Author: Staff Writer

To improve the quality of general and specialised police investigations, the government will be establishing a Crime Detection University in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria. This was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday evening when he took to the podium in Parliament to deliver the State of the Nation Address. He said his plans for investment and growth in South Africa would require a safe, stable and crime-free environment. “It is fundamental to the aspirations of all our people to live in security, peace and comfort,” the President said. He further said that police visibility, effective training and better resourcing…

The news has reached us that Billcrypt is reaching the final phase of his ICO, with which he intends to raise funds for an ambitious project that we are going to talk to today. We are going to try to explain carefully what they offer us, step by step, as to some extent it can be complicated. What problem existed? For Billcrypt there is a big problem of disconnection between several sectors that should be working together in the blockchain sector. Partly because we have companies that have detected a need for blockchain-based services, or simply at some point need…

Canadian entrepreneur, Mike Quinn, is all set to reveal what it takes to pioneer a tech start-up in Africa with the upcoming release of ‘Failing to Win’, a candid recollection of his time spent building Zoona, a billion-dollar company on a quest to create A Cashless Africa. “’Failing to Win’ is my honest glimpse inside the black box of pioneering a start-up in Africa and the journey I took towards connecting impact investors with purpose-driven African entrepreneurs,” says Quinn. “It’s been incredible to watch Africa’s tech start-up wave grow over the past couple of years, and I am hoping that my book can…

Leading beauty and personal care company Avon will partner with Forbes’ Woman Africa Leading Women Summit to participate in this year’s commemoration of International Women’s Day, which will be hosted on March 06 at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli ICC complex in Durban. Avon will join other companies and organisations that have been part of this initiative.  Avon will use the event to avail its ubiquitous digital platforms to give women an opportunity to document and share with the world their experiences, success and challenges in line with the 2020 Avon global theme for International Women’s Day, which is HerStory. The…

Cape-based property investment specialist Flyt Property Investment has launched Africa’s first property-backed security token. The Flyt token (FLYT), which resides on the Ethereum blockchain, allows investors to subscribe for, redeem and transfer shares in the Flyt Hospitality Fund, a South African Section 12J fund investing in hospitality property and apart-hotels. One Flyt token is equivalent to one share (which is currently valued at R100) in the Flyt Hospitality Fund. The breakthrough in fund technology has been developed in conjunction with Swiss-based financial technology supplier Bakari. “South Africa has a developed, forward-looking financial sector and it is not surprising to see…

Konga Travel and Tours, a 21st-century lifestyle travel booking agency, has rolled out a special promo offering prospective customers a chance to travel in style with a chauffeur-driven ride to the airport in a Rolls Royce. The promo, which kicks off on Monday, February 10, will run until Tuesday, March 31st, 2020. Equally important, prospective travelers can book their discounted flights online at travel.konga.com or offline in any Konga Travel retail store nationwide. Intending flyers who book their flights during the promo period stand a chance to be selected for the special treatment in the Rolls Royce. Apart from being…

Volkswagen was the biggest winner at the fifth annual Cars.co.za Consumer Awards held at Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit on 6 February. Widely regarded as South Africa’s most definitive automotive awards programme, the Cars.co.za Consumer Awards, which are exclusively supported by WesBank, South Africa’s largest vehicle finance provider, have become a highlight in the automotive calendar since the inaugural event in 2016. The wins at the Consumer Awards come after a record-breaking 2019 where the Volkswagen brand achieved a 20.4% passenger market share, the highest in 23 years, and the manufacturing plant in Uitenhage achieved an all-time record for production in…

Avon Justine kicked off cancer awareness month by recognising Dr Lillian Dube’s efforts to raise awareness of breast cancer in South Africa. The gesture is the first in a series of events that Avon Justine will be hosting in line with its breast cancer promise which outlines the importance of ensuring that all women in the country know about breast cancer and understand their screening options. A global breast cancer study by Avon in numerous countries, including South Africa reported that only 2 out of 5 women know the early signs of breast cancer. “This indicates that there is still…

Dot, an India-based offline-to-online (O2O) commerce and FinTech startup, announced on Thursday it has raised $8 million (R119 million) initial seed funding from Prosus-owned PayU. PayU, an online payments service provider in India and 17 other high-growth markets across the world, also announced recently the creation of a new digital lending leader in India. For more read: Prosus’ PayU To Invest R2.8bn In A New Credit Business In India These transactions reinforce Prosus’s long-term commitment to India, having invested close to $5 billion in its Indian operations and partner companies over the past five years. In addition to the investments…

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has embarked on a journey that will see it embrace technological advancement. In a statement issued at the weekend, SARS said in the foreseeable future, its work will be informed by data-driven insights, self-learning computers, artificial intelligence and interconnectivity of people and devices. The revenue service is now also embarking on a recruitment drive to get skilled personnel that will help it fulfil its tech revolution goals. “SARS’ workforce will be empowered to optimally function within this exciting changed and changing world of work,” the revenue collector said. SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said SARS…

The Hawks in Port Shepstone, KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday arrested three suspects on the N2 after they were found in possession of reportedly stolen cellphone network batteries. The arrests were made by the Hawks Serious Organised Crime Investigation and Port Shepstone K9. In a statement, spokesperson Andrea Naicker said the Hawks pounced on the three after receiving information of a van travelling on the N2 to Port Shepstone loaded with a number of cellphone tower batteries. “The Hawks together with the Port Shepstone K9 and LCRC immediately responded to the information and the bakkie in question was located around the Hibberdene…

Karpowership, one of the world’s largest powership firms, has submitted a plan to South Africa to provide “several” ships capable of plugging a severe power shortage in the country, Reuters reports. Karpowership has submitted a proposal, its global sales director Patrick O’Driscoll told Reuters on the sidelines of the African Mining Indaba. O’Driscoll suggested its plan could be cheap compared to the diesel-fired peaking power stations Eskom regularly uses to keep the lights on. Karpowership is the only owner, operator and builder of the first Powership (floating power plant) fleet in the world. Since 2010, 22 Powerships have been completed with total installed…

Cisco has today announced the appointment of Reem Asaad as its new vice president for its Middle East and Africa region. With over two decades of experience across industries including technology, financial services, customer experience, Asaad’s role will focus on strengthening collaborations with governments, customers and partners, underpinned by Cisco’s portfolio of advanced solutions to accelerate their digitization agendas. “Reem has a wealth of experience in business leadership and strong understanding of the digital transformation landscape. I am confident of Reem’s ability to empower our workforce and help regional businesses address their challenges,” said Wendy Mars, president of Cisco’s Europe,…

Avon has introduced a duo of luxury male and female fragrances that are twin-branded Maxima & Maxime, they retail for R339 for a 100ml bottle. These new long-lasting fragrances blend rare and divine notes like the immortelle flower, the flower of eternity whose oil promises eternal youth and olibanum, one of the very first ingredients of perfumery. The new sophisticated fragrances build on the brand’s strong line-up of popular fragrances catering for a variety of customers with this being a notable addition to the luxury perfumes within the portfolio. The introduction of these premium fragrances is in line with Avon’s…

Digital home loan startup, MortgageMarket.co.za, is set to change the slow and cumbersome traditional home loan application process by offering consumers convenience, transparency and choice when it comes to finding the best home loan deal. It’s South Africa’s first independent online marketplace to offer a significant portion of its profits back to customers – the MoneyGuarantee promise – as an added incentive for applying for a home loan via the platform. For today’s consumers, time and money are precious commodities. People are increasingly looking for efficiencies such as control, choice and convenience in their purchasing decisions. These are the core…

Telkom has unveiled its Big Deal for February 2020. The SmartBroadband Wireless LTE SIM deal offers 1OGB anytime data a month and 10GB night surfer data a month. The deal includes the following: 10GB Anytime data 10GB Night Surfer data Huawei E5576 MiFi router A R99 Once-Off SIM and Connection fee This deal will run until the end of February 2020 and is only available on a 24-month contract. The SmartBroadband 10GB Wireless Post-paid service is provided as a fixed wireless broadband service for use in a fixed location. A flat rate of R 0.70 on per-second billing basis will…

Pieter de Villiers, Founder of Clickatell and Tinashe Ruzane Co-founder of FlexClub are the latest South African entrepreneurs to join the prestigious global network and did so during Endeavor’s 92nd International Selection Panel (ISP) held in Riviera Maya, Mexico in December. Clickatell provides a chat commerce platform that enables brands to connect, interact and transact with their customers the same way they do with friends and family through chat. Clickatell’s chat commerce platform has two primary offerings: Clickatell/Touch, which enables organisations to reach their customers on any messaging platform and offer self-serve capabilities via AI and Bot-enabled mobile chat, and…

MTN South Africa on Thursday promised to offer its customers a viable mobile money service in South Africa. Today, MTN South Africa launched its mobile money service, known as MoMo. “At the heart of our renewed venture into the improved mobile money space in South Africa is our passion to provide value-added services that meet our customers’ needs. As part of this, a major focus area is to provide our customers with secure, reliable and accessible financial services,” says Felix Kamenga, Chief Officer of MTN SA Mobile Financial Services. “The local market is characterised by significant population growth, a youthful…

SAP Africa launched the SAP Experience Centre in Johannesburg, the first of its kind in Africa and one of only a handful of similar centres in the world. SAP developed the Experience Centers as a physical innovation space for creating and showcasing innovations using the end-to-end SAP technology portfolio, as well as the lines of business, industries and markets SAP serves. The first Experience Center was launched at the company’s global headquarters in Walldorf in June 2019, followed by Centers in Tokyo, Copenhagen, Den Bosch and New York. Others will follow in 2020. Cathy Smith, Managing Director at SAP Africa,…

GoDaddy has acquired South Africa’s popular social content startup Over for an undisclosed amount. Over app helps businesses create the photos and videos they need for social media. The company claims to have more than 1 million active users of its own, who are using it to create more than 150,000 projects every day. The US-based company’s app is available in 120 countries with offices n Cape Town and London. Over has grown from humble beginnings in 2012 as a simple “text over photos” app for sharing goals and inspirational quotes, into a multifaceted tool for businesses and individuals, used…

South Africa’s event ticketing and cashless platforms, Howler, announced on Wednesday that it has secured its second round of growth capital investment from three partner companies, namely Techstars, Platform Investment Partners Growth (Platform Growth) and Platform45. In just a few short years Howler has processed over 2,5 million tickets, R1,5 billion in revenues, and managed more than 3,000 vendors. Howler is the first company in Africa to consolidate ticketing, cashless payments and vendor management into one platform. On Howler you can buy tickets and load your money online. You collect a wristband at the event, have the time of your…

Uber Eats on Monday announced expansion plans across Soweto, saying hundreds of new eaters are downloading the app every week and with a wide range of restaurants to choose from, there’s always an option for any occasion. Uber Eats – which allows people to search for and discover local restaurants, order a meal at the touch of a button – started operating in South Africa’s largest township in May 2019. The company sais since the launch in May, Soweto has been a very strong performing area for Johannesburg city in terms of consistent weekly growth. With exciting new expansion prospects…

Cryptocurrencies have come along with us for longer than we believe, in fact, 11 years have gone by now since Bitcoin was created. During this time, the great challenge of those of us who are passionate this world has always been the same: adoption. And the path of adoption is slower than many of us wish. One thing is clear: the adoption will come from the hand of two great sectors: gamming and online commerce. All the experts agree about this point which removes any doubt on this question. Well, today we bring you the breaking news about online commerce…

Huawei is reassured by the UK government’s confirmation that it can continue working with its customers to keep the 5G roll-out on track. The UK government will allow Huawei to play a limited role in supplying the country’s 5G networks. The government said the package of restrictions being announced on “high risk” 5G vendors will allow it to “mitigate the potential risk posed by the supply chain and to combat the range of threats, whether cybercriminals, or state-sponsored attacks”. The U.K. government said that Huawei will be restricted from being involved in “sensitive functions” in a network of features labelled…

Hatchbacks are the most sold used cars in South Africa; this body type is even more popular than the perennially popular sports utility vehicle (SUV). But which are the most popular used hatches in South Africa? According to George Mienie, CEO of AutoTrader, the Volkswagen Polo is the most popular used hatch by far. “It is the most sold hatchback and also the most searched for a hatch in the land. So, when it comes to the Polo, there is direct parity between consumer interest and spend,” he notes. Mienie has based his findings on AutoTrader search and sales data…