Author: Chris Anu

LinkedIn is emerging as a trusted voice among the bevy of social platforms. Online professional network service LinkedIn has edged past Meta-owned social media platforms Facebook and Instagram as the most utilised platform by brands. This is according to World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck, detailing several key takeaways from the latest SA Social Media Landscape 2025 report. Released by market research firm Ornico and World Wide Worx, in partnership with Ask Afrika, the 15th edition of the report shows SA’s social media landscape reflects the shifts in how people engage online.Based on the data, there is a slow fragmentation…

Lesaka Technologies has agreed to buy the digital bank chaired by former FNB CEO Michael Jordaan for R1.1-billion. Jordaan announced the acquisition in a post on social media late on Thursday evening. “So Lesaka Technologies Inc bought @BankZeroSA for R1.1-billion. Lot of regulatory approvals still needed, but both teams are excited about the merger synergies,” he posted after Lesaka disclosed the news to its investors in the US, where it has a listing on the tech-heavy Nasdaq stock exchange. The transaction marks another key milestone in Lesaka’s journey to build a vertically integrated fintech platform Jordaan said he will stay…

Herman Young, group CISO of Investec; Ritasha Kalidas, group head of cyber security at Coca-Cola Beverages Africa; and TV personality Leanne Manas. South African chief security information officers (CISOs) have seen “marginal” increases to their budgets in the past year.This is one of the biggest takeaways from the preliminary results of the 2025 edition of the ITWeb Brainstorm CISO Survey, presented last night at the CISO Banquet in Houghton, Johannesburg.The online survey, conducted from mid-May to mid-June, yielded verified responses from 67 CISOs or senior cyber security decision-makers.Presenting the preliminary results, Adrian Hinchcliffe, ITWeb editor-in-chief, said the largest share of…

The pace of innovation in the cloud space is breathtaking. Gone are the days when the cloud was just about virtual machines and storage; today, it is a dynamic ecosystem, constantly introducing features that are fundamentally transforming how businesses operate, from the smallest start-ups to the largest enterprises. Preegan Chetty, Azure product manager at First Distribution, returns to TechCentral’s TCS+ to discuss some of the latest and most exciting features available in the Azure cloud environment and how businesses are leveraging those capabilities to facilitate growth. This is the third in a series of three episodes with Chetty and First…

South African musicians and creatives must retain ownership of their work, says SAMRO. The proliferation artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is threatening the originality and authorship of South African musicians.This is according to the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO), a copyright asset management society, in an e-mail interview with ITWeb.SAMRO was established by the South African Copyright Act, and aims to protect the intellectual property of music creators by licensing music users, collecting licence fees and distributing royalties to music creators. It represents more than 150 000 Southern African music composers, lyricists/authors and music publishers.According to SAMRO, South African musicians…

President Cyril Ramaphosa President Cyril Ramaphosa has voiced his support for the process undertaken by communications minister Solly Malatsi to introduce equity equivalent investment programmes (EEIPs) in the ICT sector. Malatsi in May published a draft policy directive, which he intends issuing to Icasa, urging the communications regulator to investigate how EEIPs, which are already used extensively in other sectors of the economy, could be applied in licensing for telecommunications. The move had been sharply criticised by parliamentary communications portfolio chair Khusela Diko. Speaking in parliament on Thursday, Ramaphosa said EEIPs are an innovative alternative to equity ownership requirements and…

Jon Jacobson, co-founder and group CEO of Omnisient, and Lee Naik, regional president and CEO of TransUnion Africa, signing the deal. Credit bureau TransUnion has made a minority investment and broader strategic partnership with Omnisient, a South African-founded fintech firm operating internationally that offers a privacy-preserving data collaboration and advanced analytics platform.In a statement, TransUnion says the Omnisient platform empowers businesses to access high-value consumer data ecosystems and integrate alternative data sets to drive intelligent decision-making.As part of the investment, it notes, a TransUnion representative will join Omnisient’s board of directors.“The Omnisient platform allows multiple clients to use built-in advanced…

Tyme Group CEO Coen Jonker TymeBank is considering legal action in an effort to stop the department of home affairs from implementing huge increases in the fees companies must pay to verify their clients’ identities. Speaking to TechCentral on Thursday, TymeBank co-founder Coen Jonker – who now serves as CEO of the bank’s parent company, Tyme Group – said the move, by home affairs minister Leon Schreiber, to jack up the fees will harm financial inclusion in South Africa by making it more difficult to serve low-income customers. Schreiber and his department have drawn fire from TymeBank, telecommunications operators and…

IHS South Africa CEO Sandile Msimango. IHS South Africa, a division of IHS Towers, has launched a public WiFi initiative in Durban’s KwaMashu township, in collaboration with Project Isizwe.The project provides unlimited, free internet access to local residents, students, job-seekers and entrepreneurs.IHS South Africa CEO Sandile Msimango comments: “Connectivity is more than a luxury; it is a lifeline. This initiative is not just about providing internet; it’s about empowering a community with essential resources for education, economic growth and comprehensive digital inclusion.“We believe this collaboration provides a powerful example of how public-private partnerships can ignite digital opportunities and help transform…

Armand Kruger, head of cybersecurity at NEC XON NEC XON, a leading pan-African systems integrator and cybersecurity innovator, has achieved Palo Alto Networks XMDR (Extended Managed Detection and Response) partner status in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, joining an elite group of partners recognised globally for advanced threat detection, response capabilities and strategic cyber defence. This achievement validates NEC XON’s deep alignment with Palo Alto Networks’ Cortex XDR platform and its ability to provide proactive, scalable incident response services on behalf of Palo Alto Networks – a capability shared by only a select few providers worldwide. More than just…