south african tech news
6 Urgent Steps Companies Need to Take to Ensure POPIA Compliance
Sourced from Europa EU. The eleventh hour is upon businesses who are not POPIA (Protection of Personal Information Act) compliant. The effective date of 1 July is upon us. Your business should have already started its compliance journey, as it will at least help lessen the risk of cybersecurity breaches. Securing your data will help your business be in good standing with local and international partners. This will also enhance the reputation of your business and exempt you from fines and non-compliance. Here are six steps your business can take before 01 July to be POPIA compliant: 1. Encrypt Everything One of the major requirements under POPIA is to ensure that you apply Generally Accepted Information Security Protocols. While these requirements are not the same for all organisations, som...
MultiChoice Sees Surge in Earnings Amidst Subscriber Boom
Image sourced from The Vanguard Nigeria /* custom css */ .tdi_4_dc2.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_dc2.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } South African broadcasting conglomerate MultiChoice Group reports that it has added 1.4-million 90-day active subscribers to its services between the beginning of 2021 to 31 March. MultiChoice also reports that earnings were exceedingly robust despite the ongoing pandemic. This is partly due to the 7% growth year-on-year of its subscribers. The Johannesburg-based corporation ended 2020 with 20.9-million subscribers – 43% from South Africa, while a further 57% of subscribers from the rest of the continent. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_d36.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_d36.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Growth in the Face of COV...
South African Animation Studio Wins International Film Award
Mama K’s Team 4 on Netflix. Image sourced from Quartz. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_787.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_787.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Annecy International Animation Festival has awarded South African animation studio, Triggerfish, the Mifa Animation Industry Award. “This is to highlight the pioneering role that the company has played in animation in South Africa, and Africa most widely,” says Véronique Encrenaz, head of Mifa. Previous recipients include Christopher Meledandri, founder of Illumination (Despicable Me); the co-founders of Aardman, Peter Lord and David Sproxton (Wallace & Grommet); Marc Bonny, the creator of Gebeka Films (My Life As A Courgette); Eric Beckman, founder of GKIDS (Wolfwalkers); and Women in Animation (WIA). /* cust...
SA Government Loses Majority Stake in South African Airways
Sourced from The African Report. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_700.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_700.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } The South African government has lost the majority stake of its ailing airline, South African Airways (SAA) through a deal with its new strategic partner Takatso Consortium. Public Enterprise Minister Pravin Gordhan has announced the news that the government has reached an agreement with Takatso Consortium, a private company, that will now own 51% of the airline, with the government remaining with a minority stake at 49%. “Government and the ANC [have] indicated over some time the intention to restructure SAA. The airline was placed into business rescue in December 2019 and since then our objective has been to ensure a viable and competitive airli...
Gen-Z is SA’s Fastest Growing Group of Online Shoppers at 218%
Courtesy of Raw Pixel. Image sourced from Robosoft Technologies. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_211.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_211.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } By harnessing the power of social media, Gen Z is driving a new wave of the e-commerce boom in South Africa. Apps including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, which tailor content to the user’s interests and behaviour, have allowed this new generation of spenders to create a personalised shopping mall experience – online. Gen-Z Takes Shopping Online /* custom css */ .tdi_3_f0e.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_f0e.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } According to data sourced by online payment gateway PayFast, the fastest-growing group of local online shoppers in SA are the Gen Z’s, aged between 18 and 24. “Ou...
Cape Town Tech Startup Secures $14.5-Million More in Funding
“In emerging-market megacities, hundreds of millions of people use public transport to get where they need to go. Before WhereIsMyTransport, there was no central source of data for these networks, despite their size, scale, and importance,” reads a blurb on the startup’s official website. “WhereIsMyTransport helps people understand mobility in emerging-market megacities. We’re trusted by industry leaders like Google, the World Bank, and WSP.” Founded in Cape Town in 2015, the tech startup focusing on mobility creates data maps for formal and informal public transport networks in cities and uses this data and tech to improve the public transport experiences of commuters. WhereIsMyTransport hopes to make public commutes more reliable, predictable, safe, inclusive and more accessible to indiv...
Eskom Moves Loadshedding to Weekend Allowing SA Govt to Pass Bill on Friday
Image sourced from International Atomic Energy Agency /* custom css */ .tdi_4_e33.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_e33.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Embattled South African power utility Eskom is suspending load-shedding on Friday from 12:00 to 17:00 in order for the country’s parliament to pass an Appropriation Bill. In order for the power utility to make up reserves it will use to suspend the shedding on Friday, communities across the country will have to face load-shedding through the weekend. #PowerAlert1 In order to allow parliament to pass the Appropriation Bill, Stage 2 loadshedding will be suspended from 12:00 to 17:00 today@News24 @SABCNews @NewzroomAfrika @eNCA @IOL @ewnupdates @SundayTimesZA @SowetanLIVE @dailysunsa pic.twitter.com/d4naqeHG7B — Eskom Hld SOC Ltd...
Sasol to Start Cutting Jobs in August Amid Global Oil Price Slump
Sourced from BizNews. Sasol is set to begin employee dismissals from mid-August in efforts to cut costs in a new strategy aimed at boosting its balances. This comes after the company was battered by the general decline in oil prices as a result of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. According to Fin24, in a letter to its employees dated 18 June the company says it was under considerable financial pressure and that unless stringent and emergency actions are taken, it would not survive the year. The massive petrochemical firm, employer of 31,000 people around the world, continues to estimate that its financial position will remain under “severe pressure” due to the depressed prices on oil. Based in Johannesburg, Sasol says that its “…financial position continues to be under severe pressure, esp...
There are 577 Malware Attacks in South Africa Every Hour, Research Shows
Sourced from Republic Title The 2019 KnowBe4 African Report found that the continent is increasingly vulnerable to cyber-attacks. The report highlighted how vulnerable users were when it came to recognising cyber-threats and managing their risk profiles. In 2020, Accenture released a report entitled ‘Insight into the Cyberthreat Landscape in South Africa’ that revealed that there are around 577 malware attacks every hour, many of them are unsuccessful, however. Cybercrime has turned towards Africa and is putting its people and organisations at risk. “With cybercrime shifting its attention towards emerging economies and with Africa’s internet penetration about to double to one billion internet users by 2022, the African continent has become an attractive target for cybercrime,” says Anna Co...
Cashless and Contactless Payments Beyond COVID-19
The emergence of COVID-19 has made the need for digitising payments more critical than ever before and for this to be a success, electronic payments need to offer similar benefits to those afforded by cash. Globally, economies are in various stages of development having either started developing, replaced or are busy replacing daily batch payment systems with real-time systems that execute payments in seconds with the flexibility to meet the needs of the future digital economy. The drive towards digital payments and lowering the reliance on cash is not new to South Africa’s payments market. There are several mechanisms already in place to enable this and banks, card companies, fintechs and retailers are all involved in rolling out digital, non-touch payment mechanisms. Contactless cards us...
Is Your Business Ready for the New Pace of Digital Transformation?
Sourced from Syspro. While digital transformation has ostensibly been on top of the CIO’s agenda for years, the reality is that many businesses have been slow on the uptake. Recent events like the lockdown in South Africa and across the world have forced their hand, and those that were on the back foot are now scrambling to keep up. However, when it comes to accelerating digital transformation, businesses need speed, not haste. Now more than ever it is essential to understand that technology is an enabler, a means to an end and not the end itself. In order to succeed, it is critical to begin with a strategy, to understand what business benefits need to be achieved and how technology can assist. No more delaying the inevitable /* custom css */ .tdi_3_558.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.td...
