Author: Staff Writer

South Africa has recorded five deaths resulting from Coronavirus, with 1 353 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19. The Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, made the announcement at a media briefing in eThekweni on Tuesday. To date, the country has conducted 39 500 tests. The first recorded death was that of a 48-year-old woman in the Western Cape, with the second being an 85-year-old from the Free State, who had attended the Divine Restoration Church Ministries conference, where a number of infections were detected. The third death was that of a Gauteng man, who succumbed to respiratory distress two days ago.…

As South Africa settles into an unprecedented 21-day national lockdown and banks look to do what they can to help ease the financial burden and very real anxiety the general public is facing, TymeBank is leading the way when it comes to offering tangible support to its customers. With the world having been forced to rapidly switch to a digital way of working, TymeBank could not be better placed. “Being South Africa’s first digital bank, we’re built for this. As other companies and banks are having to rethink and reinvent themselves to be fully functional, we’re already able to demonstrate…

Naspers has committed R 1,5 billion in emergency aid to the government’s response to the Covid-19 crisis. The group will contribute R 500 million to the Solidarity Response Fund announced by the President last week. In addition, Naspers will buy R 1 billion worth of personal protective equipment and other medical supplies in China – in partnership with the Chinese government and Tencent – to support South Africa’s health workers and fly it to South Africa as soon as possible. “By working with government and civil society we want to help our country overcome this very difficult period. We hope…

Electronic Communications, Postal and Broadcasting Directions issued under Regulation 10 (8) of the Disaster Management Act Electronic Communications Services Licensees, OTTs and ISPs that provide linear and non-linear services bears the responsibility to remove fake news related to COVID-19 from their platforms immediately after identified as such. What are Fake News? “Fake News” means statements made with the intention to deceive as contemplated in the Disaster Management Regulations, 2020 What are the types of Fake News? Disinformation: Information that is false and deliberately created to harm a person, social group, organization or country for the purposes to influence public opinion…

The Gauteng Health Department has confirmed a COVID-19 case in Alexandra, Johannesburg. “The confirmed case, was tested and was instructed to remain under self-isolation while awaiting results,” said the department on Monday. According to the provincial department, the man who has tested and was subsequently found to be infected with the virus, disregarded instructions to self-isolate and travelled to outside of the province before the lockdown. “Upon positive confirmation of results, our team of tracers working with law enforcement agencies tracked the confirmed case to Limpopo,” said the department. The man is currently under isolation in a health facility in…

The country’s communications watchdog said on Monday it has taken a decision to extend the validity period of existing radio frequency spectrum licences in line with regulation 10 of the Radio Frequency Spectrum Regulations. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has resolved to grant all radio frequency spectrum licence holders an extension to renew their licences by no later than the 30th of June 2020. In terms of the Regulations, the due date for the renewal of radiofrequency spectrum licences is 31 March annually. The Regulations further provide that failure to pay the prescribed licence renewal fee by…

Vodacom announced on Monday it has appointed Khumo Shuenyane as a non-executive director. The Vodafone-owned mobile phone group said Shuenyane’s appointment is effective on 21 July 2020. Shuenyane has served as an independent non-executive director of Investec Limited and Investec Plc (together ‘Investec Group’), and several companies within the Investec Group, since 2014. He was appointed chairman of Investec Bank Limited, Investec Group’s South African banking subsidiary, in 2018. He has over a decade of experience in the telecoms industry. He served six years as Group Chief Mergers & Acquisitions Officer for MTN Group and a member of its Group…

DStv to set up a dedicated pop-up channel for various religious groups in the country during this Easter Weekend. The channel, named Africa Easter Channel, is in collaboration with the renowned TBN Africa, DStv Channel 343. Across South Africa, over 80% worshippers observe and celebrate the Easter period, hence different and various Christian denominations be will be looked after by the channel. The current restrictions due to the global pandemic, COVID-19, will see South Africans staying at home during the Easter Weekend. Accordingly, Africa Easter Channel’s offering of music and sermons is bound to keep DStv viewers engaged and fulfilled during…

As we enter the fourth-day national lockdown, MTN announced on Monday it was enabling South African women to exercise whilst in isolation in their homes. Available on MTN’s Youtube channel and on social media @MTNza, GiGYMA is a digital home-based workout series that is easily accessible from any smartphone, tablet, laptop, or PC. While there has been a revival of healthy living amongst all South Africans over the past few years, the popularity of online fitness challenges and workouts has grown rapidly over the past two weeks. Now that South Africans can’t go to the gym, a walk or run…

Vodacom e-School platform is proving to be invaluable for the scores of school-going children at home on extended school break as the country grapples with Corovavirus (COVID-19). User registration on the platform since schools closed has been unprecedented over the past two weeks with the total number of registered users now close on 1 million. On Sunday 15 March, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a raft of measures to protect the country from the spread of the COVID-19. Schools closed from Wednesday, 18 March until after Easter Holidays. This meant that parents had to find alternative methods to help their children…