Author: Chris Anu

Teraco’s recently completed JB5 data centre, photographed at dusk at the company’s Isando campus South Africa’s data centre capacity has been growing steadily over the years as demand for cloud computing and storage services has expanded. Seen as a window into the African continent, the South African industry attracts investment from global entities looking to use their local presence as an anchor and a proving ground for future builds in other parts of Africa. This privileged position has led to South Africa boasting many of the largest data centres on the continent, but even these are dwarfed by the facilities…

Legitimate e-mails are being hacked. (Image source: 123RF, created via GenAI) The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has issued another alert warning about phishing e-mails falsely claiming recipients have been summoned to appear in court over tax issues.ITWeb has received two such e-mails purporting to be court notices – both from legitimate companies – indicating either compromised e-mail systems or spoofed addresses.One e-mail featured a SARS logo with a notice to appear in court within four days, threatening “default judgement” for non-appearance. The mail contained a link to “case details and instructions” – clearly a phishing attempt.Timing is critical in…

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao. Tyrone Siu/Reuters US President Donald Trump has pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the convicted founder of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, the White House said on Thursday, in the latest move by Trump to boost the crypto industry and expunge its past misdeeds. Zhao, a billionaire known as “CZ” who is one of the most influential figures in crypto, quit in 2023 as Binance chief after the company pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering programme and paid a penalty of US$4.3-billion. Zhao was prosecuted by the Joe Biden administration “in their war on cryptocurrency”, White House…

Home affairs introduces doorstep delivery of passports for South African citizens living abroad. Taking a page out of the e-commerce model, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) is introducing doorstep delivery of passports for South African citizens living abroad. The move, announced yesterday, is in line with the DHA’s digital transformation, as the custodian of identity management targets to deliver “home affairs @ home” to citizens. Minister Dr Leon Schreiber made the announcement at the opening of a DHA service centre at The Hague in the Netherlands, revealing the service will go live for those citizens living abroad on 1…

Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub The drawn-out “please call me” saga between Vodacom and its former employee, Nkosana Makate, is headed back to the supreme court of appeal in the coming weeks. This is after the constitutional court in July ruled the matter must be heard by a new panel of judges. As the 18 November date for what may be the final showdown between the parties approaches, Vodacom’s heads of argument – submitted to the court on 29 September and which TechCentral has seen – suggests the mobile operator’s legal team will anchor its case on the legitimacy of…

Tertius Zitzke, group CEO of 4Sight Holdings. JSE-listed technology company 4Sight Holdings highlights the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IOT) as a central driver of its profitability.This emerged when the company today announced its interim financial results for the six months ended 31 August.According to 4Sight, the sustained adoption of AI across sectors, with a powerful new trend emerging in the form of the AI of things (AIOT), continues to drive strong growth for 4Sight.Revenue increased by 6.8% to R578.7 million, up from R542 million in the first half of the previous reporting period, says…

Global mobile telecommunications industry body the GSMA has partnered with six of Africa’s largest mobile operators – Airtel, Axian Telecom, Ethio Telecom, Orange, and South Africa’s Vodacom and MTN – to develop a set of minimum requirements for an affordable, entry-level smartphone. The announcement was made at a Mobile World Congress event in Kigali, Rwanda – which began on Tuesday and will conclude on Thursday – and forms part of the GSMA Handset Affordability Coalition. The plan is to get a decent smartphone costing $30 (R520) or less in the hands of mass market consumers in Africa. “Access to a…

The smart meters enable two-way visibility into electricity consumption. Eskom doesn’t know how much its 6.2 million smart meter rollout will cost, doesn’t have all the meters in stock, and hasn’t finalised procurement – yet insists it will meet its March 2026 target of 577 000 installations. During a presentation to the portfolio committee on electricity and energy, senior executive Collin Reddy defended the utility’s phased rollout plan of a total of 6.2 million smart meters extending to 2029, but struggled to answer questions about budgets and timelines.Eskom aims to cover 6.2 million homes with intelligent devices by March 2029,…

South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria’s entertainment and media (E&M) industries are surpassing some global growth trends, with digital innovation, mobile-first audiences and the rapid integration of generative AI seen as driving the future of media in the countries. According to PwC’s latest Africa Entertainment and Media Outlook – Perspectives Report 2025–2029 – growth in E&M on the continent will largely outpace the global 2024-2029 compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.7%. Charles Stuart, director at PwC, said at the launch of the report in Johannesburg on Wednesday that South Africa is the largest E&M market in Africa. It is expected…

Uniphore, the Business AI company, today announced the close of its $260 million Series F round. NVIDIA, AMD, Snowflake, and Databricks invested in the round and were joined by financial and sovereign investors including NEA, March Capital, BNF Capital, National Grid Partners, and Prosperity7 Ventures. The new capital will accelerate innovation on its AI and data platform – Business AI Cloud – while deepening its ecosystem. “Our Series F raise marks an exciting milestone for Uniphore. It is unlike most fundraises because, in addition to top-tier financial investors, we are joined by the world’s top AI and data companies,” said…