The power of one opportunity

The power of one opportunity

Zakhe Khuzwayo, CFO, InnoVent. South Africa’s education crisis is no longer simply about access to universities or bursaries. Thousands of young people receive financial support every year, yet many still fall through the cracks before graduation or struggle to enter the job market afterwards. The real challenge is not only funding education; it’s about creating…

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Meta cash flow collapses as AI bill hits 5-billion

Meta cash flow collapses as AI bill hits $145-billion

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Carlos Barria/Reuters Meta Platforms reported a 91% plunge in second-quarter free cash flow on Wednesday, underscoring the financial strain of the social media giant’s costly AI buildout amid an uncertain payoff. The Facebook and Instagram parent company reported free cash flow of US$784-million in the second quarter ended 30 June, down…

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South African tech’s compounding debt problem

South African tech’s compounding debt problem

Every shortcut a tech company takes is a loan. That’s the whole idea behind “technical debt”, a phrase programmer Ward Cunningham coined more than 30 years ago and the smartest bit of financial language software ever borrowed. In my last column, I argued that we sell products before we build them. This is what happens…

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‘Agents find a way’ as AI attacks evolve

‘Agents find a way’ as AI attacks evolve

AI-powered cyber attacks are expected to become increasingly common as more capable AI models proliferate. (Image generated using ChatGPT) Conventional cyber security controls are no longer sufficient to stop increasingly capable autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) agents, following last week’s rogue AI attack on AI platform Hugging Face, says cloud infrastructure company Modal. The company issued…

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Radical rethink for South Africa’s national AI policy

Radical rethink for South Africa’s national AI policy

South Africa’s redrafted national AI policy will not prescribe rules to industry. Instead, individual sectors will be left to write their own AI strategies off a set of national guidelines. That is according to department of communications & digital technologies acting deputy director-general Jeanette Morwane, who told TechCentral on the sidelines of the inaugural Naspers/Prosus…

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Vodacom, UJ, and AWS join forces to develop industry-ready AI graduates

Vodacom, UJ, and AWS join forces to develop industry-ready AI graduates

In an effort to bridge the divide between higher education and real-world requirements, Vodacom, the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and Amazon Web Services on Friday, 24 July, announced they have formed a strategic alliance focused on developing highly skilled, employment-ready specialists in artificial intelligence and data science. Supplied image: Leadership from UJ, Vodacom, AWS and…

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Smarter tech investment starts with trusted data

Smarter tech investment starts with trusted data

Hasnain Motlekar, acting CEO of BCX. Clean and trustworthy data is essential to building a digitally enabled and intelligent company, with business leaders shifting their focus from technology procurement to achieving business outcomes from technology investments. This is according to executives from BCX, Telkom Business and Openserve, who hosted channel partners, industry specialists and customers…

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South African IT spending surging as AI boom lands locally

South African IT spending surging as AI boom lands locally

South African IT spending will grow 19.8% in 2026 to US$28.1-billion, more than five percentage points faster than the global figure, according to figures Gartner provided to TechCentral. The research firm does not publish a South African breakdown with its quarterly global releases. It supplied the local cut on request, following its worldwide forecast on…

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Altron appoints Collin Govender as managing director of Altron HealthTech

Altron appoints Collin Govender as managing director of Altron HealthTech

Altron, South Africa’s leading multi-platform and IT services company, today announced the appointment of Collin Govender as managing director of Altron HealthTech, effective 1 September 2026. Govender succeeds Leslie Moodley, who has announced his early retirement earlier this month. Govender is currently group chief operating officer at Altron, where he oversees strategy execution, human capital,…

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