Author: Chris Anu

The South African Radio League (Sarl) wants to broaden its contribution to the growth of amateur radio in sub-Saharan Africa as the organisation celebrates its centenary next month. Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is a hobby that involves experimenting with radio frequencies, building antennae and participating in radio contests. Amateur radio enthusiasts, also known as “hams”, play a key role by supporting emergency services with communications in disaster scenarios. “It’s a bit of a sad story that you’ve got amateur radio activity in Southern Africa that’s mainly in Namibia and South Africa but not much elsewhere in Africa.…

Transnet has issued a tender for a fuel management system. With political attention caught up in last week’s passing of the 2025 National Budget, the health of the Government of National Unity, threats of legal action and a potential Cabinet reshuffle, it is unsurprising that this week’s top tenders are dominated by state-owned entities. The State Information Technology Agency (SITA) provides the most advertisements in this issue, but an invitation from Transnet takes top spot due to its ability to plug criminal activity at its port terminal operations. Transnet says it requires the custom design, supply, installation, configuration, testing and…

The rand slumped to its weakest in 18 months on Monday, while local stocks plunged before staging a recovery as US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs and global recession fears rocked financial markets. At 12.25pm, the rand traded at R19.31/US$, down 1% from Friday’s close, after earlier touching its weakest since October 2023. Trump showed no sign of backing away from his tariff plans on Sunday, and investors worldwide poured into safe-haven currencies like the yen and Swiss franc on Monday. An emerging market stock index was heading for its biggest one-day selloff since the 2008 global financial crisis. Any…

ITWeb Security Summit 2025 will empower delegates with knowledge of how to combat digital deception in deepfakes and cheapfakes. [CAPTION] Lisa Flynn, founder, Catalysts & Canaries Research Institute & Training Academy.AI-driven cyber threats are increasing in volume and sophistication, and now also easily accessible, enabling anyone to use the technology, irrespective of their level of skill. This has prompted the cyber security market to use the term ‘cheapfakes’, another weapon in the expanding arsenal of cyber criminals.This means organisations must strengthen their defence capabilities to combat AI social engineering attacks and deepfakes.This is part of what Lisa Flynn, founder, Catalysts…

Cryptocurrencies sold off sharply heading into the week in Asia, underscoring a clear risk-off sentiment across markets. Bitcoin shed about 7% of its value from Sunday night through to Monday morning in Singapore to reach a low point of US$77 077. Second-ranked token ether plummeted to $1 538, an intra-day low not seen since October 2023. The losses come as US president Donald Trump dug in on sweeping tariffs that have already wiped trillions in value from US equities. US equity-index futures slumped and the yen surged in a sign of deepening turmoil throughout financial markets. Coinglass data show about $745-million worth…

Filmed on the sidelines of the 2025 Wired4Women Awards ceremony, held at the Forum Hyde Park, ITWeb spoke to three of the award winners about their career journeys, future plans and significance of their award wins. This special episode features: Tanaka Dhliwayo, founder, Tanie Codes Org, who won the Rising Star: emerging tech winner; Sithembile Songo, head of security, Eskom, who won CISO of the year; and Unathi Mtya, group chief information and digital officer, African Bank who won the Trailblazing career in ICT award.From the tenured to the rising stars, South Africa’s female tech change-makers were lauded at the…

Tariff chaos … US President Donald Trump. Leah Millis/Reuters The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index confirmed on Friday that it is in a bear market, after a 22.7% fall from its 16 December 2024 record close, as investors fled riskier assets on fears that tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump could spark a trade war and tip the global economy into recession. The index ended down 5.8% on Friday, after China announced additional tariffs of 34% on US goods in retaliation for steep tariffs Trump announced against China on Wednesday. The Nasdaq Composite index ended down 962.82 points at 15 587.79,…

Obsidian celebrates 30 years of open source innovation. Obsidian Systems, an established supplier of open source solutions, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Since its founding in 1995, the company has played a crucial role in shaping the South African IT landscape, evolving alongside industry trends while staying true to its open source roots.Obsidian’s milestone anniversary reflects three decades of innovation, collaboration and transformation. What began as a modest initiative to provide Linux-based solutions has grown into a dynamic force in software, supporting businesses with cutting-edge solutions in Linux, Atlassian, SaaS and edge computing.“For 30 years, we have been…

Sars commissioner Edward Kieswetter The department of home affairs, the Border Management Authority (BMA) and the Government Printing Works have inked a “digital transformation” pact with the South African Revenue Service to improve government services. The agreement reflects a “whole-of-government” approach aimed at breaking down silos and putting the “needs of the people first”, home affairs said last week. “It is difficult to overstate the significance of what we have jointly achieved with today’s adoption of this historic agreement. Sars is a world-class institution that must never be taken for granted, and I want to thank the commissioner (Edward Kieswetter)…

Gary Regan, Chief Operating Officer at DAC Systems. (Image: Supplied) In today’s unpredictable supply chain environment, manufacturers are struggling with issues such as erratic demand, labour shortages and escalating costs. Warehouses, serving as critical points in manufacturing supply chains, often encounter inefficiencies, limited visibility and manual processes. These result in a constant struggle of trying to keep up with the pace of business.Addressing these issues requires more than just minor adjustments. This is where Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations (D365 F&O), along with its Advanced Warehouse Management (AWMS) module, come in to improve the resilience and competitiveness of manufacturers.Core…