Author: Staff Writer

South Africa is currently under lockdown Alert Level Four about to enter Alert Level Three and has seen every sector of our economy shaken to the core by the COVID-19 Pandemic. As the country moves to Alert Level 3 on 1 June 2020, the economic outlook for the rest of the year is that we are about to experience a deep recession of between -4.5% and -8.0% Gross Domestic Product contraction, significantly more severe than the -1.5% GDP contraction of 2009. “We experienced a sharp slowdown in applications at the end of March and part of April 2020, however our…

As part of COVID-19 relief measures, Huawei Technologies in partnership with Social Development Deputy Minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu and NGO Afrika Tikkun have provided 300 vulnerable families living in Alexandra Township, north of Johannesburg with food parcels. Social Development Deputy Minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu shares information on Covid-19 prevention with Alexandra residents. During a visit to the Alexandra Township, Deputy Minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu said; “The initiative is important, in Alexandra the numbers are going up, the living conditions aren’t the best and people are congested. We need to make sure that within these living conditions people are wearing their masks and understand…

An intelligence-driven operation by Gauteng Provincial Organised Crimes: Narcotics Unit led to the bust of a drug laboratory last night, in Kensington, Johannesburg, said police. Gauteng police spokesperson Kay Makhubele said on arrival at the address, the police search the premises and discovered a drug laboratory in what was believed to be a meth laboratory. Police further discovered drugs in a car, chemicals and equipment used to manufacture drugs. The car was also impounded. During the operation, one suspect was arrested. The suspect will appear in the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court soon. Gauteng Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Elias Mawela commended the…

The Gauteng Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Roads and Transport says the opening of rail during level 3 lockdown could spell a public transport catastrophe. The committee said it is was not pleased with the measures presented by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s administrator, Bongisizwe Mpondo, on their readiness to receive passengers under level 3 lockdown regulations. “As the bulk of working-class citizens go back to work, trains are expected to be operational effective 1 June 2020. However, plans presented by PRASA are short of a Gauteng province integrated system and could lead to a public transport disaster during…

The South African cellular network industry has improved in the customer satisfaction stakes according to the latest South African Customer Satisfaction Index (SA-csi) for Mobile Telecommunications Services, conducted by Consulta. SA’s three largest cellular networks, Cell C, MTN and Vodacom, have all recorded improvements in satisfaction since the 2018 measures, however, long-term trends indicate a degree of inconsistency when it comes to keeping their customers happy. One pertinent finding is that Customer Expectations have consistently declined over a four-year period. This is cause for concern as declines in Customer Expectations have been proven to foreshadow inevitable drops in Perceived Quality, value and…

Bolt, the transportation platform, has closed an investment round of €100 million (R1.9 billion) as it continues to scale all of its product segments from ride-hailing to micromobility and food delivery in Europe and Africa. The investment comes from Naya Capital Management, the global investment manager founded in 2012 by Masroor Siddiqui, a former partner at The Children’s Investment Fund, and brings Bolt’s total funds raised to more than €300m. In South Africa Bolt operates in up to 34 secondary towns and cities across all nine provinces of South Africa – with its aggressive expansion strategy in 2019 seeing it…

Thabiso Hamilton Ndlovu, a Johannesburg-based businessman, opened up on videos showing several new cars being delivered to his house and the public support and backlash that followed. The video circulated on Sunday on social media showing several new vehicles:  Lamborghini, Jeep and three Porsches bought by Ndlovu. For more read: Video: Hamilton Ndlovu Buys Lamborghini, Jeep and three Porsches Ndlovu reflects on the video “Over the past weekend, a video showing several new vehicles that I recently purchased for my family’s use was posted on my social media timeline,” said Ndlovu in a statement published on his Twitter page. “After…

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) says a move to level 3 lockdown, which will commence from 1 June 2020, will enable the agency to accelerate the pace of paying out the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress grant. “At the moment SASSA is operating with a third of its staff during level 4 and a move to level 3 will increase human resource capacity drastically so that payments are made quicker than it is the case currently,” said SASSA CEO Totsie Memela. Memela said that much progress has been made in preparing for the payment of large numbers of…

Africa has marked the 57th Africa Day amid the Coronavirus pandemic with African Union Chair, President Cyril Ramaphosa, calling on the continent to use the global crisis as an opportunity to re-imagine a new Africa. Africa Day is celebrated on 25 May 2020 and marks the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Africa has not been spared from the COVID-19 pandemic with almost 96 000 people infected with almost 3 000 having lost their lives. Delivering the keynote address on the Africa Day special virtual broadcast on Monday, President Ramaphosa said the pandemic will have a lasting impact…

MTN announced on Monday that it remains the ‘Most Admired African Brand’ based on spontaneous consumer responses in Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands 2020 survey released on Monday. MTN is also the only African brand in the rankings of the ‘Most Admired Brands in Africa’. In a survey carried out in 27 countries, representing around 80% of the population and the GDP of Africa, the group is now also considered one of the continent’s most admired media brands. MTN Mobile Money – through which MTN provides more than 35 million Africans access to financial services – remains one of Africa’s…