Author: Staff Writer

A clearing agent and his co-accused appeared at the Durban Commercial Crime Court on 28 July 2022 for a customs and excise-related fraud matter, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) said in a statement. The two were charged with defrauding SARS and their clients of more than R2 million. The matter has been postponed to 20 October 2022. Jayson Perumal (43) of Dynamic Freight and Reshlan Pillay (38) were charged with fraud and various contraventions of the Customs and Excise Act. Both accused are out on bail. It is alleged that Pillay, director of Potenza Capital, and a clearing agent,…

MTN has emerged as the Most Valuable Brand in SA for 2022 in the Kantar BrandZ ranking, after increasing its brand value by 85% to $3.7bn year-on-year. The significant increase in brand value has seen MTN SA jump four places to rank number one for the first time. The 2022 Kantar BrandZ Top 30 Most Valuable South African Brands ranking, report and extensive analysis are available here.  MTN was also recognised as Most Valuable Brand in SA by Brand Finance in April 2022. “We are very proud of our performance, which highlights the hard work undertaken over the past year. Not…

South Africa’s digital bank TymeBank is buying Retail Capital, a FinTech company that provides funding to small and medium-sized businesses in South Africa. The acquisition is part of the bank’s plan to bolster its business banking offering. The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approvals, would see Retail Capital become a division of TymeBank and the foundation of the bank’s expanded business banking offering. Access to Finance The deal would see Retail Capital’s funding expertise and TymeBank’s deposit base and operations combined to serve a broader customer base. TymeBank believes being able to channel funding efficiently to business owners in…

Netflix today announced the release of its upcoming supernatural  drama The Brave Ones, launching this Spring, on 16 September 2022.  Created by renowned film director, writer and actor Akin Omotoso, the captivating six-episode series unfolds in the parallel worlds of modern-day South Africa and the supernatural world of African gods and divine beings.  Set in modern-day South Africa, this captivating supernatural series is inspired by the rich mythology of African gods and divine beings. It tells the story of ordinary township girl Ntsiki, who discovers she is a mystical being who must harness her powers to protect the community and…

Every second, 22 online car searches are conducted, borne out by the over 349 million online car searches made in the first half of 2022, according to AutoTrader, South Africa’s largest motoring marketplace. Tellingly, the unique data leveraged from these searches and contained in the 2022 AutoTrader Mid-Year Industry Report, show a shift in car shopper preferences, among these rising interest in electric vehicles (EVs). The compelling report, which covers the period January to June 2022, reveals a 134% year-on-year increase in EV demand. A wide range of valuable car shopping insights, among them demand and supply trends in the…

DIGITAL REALTY, the largest global provider of cloud- and carrier-neutral data centre, colocation and interconnection solutions, announced today it had completed the acquisition of the majority stake in Teraco, Africa’s leading carrier-neutral colocation provider, from a consortium of investors, including Berkshire Partners and Permira, in a transaction valuing Teraco at $3.5 billion or R55.6 billion. As South Africa’s largest and most densely interconnected data centre platform, Teraco supports the rapid growth of the continent’s Internet community through its expanding portfolio of data centres. Teraco’s experienced management team, growing multi-national client base, quality infrastructure and ownership of NAPAfrica, the continent’s largest Internet Exchange Point, are…

David Hirsch, the owner of retail venture, has opened the company’s first tech retail store at Rosebank Mall. Hirsch is a former Incredible Connection executive director and established TechMarkit last year. TechMarkit first started as an online store but quickly evolved to the physical realm when Hirsch realised that people like to see what they are buying, especially regarding technology. He also found that his customers prefer speaking to an actual person because of the long list of questions that they want to ask before parting with their hard-earned money. He also understood that South Africa only has 30% PC…

The global market launch of the new BMW 7 Series range commences in the fourth quarter of 2022. Indicative pricing for the new 7 Series in South Africa (including VAT and excluding CO2 tax) is as follows: BMW 740i BMW 740d xDrive BMW i7 xDrive60 Design Pure Excellence R2,160,000 R2,280,000  R2,825,000 M Sport Package R2,235,000 R2,355,000  R2,900,000 M Sport Package Pro R2,275,000 R2,395,000  R2,940,000 Simultaneously, BMW South Africa is able to reveal indicative pricing for the new BMW X7. The BMW X7 will be available in South Africa from the fourth quarter of 2022, too. BMW X7 xDrive40d BMW…

“Block porn before your child sees it”, did you ever think these words would pass your lips? I certainly didn’t, but we live in a world that is so much bigger than what we are exposed to and know off. Porn is very real, and your kids are being served this on the internet. Let’s delve a little deeper… Whether your kids are babies, threenagers or teens – our job as parents is to protect them from any-and-everything trying to hurt them or take away something from them. With 20% of porn viewers in SA being underage and 20% of…

Key to unlocking value chains, especially in the tech startup space, is the ability of large, established corporates to work effectively with small, agile start-ups. Big corporations partnering with startups is an untested and undeveloped space. Few models have been developed to date and examples of successful collaboration are few and far between. As such, the success of Standard Bank’s recent direct minority equity investment into Tripplo, a tech-enabled logistics solution “highlights the power of both Standard Bank’s future-ready strategy as well as its ecosystems approach in building and managing successful partnerships with start-ups,” says Sacheen Kala, Head of the…