BlackBerry didn’t lose because it ignored ordinary customers. It lost while it was winning them over. Its cheap prepaid data plan, launched by Vodacom in December 2008, opened BlackBerry to millions of South Africans who couldn’t afford a monthly contract. Then Apple built a general-purpose phone on infrastructure that already existed, with an ecosystem BlackBerry…
Uganda is set to receive the first batch of 265 Ugandan nationals being voluntarily repatriated from South Africa, marking the start of a coordinated exercise to facilitate the return of citizens who wish to come home. The group is scheduled to arrive at Entebbe International Airport at 6:30pm on Thursday aboard a special Uganda Airlines…
Trade Minister Parks Tau has revealed that the National Gambling Policy Council (NGPC) is fast-tracking the development of a comprehensive new Bill designed to address escalating gambling challenges in South Africa, with a specific focus on the booming online gambling sector. Responding to parliamentary questions from RISE Mzansi MP Makashule Gana regarding the widespread prevalence…
THOUSANDS of Zimbabweans are on their way back home after government sent hundreds of buses to ferry them from safety camps and consulates in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg. They are victims of ongoing anti-immigrant protests by some South Africans who believe that foreigners are taking their job opportunities, bringing in drugs and adding…
South Africa cannot build enough fences or deport enough immigrants to overcome the consequences of instability in neighbouring countries. South Africa has spent more than two decades tightening immigration laws, strengthening border security and increasing deportations in an effort to curb illegal immigration. Yet irregular migration remains a persistent challenge despite successive legal reforms, the…
Protesters stopped outside buildings believed to house undocumented migrants and urged residents to leave as thousands marched across South Africa on Tuesday, the deadline set by anti-immigration groups for foreigners without papers to leave the country. Widespread demonstrations were accompanied by isolated violence and arrests, while organisers renewed calls for mass deportations and vowed to…
Geneva/Nairobi — The Committee on the Rights of the Child and UNICEF express their deep concern regarding the plight of migrant children in South Africa and the challenges they face while moving across the African continent. As enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and…
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric says the world body is closely monitoring South Africa’s planned protests against undocumented migrants. Amnesty International accuses March and March of encouraging the public to carry out unlawful “citizen’s arrests” of suspected migrants. The United Nations has stepped into South Africa’s anti-immigration crisis, calling for calm as nationwide protests begin on…
A Starlink terminal in the remote Kalahari. Image: Jannie van Zyl On Monday, South Africa’s communications regulator gave prospective satellite operators an unusually candid piece of advice: if you want to run a constellation service such as Starlink in this country, do not expect a new network licence from us – go and buy one…
The Committee to Protect Journalists has joined seven other media freedom organizations in condemning attacks on foreign nationals and the targeting of journalists covering anti-migrant protests in South Africa. In a joint statement, issued ahead of the June 30 deadline set by the anti-migrant group March and March, the organizations called on its leaders to…
