Author: Staff Writer

With food and transport costs on the rise in South Africa, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) must move swiftly to finalise pro-consumer amendments to its End-User and Subscriber Service Charter (EUSSC) Regulations. If adopted, the amendments will provide welcome basic cost relief for consumers because they require telecommunications operators to rollover data bundles for a minimum of six months. The EUSSC regulations were last amended in early 2019 to include a requirement for operators to provide for the roll-over of data, but only after strong opposition from some industry sectors. Voice and data are two sides of the…

On the back of two major interest rate hikes in the first half of 2022 alone and rapidly rising costs, business owners across the country are keeping a close eye on budgets and cash flow where every cent counts. As champions of financial inclusion and SME growth in South Africa, local fintech Hello Pay is offering merchants, and micro and small enterprises access to competitive, commercially attractive, business loans of up to R250,000 to grow their businesses. The Hello Pay Business Loan is part of Hello Pay’s newly launched Business Solution – an all-in-one suite of services created to enable…

When women support one another, we’re all lifted up. A study on successful female leaders in the Harvard Business Review shows that women with an inner circle of successful female friends are more likely to land executive positions and receive higher pay. The influencing role of women in our lives can take many forms. Mentorship and general representation of women in our workplace, for example, is shown to have positive effects on the overall performance of companies and teams of staff across genders. Even more so when women mentor, support, and uplift one another. How can we ensure that women…

CoinDesk announced that Solana’s ecosystem is the latest to fall victim to a hack. More than 8,000 users’ hot wallets were affected thus far, with several Solana addresses linked to the breach. The breach has mostly hit mobile users, as the hackers were able to approve transactions on behalf of users. Some say that this indicates it may have been a third-party vendor which was breached in a supply-chain hack. “I’ve been saying it for years, so it probably doesn’t make a difference to say it yet again, but it just isn’t wise for investors to leave their assets in a hot…

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…