South Africa’s 5G population coverage surged from 46.6% to 58% in a single year, the biggest network coverage jump recorded in communications regulator Icasa’s latest State of the ICT Sector report — but rural areas remain drastically underserved, with some provinces offering next-generation connectivity to as few as 7% of their rural populations. The national…
South Africa’s mobile operators carried 21.5% more voice traffic in 2025 than the year before but earned R10.4-billion less from mobile services, according to Icasa’s latest State of the ICT Sector report — the starkest illustration yet of the revenue squeeze being inflicted by so-called over-the-top (OTT) platforms and intensifying price competition. Total mobile services…
Your phone rings. It’s an unknown number. You stare at the screen, let it ring out and wait to see if a WhatsApp message follows. Sound familiar? You’re not alone – and you’re part of a growing problem for South Africa’s mobile operators. The reflex to reject or ignore unfamiliar callers has become so deeply…
Nearly two-thirds of South African government entities assessed by the auditor-general have notable weaknesses in their cybersecurity defences, with penetration testing revealing that multiple government environments were breached during the 2024/2025 financial year. The findings are contained in the Auditor-General South Africa’s consolidated general report on national and provincial audit outcomes for 2024/2025, which paints…
PARTNERS IN PURPOSE: A long-term partnership sealed with purpose, Cartrack SA CEO, Joshua Victor (left), and Maharishi Invincibility Institute Co-Founder and CEO, Dr Taddy Blecher, join forces to open doors and create opportunities for the next generation. Picture: SUPPLIED Cartrack, a leading global software platform for operational excellence and subsidiary of Karooooo Limited (NASDAQ: KARO),…
South Africa’s offshore allowance South Africa limit is set to double for the first time in over a decade, marking a significant shift in exchange control policy. The amount South Africans can send offshore without SARS clearance hasn’t budged since 2011. That’s about to change. On 25 February, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that the Single…
Equinix South Africa MD Sandile Dube Global data centre operator Equinix is planning to build 160MW of additional data centre capacity in South Africa as part of a R7.5-billion investment push, having acquired land in Johannesburg and Cape Town totalling R890-million. The Nasdaq-listed firm, which opened its first South African data centre in Johannesburg in…
South Africa throws away roughly a third of all the food it produces every year, about 10 million tonnes, while millions go hungry. On International Zero Waste Day, the question isn’t whether we have enough food. It’s why so much of it ends up in a landfill instead of on a plate, why we don’t…
As governments across the Global South move from pilot projects to real-world deployment of artificial intelligence, experience is becoming more valuable than ambition. For Nakul Jain, Managing Director and CEO of Wadhwani AI Global, India’s long engagement with AI in public systems offers practical lessons for countries such as Rwanda. Speaking to The New Times,…
Uber sub-Saharan Africa GM Deepesh Thomas Uber has pledged R5-billion in investment in South Africa over the next three years, but the ride-hailing giant has acknowledged that the commitment is a mix of previously planned spending and genuinely new investment. The pledge, announced at the South African Investment Conference on Tuesday, follows a pattern of…
