Author: Staff Writer

Online trading is taking the African continent by the storm. Forex platforms present a viable earning tool for the local population. Anyone can profit from currency trades remotely — all they need is software and a registered account. These are provided by intermediaries known as brokers. The companies are classified as ECN or market makers based on their revenue source. The former is the purest form of brokerage. Here is why. The foreign exchange is an over-the-counter market. This means buyers and sellers establish a direct connection through intermediaries. Individuals, banks and market traders all partake in the activity. If…

The Competition Tribunal has slapped pharmacy group, Dis-Chem, with a R1.2 million fine for excessively overpricing surgical masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. This comes after the company was found guilty following complaints registered by the public. In its order and reasons, the Tribunal found that Dis-Chem contravened the Competition Act for charging excessive prices for three types of surgical face masks to the detriment of consumers during March 2020. The Tribunal considered the background to the COVID-19 pandemic as the economic context in which Dis-Chem had increased its prices on three occasions. This included, among others, the fact that the…

South African company Brand Hubb is using an innovative e-commerce platform to change how South African consumers exchange gifts. “We are expanding our business offering by leveraging technology to improve or reinvent ‘stuffy’ tradition,” says Rob Anderson, CEO of Brand Hubb. “The next big idea is usually found by identifying and resolving areas that cause consumers pain or stress”. Brand Hubb’s Chip In gifting solution is a case in point. It was built to address the pain points that most consumers experience when giving gifts. Finding the perfect gift used to involve spending countless hours trawling through physical stores until,…

JSE-listed 4Sight announced on Tuesday that it has inked a strategic deal with Unplugg Group, a black-owned tech company. As part of the transaction, a new entity to be known as 4Sight Unplugg has been formed. The new company will be 51%-owned by Unplugg and 49% by 4Sight. 4Sight Unplugg’s board will be led by Antony Hlungwane, the CEO of Unplugg. Hlungwane has more than 20 years’ experience in the ICT industry. He is a former CIO of Mr Price and has extensive executive experience in the retail, banking and telecommunications industries. In 2013 and 2015 he was a finalist in…

IT and data science students are invited to apply for the Shoprite Group’s bursary programme for the 2021 academic year. Each bursary comes with a work-back agreement to deepen learning with a strong practical element to gain hands-on experience in the business. “Our IT capabilities are complex, extensive and ever-growing,” confirms David Cohn, the CIO. Most recently the Group was the first retailer in South Africa to launch virtual vouchers and contactless QR payments in direct response to the Covid-19 pandemic. “We operate in an incredibly fast-paced environment, at the forefront of retail innovation. As such we are offering IT…

Online and video medical consultations prompted by COVID-19 restrictions will continue even after the threat of the pandemic has passed because they are convenient, cost-effective and broaden access to healthcare. That’s according to Dr. Steven Holt, CEO of First Care Solutions, a medical services and administration company that is part-owned and -funded by RMB Ventures.  In partnership with Johannesburg-based ER Consulting Inc, in February 2020, First Care Solutions launched its direct telephonic and video consultations for South Africans who require medical attention. “Demand for virtual, online and telephonic medical consultations – or telemedicine, to use the generic term – has…

Meet the new BMW X5 M Competition and BMW X6 M Competition. Both powerhouses possess a high-revving 4.4-litre V8 engine with M TwinPower Turbo technology, resulting in a  power increase over their respective predecessors of 37 kW for both the BMW X5 M Competition and the BMW X6 M Competition. This sees both the BMW X5 M Competition and the BMW X6 M Competition boasting 460 kW of power  (at 6 000 rpm) and a maximum torque of 750 Nm between 1800 – 5600 rpm. Both the BMW X5 M Competition and the BMW X6 M Competition accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h…

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has declared that 85% of the UIF cases which were previously deemed not to be qualifying for the R350 COVID-19 grant qualify. This is a major about-turn for an agency that has rejected millions of applicants for the special grant. On 21 April, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a R500 billion stimulus package to deal with the negative economic impact of COVID-19. As part of the package, Ramaphosa revealed a special COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress grant of R350 a month for six months to be paid to jobless individuals. The relief grant excludes…

Phathilizwi Training Institution has invoiced the OR Tambo district municipality R4.8 million for ‘work’ done over four days. The Sunday Times reported that the company claims to have hired community workers to embark on a door-to-door COVID-19 awareness campaign in the Eastern Cape. Documents leaked online show that Phathilizwi Training Institution invoiced the district municipality for just over R3m on May 21 and a further R1.8m four days later. The municipality now says it has launched a probe into the project. Municipal speaker Xolile Nkompela told the Sunday Times he has asked the director in his office to provide a…

The Gauteng government wants to reintroduce a hard lockdown in the province to curb the rapid spread of COVID-19. This is an attempt to curb soaring COVID-19 numbers in the province. The Sunday Times reported that if the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) approves the request, it could see Gauteng being shut down for up to two weeks at a time. “Nobody goes to work and no-one moves,” Gauteng health MEC Bandile Masuku told the newspaper. “Then the economy opens up again for a particular period of time and then it closes again. So at least there is predictability and…