Author: Chris Anu
ACT CEO Nomvuyiso Batyi Mobile industry lobby group the Association for Comms & Technology (ACT) has filed an application with the high court in Pretoria to have regulations introduced by home affairs minister Leon Schreiber, in which he hiked the fee for accessing the national population register database by as much as 6 500%, overturned. ACT said on Tuesday that the reason it chose to pursue legal action is that “repeated requests for meaningful engagements and consultation” were not heeded by the minister and his department prior to – and even after the introduction of – the new fee structure. “The…
Dr Mashilo Boloka, CEO of Online Safety Lab and Marketplace Risk advisory board member. (Photograph by Lesley Moyo) Dr Mashilo Boloka, CEO of Online Safety Lab (OS Lab), has been appointed to the 2026 Marketplace Risk advisory board, joining a cohort of global ICT industry heavyweights shaping the future of trust, safety, compliance and marketplace innovation.Founded in 2015 and headquartered in San Francisco, US, Marketplace Risk is a multi-national platform for professionals working in the digital economy, with a focus on trust and safety, digital risk and fraud prevention. It seeks to promote safer, more accountable digital platforms globally, ensuring…
The commodity-linked rand strengthened on Monday morning, touching R15.99/US$ thanks to record gold prices, while traders awaited the central bank’s first rate-setting meeting this year. The rand briefly moved stronger than the R16 mark at 10.40am SAST. It then retreated slightly and was last quoted at 11.24am at R16.03/$. These are the currency’s strongest levels since June 2022, and should help drive down inflation, especially in imported goods, including software, computers, smartphones, IT equipment and consumer electronics generally. While the greenback weakened slightly against a basket of currencies, gold surged to a record high above $5 000/ounce on Monday, extending an…
The Japan Prize Foundation announced the winners of the 2026 Japan Prize at 1:00 p.m. on 21 January 2026. Prof. Cynthia Dwork (USA) has been awarded the Japan Prize in the field of Electronics, Information, and Communication. Prof. Shizuo Akira (Japan) and Prof. Zhijian “James” Chen (USA) have been awarded the Japan Prize in the field of Life Sciences. For this year’s Japan Prize, Prof. Dwork is being recognized for her Contribution to leading research for building an ethical digital society, including differential privacy and fairness. Prof. Akira and Prof. Chen are being recognized for their Discovery of the nucleic…
South African media has been saturated with Starlink coverage for months. Every ministerial statement, every regulatory development, every parliamentary objection becomes headline news. Yet amid this relentless coverage, a curious question emerges: why Starlink specifically? The regulatory challenges facing Elon Musk’s satellite service aren’t unique. Major global technology companies have long navigated South Africa’s broad-based black economic empowerment frameworks when entering the market. According to Paul Colmer, executive nember at the Wireless Access Providers’ Association, what makes Starlink different is its need for a radio licence, which under the Electronic Communications Act requires 30% equity ownership by historically disadvantaged South…
The Department of Home Affairs hands over a computer lab to learners of Umdlamfe Secondary School in Richards Bay. The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) last week opened a computer laboratory at the Umdlamfe Secondary School in Esikhawini, Richards Bay, in partnership with Honor SA.The high-tech computer lab forms part of government’s back-to-school programme, according to a statement. The new cyber lab gives learners access tointernet-connected laptops, and has a digital literacy and skills development component, with the Durban University of Technology committing to offer learners lessons, says DHA deputy minister Njabulo Nzuza.The laboratory will ensure learners are trained to…
AI is everywhere, but most teams don’t want more tools. They want their existing ones to work harder. That’s the promise of Atlassian Intelligence, and the focus of a live, 45-minute webinar hosted by Obsidian Systems, designed specifically for South African IT leaders, product managers and delivery teams looking for practical gains in productivity. Instead of another high-level AI pitch, the session will offer a realistic look at how Atlassian’s built-in intelligence features are being used inside Jira, Confluence and Jira Service Management. The goal is to help teams move faster, reduce repetitive work and make better use of the…
AI-created actors flatten storytelling as they lack lived experience. (Image: Nicola Mawson | Freepik) Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) characters are increasingly becoming celebrities, a trend that risks eroding humanity’s creative foundations and cultural identity, Hollywood warns.The rise of AI-generated personalities − such as actress Tilly Norwood, performer Lil Miquela, models Shudu and Imma, as well as the resurrection of Peter Cushing in Rogue One − also makes it harder for the public, regulators and courts to hold anyone accountable for harm.Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, national executive director and chief negotiator of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, says…
By paying ransomware, organisations are leaving themselves open to repeat attacks and long-term business disruption, according to Lloyd Timcke, regional director for Africa and Israel at cybersecurity firm Rubrik. At a cybersecurity event in Johannesburg last week, the company said attackers are increasingly exploiting identity systems such as Active Directory and cloud identity providers, allowing them to shut down entire businesses rather than only encrypting files. “Traditionally, organisations have focused on protecting data on-premises, but the environment has fundamentally changed,” Timcke told TechCentral in an interview. “Now you have cloud, applications, identity and unstructured data all converging. If you don’t…
Kerissa Varma, president of Women in Cybersecurity Southern Africa. Kerissa Varma, president of Women in Cybersecurity Southern Africa, will lead a fireside chat at the ITWeb Security Summit Cape Town 2026 on 26 May. The session will focus on the realities CISOs face when engaging with fellow board members.Varma will be joined by a panel of CISOs, including Chris Vermeulen, group information security officer at Sanlam. They will discuss challenges unique to their role that other security practitioners seldom encounter. Challenges to be explored include:Communicating risk levels to the board.Techniques for negotiating budget.Demonstrating the ROI and tangible benefits of major security…