Author: Staff Writer
South African venture capital firm Kalon Venture Partners announced its investment in cyber-security email protection and compliance business, Sendmarc. Sendmarc was launched in 2018 by Sam Hutchinson, Keith Thompson and Sacha Matulovich. These key founding members were the pioneers in identifying a need for a safer and more secure email environment for small to large companies. Sendmarc provides the setup, implementation and reporting functionality for a global email protection standard known as DMARC. This protocol is designed to give email domain owners the ability to protect their domains from unauthorised use, such as impersonation attacks or email spoofing. The purpose and…
Naked, South Africa’s first end-to-end artificial intelligence-driven insurance platform, is building on its significant success in car insurance by bringing its next-generation insurance to the home insurance market. Customers can now get comprehensive, instant, and hasslefree cover for their home and the things they own through Naked’s completely automated digital process. Naked offers customers a comprehensive set of short-term personal insurance products that are built on new generation technology and a fairer business model. In April 2018, Naked launched an award-winning car insurance offering that uses automation to offer significant premium savings and higher levels of customer control over the…
Liquid Telecom is to launch the first 5G wholesale roaming service in South Africa. The company said the wholesale roaming service would be available from early 2020 in all major South African cities, this latest fifth generation of mobile internet connectivity will enable wholesale operators to create innovative, ultra-fast and scalable digital services for their customers. The 5G wholesale network will also help accelerate the evolution of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) in South Africa. Reliable connectivity up to 10 times faster than 4G will allow businesses to harness trends such as the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics and artificial…
SAP announced BCX as top place winner in the category of SAP EMEA South Award for Partner Excellence for Service Excellence at a ceremony on 14th January. The award is measured by year on year increase in certified personnel. “This award is around service excellence,” said BCX CEO, Jonas Bogoshi,” And is a great way to kickstart 2020 across our markets. It talks to our values of collaboration, innovation, service and agility. “BCX has repositioned itself with a customer centric strategy, focusing on customer service challenges and putting the customer at the heart of the organisation, so to be recognised…
There were lots of big winners in 2019. In politics, Boris Johnson came up trumps (no pun intended). At the Oscars, Bohemian Rhapsody was the big winner. In motorsport, Lewis Hamilton reigned supreme. And, in the South African motor industry, the Volkswagen Tiguan was the big winner in the resale value stakes. According to Darryl Jacobson, managing director of True Price, this enterprising start-up has conducted the first-ever study into annual winners in the resale value stakes. “We decided to analyse which 2018 model year vehicles achieved the best resale value (measured against the original list price) during 2019. This…
The National Traffic Information System (NATIS) has introduced an online method to report accidents for insurance purposes. If you are involved in a minor accident there is no need to visit your nearest South African Police Services. You can just visit the NATIS website to automatically generate a Crash Report Number for insurance. Only accidents in which no one was injured or died can be reported on the NATIS website. According to the NATIS website, the submission of a crash report will be legally binding and the criteria are as follows: All crashes must be reported within 24 hours or the…
Enhanced automobile displays will soon be able to locate open parking spaces, see-through obstructions, and coach drivers into safer operation visually, using the world around them. Altia, an advanced automotive cockpit display solutions provider, is showcasing what’s next in driver interface design at CES 2020, in multiple exhibits and demonstrations taking place throughout the show. Altia is a software and services company offering a complete solution for production user interfaces. The company will be showcasing HMIs (human-machine interfaces) that include the newest features and innovations in: 3D graphical displays that give instruments and objects increased realism and value Integrated cockpit designs with…
Dr Xolani Humphrey Mkhwanazi passed away peacefully in the early hours of Saturday morning, 4th January 2020 at the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre in Parktown Johannesburg, having been admitted on the 14th December 2019. Dr Mkhwanazi was appointed to the JSE-listed technology group EOH board on the 5th June 2019, as chairman and independent non-executive director, lending his tremendous credibility and insight to the company and the board at a most critical time for the organisation. “I worked closely with Dr Mkhwanazi who played a pivotal role in helping to guide EOH towards a better future,” Stephen van Coller,…
FNB says its partnership with the ENTERTAINER has been renewed for another year, giving customers access to two-for-one discounted offers at various restaurants, beauty salons, health & fitness facilities and hotels for the duration of 2020. The ENTERTAINER app users usually pay an annual fee to access discounted offers across South Africa’s major cities – Durban, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria. FNB and RMB Private Bank customers will once again reap these benefits at no cost, saving them a total of R1 580 between 2 January and 30 December 2020. This proposition is also available to FNB Business customers who…
While South Africans countrywide are in a festive mood, retailer Woolworths came under fire for lack of diversity in their leadership team. The South African retailer on Monday posted an image of the Woolworths leadership team on the brand’s official Twitter account after the team dropped by a Woolworths store to “help store staff during the Christmas rush” by packing groceries. In the tweet, the Woolworths leadership team consist only of Caucasian and Indian people. Instead of stirring emotions, the tweet caused an outrage, with users blasting it for its lack of diversity and failing to represent all South Africans.…
Hyundai will unveil its first concept Personal Air Vehicle (PAV) as part of the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) landscape. The use of airspace is expected to alleviate road congestion and give back quality time to city commuters. The South Korean automaker’s vision continues with its Purpose Built Vehicle (PBV). This highly customizable concept with the autonomous driving feature allows for limitless possibilities to turn the vehicle to be more than just a means of transportation. These two smart mobility devices will come together at the Hub, which will be located throughout cities in the future and used as community spaces. According…
FNB today announced that FNB Connect will now offer the newly introduced and first-ever made-in-South Africa, Mara Phones – the Mara X and Mara Z. FNB customers will also get to enjoy great deals available on the FNB Connect online shop, from 23 December 2019, payable over 24 months. Devices are paired with an FNB Connect SIM, on a Top Up Lifestyle plan, that includes monthly data, voice minutes and SMS allocations on a 2-year contract and comes fully integrated into FNB’s digital platforms where customers can view balances and buy more bundles if and when necessary. Mara X, Top…
Pam Golding Properties is selling 9 bedrooms all en suite home in Steyn City, probably the best-designed estate in South Africa. This R65 million home is situated on 2053sqm of land in the heart of the prestigious suburb of The Lakes and has amazing views over the estate towards the Magaliesburg mountains. Watch the sunset while sipping cocktails on your rooftop balcony, says Pam Golding Properties. Steyn City is an ideal setting for balancing life, work and play. It is located near Broadacres in Johannesburg The home also boasts a spacious pajama lounge, a playroom, an outdoor shower, 3 guest…
French anti-fraud solutions provider Evina has unmasked malware on the GooglePlay app store that has been downloaded over 285 000 times by mobile users in 11 African and European countries. The malware dubbed ‘Venus’ has been detected in eight apps so far and takes the form of a family of Trojan bots that have now made their way into Belgium, France, Germany, Guinea, Holland, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Senegal, Spain and Tunisia. Of the eight Venus malware apps that were discovered by Evina, only one has been removed from the PlayStore after being downloaded over 100 000 times. Evina’s…
The fear of incurring an exorbitant bill while travelling internationally will now be a thing of the past for MTN customers following the introduction of affordable roaming bundles for contract, top-up and prepaid customers. The MTN Hello World roaming data bundles are competitively priced from as little as 29c per MB, discounted from the current standard roaming rate and can be used in 21 countries where MTN has operations in Africa and the Middle East, like Botswana, Swaziland, Nigeria and many more. “As the world gets smaller, the demand for data roaming continues to grow, however data roaming services can…
FNB anticipates a 26% increase in eWallet send volumes during the festive season. During last year’s festive season, the Bank’s customers sent over R2.4 billion worth of eWallet funds. FNB Consumer CEO, Christoph Nieuwoudt said; “Over the years, we have seen substantial growth in eWallet volumes during the festive season. eWallet provides our customers with simplicity, convenience and security when sending money. This offering has become top of mind amongst South Africans when looking for easy ways to send money.” For the current year, FNB’s data revealed that consumers in Gauteng are the top senders of eWallet at 47%, followed…
Registry Africa Limited (RA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the ZACR (NPC), has announced that it will be running its popular African gTLD (geographic Top Level Domain) $1.00 Asante Promotion for the month of February 2020. The ‘Asante Sana Promotion’ will see the wholesale price of .africa domains drop to just $1.00 while the price of .joburg, .capetown and .durban city domains will be reduced to R15.00 for the month of February 2020. These prices exclude SA Value-Added Tax (VAT), where applicable. “With the number of registered .africa domains currently at 23 000, we are confident our much-anticipated $1.00 promotion will…
Netstar, a subsidiary of JSE-listed technology company Altron, is using data in a real-life manner to improve road safety at the bus service operator Putco driver training academy. “Netstar has been working with Putco for three years, taking it on a fleet management journey, which kicked off with the installation of telematics systems to provide data on driver and passenger behaviour, with a view to enable Putco to gain a better view of its fleet,” said Shaun Brashaw, Netstar global executive. The relationship has evolved to the point where the data is being mined and used as part of the…
MTN today announced that its mobile money service, MoMo will go live in January 2020, allowing customers to send, receive, save and spend money as well as pay for goods and services using their mobile phones. The announcement comes as MTN finalised its engagements with all the relevant regulatory bodies and authorities including the South African Reserve Bank. MTN welcomes the positive conclusion of these engagements and looks forward to making MoMo available to all consumers via USSD functionality for free as well as via App download in the Google Play store and the Apple App store by 30 January…
The recent emergence of Stage 6 loadshedding on the South African business landscape saw added interest in Cloud services from local firms eager to insulate themselves from the country’s energy fallout. A 2019 Cloud survey earlier this year shed light on Cloud adoption by local businesses and found that 77% of SA businesses are using Cloud services in IT departments. “Having real-time remote access to reliable back-ups is the number one reason for Cloud adoption and we’re certain the number of businesses using Cloud services will eclipse the 80% mark by the new year,” says Riaan van Stryp, General Manager…
Digital money transfer service WorldRemit has partnered with Vodacom Tanzania to enable nine million M-Pesa customers to receive money directly to their M-Pesa wallets from friends and family living abroad. The new service increases convenience for money transfer recipients in urban and rural areas of Tanzania as they can receive international money transfers directly to their phones, without the need for a bank account or internet connection. Using the WorldRemit app, Tanzanians living abroad in over 50 countries, including the US, UK and Canada, can send money home 24/7 in just a few taps. This saves customers time and money as…
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in South Africa were targeted with an unusually large number of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks last month with media reports attributing these cyberattacks to organised criminal syndicates. It’s not all bad news, however, as administrators at South Africa’s Internet Exchanges (INXs) are taking firm and co-ordinated action to join the global fight against DDoS attacks by creating a so-called ‘blackhole’ that will funnel identified DDoS traffic passing through the INXs into oblivion. “The South African Internet will be better protected against DDoS attacks during the course of 2020 as local ISPs peering at JINX,…
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) announced today that it has added Avon Products Inc. to their list of companies “Working for Regulatory Change”. In so doing, Avon joins a very short list of companies recognized for their demonstrated, ongoing commitment to promoting the development, validation and regulatory acceptance of non-animal methods. “We do not believe that animal testing is necessary to substantiate product safety and do not test products on animals anywhere in the world. We will continue to push for greater acceptance of alternatives. We’re pleased and proud to receive this recognition from PETA. We appreciate…
The historic Klaasenbosch Winery located in Constantia Upper and dating back to 1790 is looking for a new owner. It is one of the original Cape Dutch buildings which date to the early wine farms in the area and has been converted into a spectacular five-bedroomed homestead featuring one of the most unique interior designs on offer in the Cape, according to Janine Stevenson and Steven Holvec from Seeff Constantia Upper. It is set on a large plot of 2,949sqm with beautiful gardens. Features include traditional barn-doors in the entrance hall, a double-volume living room with a feature wood-burning fireplace,…
BMW is finally going to start integrating Android Auto into its cars, the German-based automaker said. The automaker is finally introducing Android Auto to its cars as of July 2020. Android Auto will allow customers to connect their Android smartphones wirelessly with their vehicle and, in doing so, enjoy access to useful information like suggested destinations and upcoming appointments just when it is needed. Android Auto is integrated directly into BMW’s fully digital cockpit, meaning that customers can view all important information not just on the central Control Display, but also in intelligently adapted form in the instrument cluster’s Info…