SAMRO ensures composers, authors and publishers are fairly compensated for the use of their musical works. The Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO) has reaffirmed its core mandate of administering and distributing royalties to music creators, announcing total distribution allocation of R630.2 million for the 2025 financial year. The 2025 distribution marks a 1.3% increase…
Communications and digital technologies minister Solly Malatsi. The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) will see its staff complement strengthened, as it seeks to fill vacant posts. The move, says the DCDT, is in line with a targeted succession planning, retention and development programmes. Finance minister Enoch Godongwana tabled the budget at Cape Town…
Pressure on freshwater resources is growing as demand increases in regions marked by scarcity, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a report published on Friday. It provides an update on renewable water availability, which refers to the amount of freshwater that is replenished each year in rivers and aquifers through precipitation. Renewable…
Microsoft will increase prices for its Microsoft 365 productivity suites globally starting in July 2026 for commercial and government clients, the company said on Thursday. The move comes as Microsoft’s suite, which includes Word, Excel and PowerPoint, faces growing competition from Google’s products. The price hike will affect businesses and public sector agencies, with small…
Key findings Between Round 7 (2016/2018) and Round 10 (2024) of Afrobarometer surveys, both average interview duration and average question duration have increased significantly. The average time taken to complete an interview rose from 63.0 minutes in Round 7, to 78 minutes in Round 9 and 79.9 minutes in Round 10. The average time taken…
Türkiye — THE bilateral trade volume between Türkiye and African countries has risen more than six times over the past two decades, driven by strengthened economic ties and growing cooperation across key sectors. Trade between the two partners reached 32.8 billion US dollars (81tri/-) at the end of last year, up from 5.4 billion US…
Despite his austerity measures, the president’s party is expected to do well in the crucial October mid-term elections. Argentina’s libertarian president, Javier Milei, has vetoed bills aimed at increasing pensions and disability spending, amid ongoing protests against his austerity fiscal policies, which are hitting many people in their day-to-day lives. Milei’s administration announced the decision…
Winter in some parts of South Africa is a time of low (or no) rainfall and high fire danger. Sheldon Strydom studies the relationship between weather and fire, in particular how Berg winds, also known as mountain flow events, are linked to periods of enhanced fire danger. Mid-July is typically a high risk period. He…
Herman Young, group CISO of Investec; Ritasha Kalidas, group head of cyber security at Coca-Cola Beverages Africa; and TV personality Leanne Manas. South African chief security information officers (CISOs) have seen “marginal” increases to their budgets in the past year. This is one of the biggest takeaways from the preliminary results of the 2025 edition…
