forum (MBBF) in Dubai with a call for the ICT industry to work together on the next stage of 5G development. Speaking on the current state of 5G development and new opportunities moving forward, Hu noted, “In just five years of commercial deployment, 5G has provided a considerable upgrade in mobile experience for consumers, and it’s already starting to empower different industries around the globe. Progress was much faster than we expected, especially in terms of the subscriber base, network coverage, and the sheer number of…

Luno, the crypto company founded by two South Africans, now has 9 million customers in over 40 countries. The remarkable growth of the company is illustrated by the addition of one million new customers in just over four months. South Africa is one of Luno’s strongest markets – over 30% of the one million new customers added since June are based in South Africa. Marius Reitz, GM for Africa at Luno commented: “The average value of first deposits made by our million new customers is around R550 (USD37). Most new customers (67%) bought Bitcoin, while 43% bought Ripple and 20%…

Today, General Electric (GE) announced a five-year, $2.5 million or R37 million investment in Johannesburg to launch Next Engineers, a global initiative focused on increasing the diversity of young people in engineering. GE has selected Johannesburg as one of four inaugural locations, aiming to inspire more than 3,500 local students aged 13 to 18 in grade eight to twelve, provide first-hand experiences in engineering, and award financial support to pursue further education in engineering. GE is partnering with PROTEC, South Africa’s leading non-profit organisation that empowers local students to pursue and grow in STEM-based careers, to implement Next Engineers locally.…

Jaguar Land Rover has trialled the use of secure blockchain technology to ensure full transparency within a sustainable leather supply chain. In the world-first, Jaguar Land Rover partnered with supply chain traceability provider Circulor, leading UK leather manufacturer Bridge of Weir Leather Company and the University of Nottingham to trial the use of traceability technology in the leather supply chain. As well as tracking compliance, the digital process enabled Jaguar Land Rover to assess the carbon footprint of its leather supply network, working with UK-based Bridge of Weir Leather Company to trace its lowest carbon leather from farm to finished article…