Author: Chris Anu
The supreme court of appeal has upheld a judgment that online fixed-odds betting operators cannot offer casino games and other forms of online gambling – a move that has been welcomed by the National Gambling Board (NGB). The NGB said in a statement on Wednesday that South African laws do not allow for interactive or online gambling, with only the betting sector allowed to offer such services online. “This SCA judgment has affirmed the deliberate South African gambling policy approach to the regulation of casinos, betting, limited payout machines and bingo as separate modes of gambling. Licensees are required to…
Legora, the collaborative AI platform for lawyers, today announced the completion of a Series C round of $150 million at a $1.8 billion valuation, led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with significant investment from existing investors ICONIQ, General Catalyst, Redpoint Ventures, Benchmark, and Y Combinator, to accelerate its global expansion and growing product roadmap. The funding round takes place against a backdrop of rapidly increasing demand for Legora’s AI-powered platform for legal professionals over the past six months. Since May 2025, Legora’s customer base has grown from 250 to over 400, while the number of markets served has doubled from 20…
Annelene Dippenaar Fintech companies have taken a boots-on-the-ground approach to providing fit-for-purpose financial services in township and rural economies – and that’s helping them outpace the banks and drive digital adoption at higher rates. This is according to Annelene Dippenaar, legal, risk and compliance officer at Shop2Shop, who told TechCentral in an interview that fintechs tend to co-create their services with merchants to ensure suitability, which drives higher adoption rates when the services scale. “Whereas the township economy has been overlooked by financial service providers in South Africa, there has been a drive from the fintechs to offer solutions to…
The slow pace of meaningful transformation in the ICT industry has been exposed. The B-BBEE ICT Sector Council says it received only three equity equivalent investment programme (EEIP) applications over the past 12 months. In addition, the council says it encounters pushback when trying to verify the investment commitments and deployment of funds by multinational companies through EEIPs.These were some takeaways from the ICT sector council’s presentation to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies earlier this week.The council is an independent body that operates under the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), as well as the…
Datatec Group CEO Jens Montanana JSE-listed IT multinational Datatec Group has more than doubled its interim dividend after reporting a 109.5% year-on-year jump in headline earnings per share in the six months to end-August 2025. The group, which owns Westcon and Logicalis, declared a dividend of R1.75/share, up 133.3% compared to the dividend of 75c in the same period last year. In fact, Datatec’s latest numbers paint a picture of a business in rude health – net debt halved year on year, while Ebitda, a measure of operating profit, climbed by 35.6% in dollar terms. Revenue growth was more muted…
iOCO co-CEO Rhys Summerton. (Photograph supplied) Listed technology company iOCO is reducing its debt over time, having substantially trimmed its bank loans before pursuing acquisitions, with three potential deals already identified.For the first time in three years, iOCO reported strong operating cash flows with focused resource and capital allocation, while also reducing short- and long-term debt by R354 million.Co-CEO Rhys Summerton, speaking during a call with investors yesterday following the release of the company’s full-year results to July, said the firm was looking for “acquisitions that are going to take iOCO into the future rather than protect the past”. See…
Former EOH CEO Asher Bohbot was one of several executives sued by the company JSE-listed IT services group iOCO – previously EOH Holdings – is pursuing out-of-court settlements with former senior executives who it sued over alleged governance failures, especially involving public sector contracts. This is according to iOCO co-CEO Rhys Summerton, who told TechCentral in an interview on Tuesday that the new management team has actively pursued settlements for many of the outstanding legal claims. In 2021, on previous CEO Stephen van Coller’s watch, iOCO – EOH at the time – sued its co-founder and former CEO Asher Bohbot…
The R49 million funding reflects Google’s long-term commitment to supporting SA’s digital economy, it says. Google has announced a $2.85 million (R49 million) funding injection through its philanthropic arm, Google.org, to support artificial intelligence (AI) skills development, education, online safety and cyber security in South Africa.The announcement was made last night at AI Expo Africa, an AI and smart technology event that brings together thousands of enterprise buyers, suppliers and innovators each year.The funding builds on Google’s AI skilling work announced earlier this year and focuses on expanding SA’s AI talent pipeline, while strengthening community safety through support for non-profit…
Image: Reuters Nvidia made history on Wednesday as the first company to reach US$5-trillion in market value, powered by a stunning rally that has cemented its place at the centre of the global AI boom. The milestone underscores the company’s swift transformation from a niche graphics-chip designer into the backbone of the global AI industry, turning CEO Jensen Huang into a Silicon Valley icon and making its advanced chips a flashpoint in the tech rivalry between the US and China. Since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, Nvidia’s shares have climbed 12-fold as the AI frenzy propelled the S&P 500…
The 2025 National Senior Certificate examination results will be announced on 12 January 2026. With the 2025 matric exams under way, the matter of publishing learners’ results in the media in January is being examined before the courts.It’s still unclear if the 2025 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination results will be publicised on various media platforms, as judgement in the matter has been reserved. Over a course of two days – 27 and 28 October – the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria deliberated the matter between the Information Regulator (InfoReg) and the Department of Basic Education (DBE), regarding the…