Author: Chris Anu

Sivuyise Ndzendze, Sasol. Traditional data warehouses are no longer sufficient for the real-time demands of modern heavy industries like mining and fuel production, said Sivuyise Ndzendze, data engineering lead at Sasol.Speaking at the ITWeb Data Insights Summit 2026, Ndzendze explained that organisations must transition from “warehouse thinking”, which focuses on historical reporting and structured data, to “platform thinking” that enables real-time insights and handles unstructured data. See also In environments like Sasol’s mines, where data must be processed in real-time, latency can have life-or-death consequences: “When a miner is in trouble, you don’t want to wait for tomorrow, you want to know now,”…

President Cyril Ramaphosa delivering the 2026 state of hte nation address. Rodger Bosch/Reuters South Africa will push ahead with breaking up Eskom and creating a standalone company to run the transmission grid, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday, a key reform being monitored closely by international investors. The economy has been hobbled for years by rolling outages as state-owned Eskom struggled with ageing plants and weak finances. Splitting the company is meant to attract private capital and build a more modern, reliable electricity system. Power transmission is one of the biggest constraints to new electricity supply and economic growth. In…

Citizens will hear the annual overview of the state of SA when president Cyril Ramaphosa delivers the SONA tonight. (Image source: 123RF) As president Cyril Ramaphosa prepares to deliver the State of the Nation Address (SONA), technology analysts are calling for a clear commitment to building a fully-interoperable digital state, delivered against fixed timelines and measurable outcomes.This, as citizens still queue, systems still operate in silos and economic friction persists.Ramaphosa will deliver the SONA at Cape Town City Hall tonight, formally opening the parliamentary programme for the year.The event is an opportunity for the president to account to the nation…

Toyota South Africa Motors CEO Andrew Kirby. Image: Toyota South Africa’s motor manufacturing industry is on a path towards structural decline that mirrors the country’s broader deindustrialisation trend, Toyota South Africa Motors CEO Andrew Kirby has warned. Speaking at Toyota South Africa’s annual State of the Motor Industry briefing on Thursday, Kirby painted a picture of an industry that appears healthy on the surface – vehicle sales grew 15.7% last year and exports hit a record 411 000 units – but is increasingly fragile underneath. The central problem is one of balance. Only 33% of all vehicles sold in South Africa…

Altron head office. (Source: Altron) JSE-listed Altron’s stock was up 8.4% by lunchtime today, after it said headline earnings per share (HEPS) would gain by at least 30% for its full 2026 year.The company, which marked its 60th birthday last April, notes in a trading update to shareholders that these figures are based on continuing operations. These include Netstar, Altron FinTech, Altron HealthTech, Altron Digital Business, Altron Security, Altron Document Solutions and Altron Arrow. The company has excluded Altron Nexus for its calculations.Altron says that HEPS – a key measure of profitability that stripes out non-core items – is expected…

Altron Group’s share price jumped more than 8% on Thursday after the technology group issued a trading statement flagging significant earnings growth for its financial year ending 28 February 2026. The shares were 8.1% higher in mid-afternoon trading, changing hands at R20.98 each. The JSE-listed company said it expects headline earnings per share (Heps) from continuing operations to rise by more than 30% to above R2.31, compared to R1.78 in the prior year. Earnings per share from continuing operations are expected to climb by more than 30% to above R2.03. The shares were 8.1% higher in mid-afternoon trading, changing hands…

Megan Langton, tax attorney (left) and Micaela Paschini, team lead of Tax Legal at Tax Consulting. (Graphic by Nicola Mawson, with images sourced from Tax Consulting and LinkedIn) The buzz around Starlink’s potential entry into South African orbit has been focused on broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) but is also now raising questions about how government deals with taxing digital services.This comes ahead of the National Budget to be presented on 25 February and as the South African Revenue Service (SARS) proceeds with its modernisation project to streamline a system that hasn’t been upgraded in more than a decade.Writing for…

One year after Chinese start-up DeepSeek rattled the global tech industry with the release of a low-cost AI model, its domestic rivals are better prepared, vying with it to launch new models, some designed with more consumer appeal. The Hangzhou-based firm’s meteoric rise in early 2025, during China’s Spring Festival holiday, upended China’s artificial intelligence industry, pushing low-cost open-source models to the forefront of its AI ecosystem. This time, DeepSeek will be joined by several other firms in launching new products around China’s longest and busiest holiday period, which officially begins on 15 February. The surprise would be if some…

The FSCA’s inaugural Consumer Advisory Panel report shows how emerging technologies are redefining consumer protection in finance.(Image created via ChatGPT) The Financial Sector Conduct Authority’s (FSCA’s) Consumer Advisory Panel has published its inaugural annual report, outlining how digital finance, data insights and consumer intelligence should be used to drive smarter regulation.The report outlines the financial watchdog’s progress in establishing operations, governance and engagement.It highlights several key consumer issues the panel has proactively raised with the FSCA for consideration. These include the growing role, impact and regulatory challenges posed by financial influencers (“finfluencers”); the application and implications of artificial intelligence (AI)…

Standard Bank has confirmed the phased roll-out of smart ID application and renewal services at select branches, with no convenience or logistics fees during the launch period. The service will initially be available at the bank’s Rosebank, Maponya Mall and Westgate branches before scaling further. During the launch phase, clients will pay only the standard department of home affairs application fee of R140. “Access to identity documents is foundational to participation in the economy,” said Marius le Roux, head of fraud operations, client experience and risk execution at Standard Bank. “Our focus is on removing friction for clients, not adding…