Author: Chris Anu

BYD has officially launched the Sealion 5 in South Africa, introducing the country’s most affordable plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) to date. Priced at R499 900, the Sealion 5 signals BYD’s intention to aggressively pursue market share and go head-to-head with South Africa’s top-selling hybrid, the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid. Speaking at the launch in Johannesburg, Steve Chang, BYD South Africa MD, said the Sealion 5 is aimed squarely at mainstream buyers who want hybrid efficiency without premium pricing. He said South Africans are ready for a shift away from conventional petrol vehicles toward electrified drivetrains. Only one model will be…

Tunca Rodoplu, B2B Sales and Marketing Director, Canon. The print industry is facing a growing talent crisis. As experienced specialists approach retirement, print service providers (PSPs) are not recruiting fast enough to replace the skills and knowledge that will soon exit the sector. For the industry to remain competitive and continue evolving technologically, PSPs must rethink how they attract, engage and retain younger professionals.According to Tunca Rodoplu, B2B Sales and Marketing Director at Canon, one of the biggest obstacles is that the industry has not fully aligned its messaging and engagement with what matters to young talent. “We know from…

South Africa’s shift towards online retail accelerated over the Black Friday weekend, with consumers directing a greater share of their spending to e-commerce platforms than ever before. Standard Bank said online sales by its customers rose 75% year on year, contributing 23% to total retail sales over Black Friday weekend, including Cyber Monday, with value spent at e-commerce marketplaces such as Amazon and Takealot surging. “Total transaction volumes were up 6.6% year on year and value up by 7.2% compared to 2024,” Standard Bank said. “[We saw] double-digit growth in credit card spend – transaction value grew by 12% compared…

MTN Zakhele Futhi’s only asset is MTN shares. As MTN’s empowerment vehicle – MTN Zakhele Futhi – draws nearer to delisting, shareholders are still disgruntled due to a lack of returns since it made its debut a decade ago.The empowerment vehicle – which trades under share code MTNZF – this week said it had issued a circular on its website about a meeting regarding a scheme of arrangements that will facilitate its delisting. The meeting is set to be held in mid-January.While the announcement to shareholders states that additional details are available on MTNZF’s website, ITWeb could not find any…

Artificial intelligence is distracting too many organisations into thinking that AI is a technology challenge. It’s not, well, not primarily. AI is first and foremost a people problem, and it is a business problem. Technology alone cannot deliver impact. How your teams adopt it, how your leaders integrate it and how your operations evolve around it – these are the real barriers to impact, growth and success. Too often, companies deploy pilots, proofs of concept or individual productivity tools and hope for a quick win. MIT research indicates that 95% of AI pilots fail to yield tangible business results. The…

Sanveer Ramdutt with his company’s new AccurioPress C4080. More than eight decades ago, Gainchund Ramdutt stepped into the printing trade in Durban. By 1969, armed with skill and ambition, he founded Art Printers – a family business that would eventually become part of South Africa’s history.During the anti-apartheid struggle, Art Printers wasn’t just a commercial outfit. It became a quiet but critical player in the liberation movement, printing banned posters and pamphlets for the African National Congress (ANC), Cosatu, the Natal Indian Congress and the UDF, often working late into the night to evade police surveillance. The Ramdutt family charged…

With the hot summer season approaching in South Africa, Samsung’s WindFree air conditioners will make a great addition to your home. They are engineered to deliver a comfortable climate, energy efficient and quiet, draft-free cooling, whether you’re trying to fall asleep or be productive in your home office. With intelligent airflow, adaptive cooling and a sleek design, Samsung’s WindFree air conditioners offer fresh still-air in your living space. Small rooms: cooling that lets you rest easy Using WindFree cooling technology, Samsung air conditioners disperse air through thousands of micro-holes, creating a soft, steady and cool breeze that feels natural, not…

Gauteng MEC for education, sport, arts, culture and recreation, Matome Chiloane. [Photograph by GDE] The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) says 317 988 out of 358 574 grade one and eight ‘unique applicants’ have been placed in schools for the coming academic year, translating to 88.7%.This was revealed yesterday when the provincial education department provided an update of the online admissions process.GDE explained that unique applicants refers to individual grade one and grade eight learners whose school applications were submitted via the 2026 online admissions system.A further breakdown shows that 160 262 (91.2%) of learners have received placement for grade one,…

Dr William Mapham Health-tech stood out at this year’s FNB App of the Year Awards as Vula Medical, an application that connects general medical staff with specialists that are on call in an area, took top honours in Johannesburg on Thursday evening. In a post-event interview with TechCentral, Vula Medical founder and CEO Dr William Mapham said Vula was initially designed to help patients in rural settings who would often not be able to fulfil referral appointments where the specialist may be hours away. “My passion is rural healthcare. We did our best in 2004 as junior doctors but there…

Global e-commerce giant, Temu was at the top of the list for Google’s 2025 Year in Search in SA. Google has released its 2025 Year in Search for South Africa, with Temu, general Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi and artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots leading the list of the top-trending searches that defined curiosity across the country this year.The list reflects a blend of political turning points, pop-culture moments, technological shifts and everyday concerns that shaped how South Africans used the internet to understand their world.At the top of the list was Temu, the global e-commerce giant whose aggressive expansion into SA prompted waves…