Author: Gugu Lourie

South African Airways (SAA) has put an immediate stop to the spending of all Voyager Miles – even for non-air rewards. “The ability to earn Miles, through our various Voyager programme partners, will continue as normal,” SAA said in a note to Voyager Miles customers. The redemptions of miles will be paused for another month until 31 August 2020, said SAA. “You will therefore not be able to redeem your Miles for awards until after 31 August 2020”. SAA said it was aware that its members were eager to receive their membership credentials reflecting the new expiry date of their…

Telkom has launched its funeral insurance, which includes single member, family and extended family benefit options. It is part of Telkom’s strategy to continue its drive to diversify its income streams beyond the fixed-line business. Also read: Telkom Enters Financial Services Fray in Ongoing Drive to Diversify New and existing Telkom customers will have access to different cover options, which will determine their premiums. The country’s largest fixed-line provider said its funeral insurance has 5 different cover levels starting from R10 000 to R70 000. The minimum entry age for a main member and spouse is 18, and the…

South Africa’s telco Telkom waded into the country’s red hot financial area with a new financial services entity to compete against the likes of mobile phone rivals MTN, Vodacom and FinTech players. Telkom Financial Services will offer solutions to empower businesses and individuals to participate in the digital economy. It is part of Telkom’s strategy to continue its drive to diversify its income streams beyond the fixed-line business. The main aim is to bring down some of the barriers, especially for small to medium businesses to be part of the economy. The country’s largest fixed-line provider disclosed in an advert…

COVID-19 has drastically impacted on the manner in which society conducts one-on-one engagements – most notably within the medical sphere. In light of the additional COVID-19 risks associated with comorbidities like diabetes – it’s more important than ever to have these conditions well under control and managed – even without your traditional doctor’s check-ups. Guidepost, an innovative SA company, is providing the solution to managing diabetes during COVID-19. The company has secured an undisclosed amount of funding to scale-up its business. AlphaCode and Endeavour, which have been monitoring this space and both decided to bet on this local company at…

The appointment of the new CEO at MTN Group is soon to be finalised, Africa and the Middle East’s largest mobile phone group said. “The succession process for the MTN Group CEO role is on track and MTN expects to make an announcement in this regard in the next 4 to 8 weeks,” the company informed investors on Friday. “Current Group CEO Rob Shuter will complete his fixed four-year contract in March 2021 as announced earlier this year and this timing will enable a seamless handover to his successor.” In March, MTN announced Shuter would step down. Shuter joined MTN…

BT Group has announced the appointment of Rob Shuter as CEO of its Enterprise unit and as a member of BT’s Executive Committee.   Shuter is currently CEO at MTN Group, Africa and the Middle East’s largest mobile phone company with 250 million customers across 21 countries. Prior to joining MTN, he served as CEO of Vodafone’s European Cluster as well as being CEO of Vodafone Netherlands. “MTN notes the announcement issued today by BT Group Plc that Rob has been appointed as the CEO of BT Enterprise,” MTN informed investors on Friday. “Rob will relocate to the UK and…

Streaming wars are well underway. Netflix, ShowMax, Prime Video, VIU and others are all vying for our attention. South Africa’s public broadcaster SABC might also join the fray by streaming its content. So one wonders which streaming service is popular in South Africa. According to the latest figures from JustWatch, an international streaming guide with more than 20 million users, Netflix has the highest market share in South Africa. Netflix is followed by Showmax, which is worth mentioning, as in most other countries of the world, Prime Video occupies second place after Netflix. Streaming charts in Q2 2020 Market share development…

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) refuted allegations that it is delaying the commencement of commercial TV White Space (TVWS). The Black Information Technology Forum (BITF) announced on Wednesday that it has resolved to launch an urgent legal process to challenge ICASA’s decision to delay commencement of commercial TV White Space (TVWS) in court. The BITF said it wanted to expose any individual at ICASA and their external handlers that are using public resources to sabotage progressive transformational government programs meant to save lives during the COVID- 19 disaster period and assist rural economy recovery beyond the COVID-19 period.…

Over the past 30 years, information technologies have advanced rapidly, making people’s lives and work much easier. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed though that digital infrastructure has not kept pace with technological developments. According to the ITU, over half of the world’s population still does not have Internet access nor access to other digital technologies. As economies across countries slow, governments grow increasingly concerned with economic recovery strategies. “We envision a more connected, intelligent, and innovative future,” said Catherine Chen, Huawei corporate senior vice president and director of the board. “Above all else, we must ensure this is an inclusive,…

Lobby group the Black Information Technology Forum (BITF) is taking the country’s communications regulator ICASA to court. “The BITF has resolved to launch an urgent legal process to challenge ICASA’s decision to delay commencement of commercial TV White Space (TVWS) in court and expose any individual at ICASA and their external handlers that are using public resources to sabotage progressive transformational government programs meant to save lives during the COVID- 19 disaster period and assist rural economy recovery beyond the COVID-19 period,” BITF said in a statement on Wednesday. The BITF is a national non-profit organisation which represents previously disadvantaged…