South Africa’s public sector is rapidly adopting biometric and algorithmic tools to improve service delivery. From home affairs’ smart ID roll-out to the South African Social Security Agency’s recent mandatory biometric enrolment for grant processing, governments are rightly chasing efficiency and fraud reduction. But without tight legal guardrails, these technologies concentrate administrative power, create new…
Agnes Mlambo Eskom has purchased 20 electric vehicles, ranging from light delivery vehicles to light trucks, as it pursues a long-term plan to electrify its entire fleet. It said on Wednesday that the 20 vehicles will be deployed mainly in its distribution and generation divisions. The utility plans to buy another 100 EVs in the…
Each smart meter installed under the National Treasury programme costs it R7 500. (Photograph by Nicola Mawson) As National Treasury sets a target of installing 250 000 smart electricity meters by the end of the 2027 financial year, it is facing pushback from communities that have not been adequately educated on the programme’s purpose and…
Maziv, the company that owns Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa, plans to spend R12-billion over the next five years as its ramps its deployment of fibre infrastructure across South Africa. Poised for a big injection of cash and assets from Vodacom, which is buying a 30% co-controlling stake in the business, it has unveiled big…
Maziv CEO Dietlof Mare South Africa’s competition authorities need to improve the speed at which they make decisions to limit the harm that drawn-out regulatory processes have on businesses, their associated industries and consumers. Speaking to the TechCentral Show in an exclusive podcast interview that will be published on Tuesday, Maziv CEO Dietlof Mare said…
Maziv welcomes the Competition Appeal Court’s approval of its merger with Vodacom. (Photograph by Lesley Moyo) Maziv has welcomed the greenlight for its merger with Vodacom, saying the development paves the way for “major capital investment and accelerated” fibre rollout across the country. This follows last week’s decision by the Competition Appeal Court that approved…
The regulatory process is a test of perseverance, says Maziv After years of regulatory hurdles, the Competition Appeal Court has approved the long-delayed R14 billion merger of Vodacom, South Africa’s largest mobile operator, and fibre infrastructure giant Maziv. The decision ends a three-year impasse and clears the way for Vodacom’s acquisition of a 30% stake…
The first cohort of Liquid SA’s Fibre TechCelerate programme receive their certificates at a graduation ceremony in East London. Liquid Intelligent Technologies, a business of Cassava Technologies, has welcomed 25 new small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) as part of the 2025 cohort of its Fibre TechCelerate programme. This follows the completion of the first…
Rachel Cowan, interim CEO at Ozow. South African fintech firm Ozow says it has achieved a first in the country’s digital payments space by implementing the real-time payment feature, PayShap Request, in a live environment. The company claims the functionality represents the country’s first South African Reserve Bank (SARB)-endorsed interoperable account-to-account payment rail (the infrastructure…
A breakthrough HIV drug that only needs to be injected twice a year to offer near-total protection from the virus and developing AIDS should be made available “immediately” at pharmacies, clinics and via online consultations, the UN health agency said on Monday. Injectable lenacapavir – LEN, for short – is a highly effective, long-acting antiretroviral…
