Author: Staff Writer

Phuthuma Nathi is looking for 22 000 shareholders who owned shares and did not receive dividends between 2006 and 2020. There is R207 million in unclaimed dividends, waiting for their rightful owners. “This money belongs to our shareholders. We’re calling on them to contact us to get their money. In these tough economic times we want to do everything in our power to give them what is rightfully theirs,” say Mandla Langa, chairman of Phuthuma Nathi. The MultiChoice BBBEE share scheme, Phuthuma Nathi, is one of the most successful schemes in South Africa. It is truly broad-based with more than…

Investec, as mandated lead arranger, has provided Vox, a market-leading end-to-end integrated ICT and infrastructure provider, with access to debt facilities to fund their fibre rollout plans. Investec was the mandated lead arranger on the Vox deal who structured the debt package, managed the entire process and brought in Rand Merchant Bank and Standard Bank as fellow lenders. “The roll-out of fibre via our subsidiary Frogfoot, is key to helping revolutionise the lives of local families and businesses, by providing a fast, affordable and reliable platform for communication. However, the fibre telecommunications game is a competitive one and the right…

AURA, South Africa’s security and medical response platform, has launched WhatsApp security chatbot in partnership with Tracker, one of the country’s most trusted names in stolen vehicle recovery. Powered by Aura, Tracker’s unique Tracker CareGuard service offers rapid mobile emergency response anywhere, anytime within South Africa. The new cutting-edge solution enables subscribers to request immediate mobile armed response assistance wherever they are by sharing a location pin in WhatsApp. Warren Myers, Founder and CEO of Aura says the new WhatsApp service illustrates the power of technology in preventing and combating crime and the role it plays in enabling South African…

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday extended the Special 350 COVID-19 Grant, by a further three months. SASSA has processed in excess of 9.6 million applications each month from May 2020 to January 2021 and has paid more than 6.5 million grants per month. The total amount spent on this grant to date has exceeded R16 billion. The following should be noted about this grant: There is no need to go to a SASSA office; all SRD processes are done online. Any amendments on your application can be made at https://srd.sassa.gov.za Those persons already who have received this grant and are…

The month of February is always when people think of new ways to celebrate their love for their partners. It is also when cybercriminals, as previously reported, think of new and creative ways to target and lure new victims with malicious activity. Especially during the current global restrictions enforced by the pandemic, which has driven significant increases in online shopping. As people go online to purchase gifts for their loved ones during this period, Check Point Research (CPR) has observed a surge in malicious phishing email campaigns in the second half of January with over 400 malicious Valentine’s day themed…

IROKO, a Nigerian-based video-on-demand (VoD) company, may list on London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) Alternative Investment Market within the next 12 months. The company aims to raise between $20 million (R294 million) and $30 million (R441 million) and would value the whole business at between $80 million and $100 million (R1.4 billion). Speaking from Accra to The Africa Report, IROKO’s co-founder and CEO, Jason Njoku said discussions with brokers would start in the coming weeks. Njoku, who holds an 18% stake in the debt-free company, founded the business with Bastian Gotter in 2011. IROKO has the world’s most extensive online catalogue of…

Dimension Data has partnered with Mimecast to provide a Managed Secure Email service to help organisations address the growing number of advanced threats targeting users, including spam, business email compromise attacks, malware and spear-phishing. Managed Secure Email will help ensure that organisations are secure by design, offering protection from malicious activity, human error and technology failure. Mimecast’s State of Email Security 2020 report found that organisations saw a 53% increase in phishing attacks and a 45% increase in ransomware attacks in the last twelve months. As email-borne attacks grow, a layered approach to cyber resilience is required to protect any…

Huawei’s CEO Ren Zhengfei has pledged to stick to a globalisation strategy despite external pressure. He has called on the new US administration to come up with more open policies that are in the interests of US companies and the US economy as a whole. These are the first public remarks the Huawei founder has made since the change of the US administration in January. In May 2019, the US commerce department added, Huawei into the Entity List, which prohibits the company from purchasing US technologies as well as software services. In 2020, the Trump administration further restricted Huawei from…

Meat Naturally and Agricool Finance were awarded joint first place in the 10th Annual Social Innovation Awards, while Leafline Washable Sanitary Wear scooped first place in the Disability Empowerment Awards. All three winners were awarded R1.3 million in grant funding by the SAB Foundation Social Innovation and Disability Empowerment Awards. A total amount of R12.6 million in grant funding and business development support was given away to all our 17 Finalists. The Social Innovation Awards are aimed at innovators, entrepreneurs and institutions with prototypes or early-stage businesses that solve a social problem through a sustainable business model. Joint first place…

Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC) has committed $10 million (R148 million) to venture capital firm Knife Capital’s new African Series B expansion fund, Knife Fund III. The Fund’s aim is to invest behind the aggressive expansion of African innovation-driven companies and fill a critical follow-on funding gap. The commitment positions Mineworkers Investment Company as an anchor investor to the Fund alongside other local and international investors. “The move to change the way local institutional investors approach venture capital investment has been in the pipeline at MIC for a number of years now. Our venturing into the earlier-stage alternative asset class space…