Author: Staff Writer
Swedish automaker Volvo is to supply cars for Chinese ride-hailing giant DiDi’s autonomous driving fleets. DiDi, a Chinese Uber competitor with more than 550 million users and tens of millions of drivers, and Volvo have signed a strategic collaboration agreement on autonomous vehicles for DiDi’s self-driving test fleet. Volvo Cars will provide DiDi with XC90 cars equipped with necessary backup systems for functions such as steering and braking, and collaborate with DiDi Autonomous Driving to integrate the additional software and hardware required to make it fully ready for autonomous drive. The XC90 cars will be the first to integrate DiDi Gemini,…
Capitec, South Africa’s largest digital bank, has launched an innovative feature on their new app that makes it possible for consumers to open an account from anywhere, anytime using facial biometrics. The process takes only a few minutes and uses advanced technology to ensure that an actual person is in front of the camera and not a photo, with images verified against the Department of Home Affairs’ database in real-time. While many traditional banks offer the ability to open an account with a selfie, they mostly still require a branch visit to activate the account. Capitec’s gives clients an active…
South African Internet of things (IoT) solution provider, Beyond, has recently entered into a long-term agreement with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to supply its remote cold chain monitoring solution in support of UNICEF’s global vaccination programme. UNICEF will be responsible for distributing COVID-19 vaccines to 92 low and lower-middle-income countries while also supporting procurement for more than 97 upper-middle-income and high-income nations. Together, these represent more than four-fifths of the world’s population. UNICEF is working with vaccine manufacturers, logistics companies and technology partners to procure, distribute and monitor 2 billion COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2021. Ian Lester, CEO of Beyond,…
Showmax mobile subscribers across Africa will pay on average 20% less for access to the full catalogue on a single mobile device. In South Africa, Showmax has reduced the mobile plan price to R39 a month versus R49 a month. Speaking about the price change, Yolisa Phahle, MultiChoice Group CEO for Connected Video, says, “We know that consumers are under pressure at the moment and we believe this change will be appreciated by our mobile customers as will the decision not to increase any of our other prices. We have our most exciting slate of Showmax Originals this year and…
Rectron, a South African distributor of IT products, is expanding its cybersecurity solutions with an additional offering from cloud services partner Acronis. Acronis provides end-to-end cyber protection in one platform, which includes preventative protection, backup and disaster recovery. Rectron partners, who have signed Acronis service provider agreements, will also be able to customise the security service into bespoke packages and billing options as they see fit for their business. “This past year has accelerated many businesses journey to the cloud while at the same time, there’s increased attacks from cybercriminals targeting remote working situations. With this updated menu of services…
Software giant Oracle has pulled off IT support for South Africa’s power utility Eskom. Eskom spokesperson on Friday told News24 that “there haven’t been any positive development between the parties”. Two weeks ago, Eskom lost a court battle to stop Oracle from withdrawing its crucial services over a dispute relating to billions of rands owed by the power utility. Eskom failed to convince the Johannesburg High Court to stop Oracle from withdrawing its crucial services. Oracle provides an online vending system that records 77 million transactions of electricity a month. The embattled power utility also uses Oracle’s products and services for load…
The African National Congress is proposing drastic measures to prevent audio leaks from the national executive committee (NEC) meetings. The City Press reported that the measures include “severe penalties ” and the return to physical meetings instead of online platforms. The newspaper added that NEC members would be requested to leave all electronic devices at the door. They will also be under constant surveillance during the meeting to ensure there are no recordings. The leaked audios have caused tension even within the ANC top six. This week, ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte accused ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule’s supporters of leaking NEC…
This month, things came to a head for South African crypto exchange iCE3, after it notified users that withdrawals would be suspended. One of the oldest exchanges in South Africa, it held only 80,000 accounts, with only a small fraction of those being active. Last month, the exchange suspended trading after finding that account discrepancies existed. “There’s a cloud of mystery surrounding iCE3. What happened, how it happened, why it happened, and, perhaps, most importantly, who was in charge of their communications,” queried Richard Gardner, CEO of Modulus, a US-based developer of ultra-high-performance trading and surveillance technology that powers global equities, derivatives, and digital…
A delay in the payments of the COVID-19 grant for the months of March and April 2021 is being experienced due to the transition in government financial years. The end of March is the end of the financial year for the government and various administrative tasks are required before any payments which relate to the previous financial year can be made. SASSA said in a statement it is currently busy with these end of financial year tasks which has delayed payment. SASSA received confirmation of the extension of the COVID-19 grant on 11 February 2021, after all its administration systems…
To help South Africans get up, get going and achieve their goals this year, MTN is offering all South Africans the chance to win one of 12 digital makeovers – and it starts today! It’s called The Go Show and it will air each week on the eTV Morning Show from 15 April 2021 to 15 June 2021 – on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. The show ambassadors, known as the “Go-Getters” – Riky Rick, Pabi Moloi, Redi Tlhabi and William Lehong – have been armed with a range of MTN consumer and business products, services and complementary devices, hardware, software…