Author: Staff Writer

South Africa has officially received its first shipment of one million Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines. The Emirates cargo carrying the first batch of the lifesaving jabs from India touched down at OR Tambo International Airport on Monday afternoon. President Cyril Ramaphosa, together with his Deputy David Mabuza, who chairs the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Vaccines, witnessed the momentous occasion. Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, flanked the two leaders. Plastic-wrapped bundles of the in-demand vaccine were off-loaded from the plane into the unmarked refrigerated trucks. The jabs were then transported to a cold room lab where they will undergo quality checks, which may…

AlphaCode announced on Monday the top ten businesses for R10 million FinTech support programme. Almost 200 fintech businesses applied for the AlphaCode Incubate programme which aims to grow innovative financial services entrepreneurs and find the next OUTsurance or Discovery. The 12-week intensive pre-incubation programme is valued at R500 000, including R150 000 in grant funding for each participant. This jump-start programme has just begun and focuses on achieving a viable business. It culminates in a demo day, where participants will compete for a place in a 6-month step-up programme. Step-up offers grant funding of R500 000 for each startup and…

Digital FinTech platform provider Ukheshe has announced the conclusion of a new agreement with the Kenya-based lender KCB Bank Kenya. The deal is aimed at boosting  East African payment services Through the agreement, KCB will sponsor Ukheshe’s Bank Identification Number (BIN) number, which will allow Ukheshe to immediately issue both physical and virtual cards across East Africa where KCB has an extensive footprint. According to Victor Ndlovu, VP of Ukheshe Africa, the deal will include other innovative digital products such as QR issuing and acquiring. “By joining forces with KCB we are well-placed to address several open loop market opportunities…

Regulators are no longer afraid to protect peoples’ rights to privacy against tech giants. In recent years, we have seen the likes of Google and Facebook receive large amounts of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) fines. Head of Legal and Chief Privacy Officer at LAWtrust, Rian Schoeman says with the 28th of January being Global Data Privacy day, it is time to look thoroughly at South African business and how far they are with their Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) compliance journey. “POPIA in South Africa came into effect on 1 July 2020, and if you have not started…

Government will use an electronic system to keep track of everyone who gets the COVID-19 vaccine as South Africa gears up for its historical mass vaccination. The Department of Health’s Acting Chief Operating Officer (COO), Milani Wolmarans, said the Electronic Vaccine Data System (EVDS), will allow the department to capture all relevant data associated with the administration of the vaccine. “The system is a data-secure platform built with an enterprise architecture that complies with national and international security standards,” Wolmarans explained. The COO announced this during a public health webinar chaired by Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, on COVID-19 vaccine…

Spot Money has introduced open banking offering in South Africa, in a move that followed the 2020 acquisition of Virgin Money South Africa by a local private equity firm, in partnership with the local executive management team Virgin Money has been rebranded into Spot Money. Spot Money’s app is now live on all major app stores: Apple, Huawei and Google Play Store. Andre Hugo, who continues at the helm of the Spot Money business as CEO, said the app was a significantly revised offering which would introduce Spot’s entry into Open Banking. He said this also heralds the beginning of…

Musica is dead. We’ve known is coming for some time. Clickcs Group informed investors on Wednesday that it will close the music retailer’s stores countrywide. The music retailer was founded 29 years ago. The JSE-listed company informed investors that its board has taken a decision to close the group’s heritage entertainment brand Musica with effect from 31 May 2021. “Musica has closed 19 stores since the start of the 2021 financial year and is currently trading from 59 outlets,” the company said. “The remaining stores will be closed as leases expire over the next four months when the majority…

Telkom announced on Wednesday it has chosen three talented content producers to feature on its video streaming service, TelkomONE. After the call for submissions through the #OpenUpTheIndustry competition: joint prize-winners Lisa Marie Pyanee and Gosiame Ntshole in the Comedy category; Brandon Olifant (Mobivela) and Patty Monroe (Lifestyle), will each receive a R100 000 cash injection to produce a full web-series. Final projects are to be screened on the TelkomONE platform. “We were looking for content producers that stood out in how they shared their stories as well as relatable, authentically South African content that moved us, made us laugh and kept…

Twelve young South Africans have been selected by MultiChoice to participate in a continental first Scriptwriting Incubator to find the next generation of storytellers. Starting in February, the full-time MultiChoice Talent Factory South Africa (MTFza) Scriptwriting Incubator will host the 12 interns who will be mentored by Tshedza Pictures’ Phathutshedzo Makwarela and Gwydion Beynon, the International Emmy-Nominated producers of The River, Giyani: Land of Blood, The Republic and Legacy, and the head writers of Gomora, the Queen, Igazi and many other of South Africa’s favourite television shows. The SETA-accredited learnership will include structured learning with the Wits University Film &…

Pan-African telecoms group, Liquid Telecom, has announced a strategic acquisition of the Middle East & African operations of Quattro Business Solutions (QBS). The acquisition will allow Liquid Telecom to innovate and enhance its digital services offerings. QBS is an official indirect Cloud Solution Provider for Microsoft Dynamics and currently supports over 800 partners in 25 countries.  This purchase gives Liquid Telecom the ability to be a well-rounded Microsoft partner, offering deep capability on Dynamics 365 in addition to Office 365 and Azure. “This acquisition is core to our strategy to deepen our cloud service offerings by bringing award-winning Microsoft Dynamics 365 solutions to our digital ecosystem…