Author: Chris Anu
ACT CEO Nomvuyiso Batyi The Electronic Communications Act must be amended to accelerate connectivity in South Africa through better infrastructure investment, an industry lobby group has said. Nomvuyiso Batyi, a former director-general in the department of communications and now CEO of the Association of Comms and Technology (ACT), has said that despite progress, there are still communities who are not connected to broadband internet even though it is a critical enabler of the digital economy. Reasons for this vary from a lack of infrastructure sharing and policy ambiguity to no direct public funding or targeted incentives. Effective infrastructure sharing regulation…
Three provincial departments have issued advertisements that will be of interest to the ICT industry. Last week’s celebration of Heritage Day saw activity on National Treasury’s eTenders Portal slowing and turning to less substantial requirements. However, three of the country’s provincial departments came to the party with advertisements that will pique the ICT industry’s interest.First up is the Eastern Cape Department of Economic Development and Environmental Affairs, which is extending an invitation for proposals from qualified service providers to develop a comprehensive asset finance solution for movable IT assets.The department notes its current lease agreement for IT equipment has expired,…
Artificial intelligence has long lurked in the shadows of cybersecurity. It has filtered abnormal logons, flagged odd traffic and traced malware signatures. Recently though, with OpenAI, Google and others pushing out large language models, its claws have sharpened. Now AI fights on two fronts. It defends us and attacks through us. In South Africa, we’re feeling both sides. On one hand, defenders can lean on AI to sift noise, to spot threats early. On the other, attackers mine the same tools. They scan for weak spots, conjure phishing that reads like human speech and spin up deepfakes that fool both…
Lungile Mginqi, digital transformation strategist. IT cost has become the boardroom’s polite fiction. Everyone nods when the numbers are presented − very few believe those numbers explain whether the spend is truly worth it.Boards ask: Why are we pouring so much into IT without proof of value? CEOs ask: Is this budget fuelling growth − or quietly subsidising inefficiency? CIOs ask themselves how to justify spend when technology is treated as both a cost centre and a value driver.The uncomfortable truth: costs keep climbing while conviction collapses. We’ve mistaken cost management for strategy. Until cost is reframed as an allocation…
This is being called the year of the “Windows 11 refresh”, and the opportunity to stay ahead of the pack is quickly narrowing. The shift to Windows 11 is happening now: the new generation of Windows 11 PCs is often referred to as the most secure, the fastest and the most intelligent PCs yet – arriving with AI-powered features, built-in security protections and state-of-the-art creativity, it’s the Windows you know, and more. Whether your company has already rolled out the operating system or is still finalising procurement, the critical question is no longer when you will move, but this: how…
All roads lead to Gqeberha, as WesBank and NAAMSA put new energy vehicles to the test as part of a cross-country road trip. WesBank and the Automotive Business Council, also known as the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (NAAMSA), will put new energy vehicles (NEVs) to the test, as they embark on a cross-country road trip. According to a statement, the NEV fleet of about 20 vehicles will embark on a 4 800km journey to 2025 SA Auto Week, in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth). The fleet, comprising battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and traditional hybrids,…
Naspers and Prosus CEO Fabricio Bloisi Online marketplace OLX will buy French motors classified platform La Centrale for €1.1-billion (R22.4-billion), its owner Prosus said on Friday. Amsterdam-headquartered Prosus, which is majority owned by South Africa’s Naspers and focused on food and lifestyle e-commerce, in August reported a 54% jump in its e-commerce adjusted core earnings. On Friday it said that buying La Centrale would help it enter the European car market and strengthen its e-commerce presence in the continent complementing the planned acquisition of meal delivery company Just Eat Takeaway. …article continues below… Source: Prosus “I expect to invest more…
Many municipalities struggle to deliver services efficiently due to siloed, incomplete or outdated data. Revenue collection, for example, is hampered when departments do not have a unified view of assets or service areas. Waste management often exposes these gaps. During audits, municipalities may report the number of households served, yet thousands of units (often unregistered sectional schemes) are effectively invisible in official systems. Waste trucks continue to service these areas without clarity on ownership or billing, while municipalities remain unaware of service gaps. Similarly, informal developments, new housing or unregistered properties can fall through the cracks, leading to under-collected rates…
Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters The US government’s cyberdefence agency has issued urgent guidance to other federal agencies over hackers exploiting a previously unknown vulnerability in Cisco security devices. In an emergency directive issued on Thursday, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said government cyber workers had just over one day to account for all such devices plugged into their networks, scan them for malicious activity and apply relevant software updates intended to patch the vulnerability. “This widespread campaign poses a significant risk to victims’ networks,” CISA said in a statement. Cisco said the malicious activity aimed at its equipment was complex and…
If you are a GRC professional, how do you manage compliance when the goalposts never stop moving?This is one of several questions that international consultant and tech advisor Ross Saunders will discuss at the ITWeb GRC 2025 event on 30 October at The Forum, The Campus, in Bryanston. Saunders’ presentation is titled: “Racing regulation: Mastering GRC in the age of unstoppable innovation”. He will unpack key trends impacting GRC, including shadow IT and unauthorised implementations, rapid risk assessment of emerging technologies, creating living policies for frequent change, multi-jurisdiction compliance techniques and developing skills to anticipate changes.Speaking to ITWeb ahead of…