Data Prices Ease, but Affordability Gap Persists
South Africa’s Competition Commission released its second Cost of Living Report, showing data prices remain below headline inflation but still hinder digital inclusion for low‑income households. Wired broadband growth stayed just under 15 % annually, while wireless data stabilized around 2 % after a brief rise. The report notes South Africa ranks 31st of 45 African nations for a 1 GB mobile package, highlighting persistent affordability challenges. Regulatory actions have forced 30‑50 % prepaid price cuts and introduced lifeline data packages, yet market concentration limits further progress.
ITWeb TV Biz: Solving for Transparency in Parliament with Data and Tech
South Africa’s Parliament has launched ParliMeter, a civic‑tech dashboard that consolidates years of committee minutes, budget review reports and other parliamentary records into a searchable, visual platform. Developed by OUTA, OpenUp and the Parliamentary Monitoring Group with co‑funding from the...
Cell C, GirlCode Collab to Train 500 Unemployed Women
Cell C and GirlCode have partnered to train and certify 500 unemployed South African women in artificial intelligence and cloud computing. The six‑week online bootcamp runs from 13 April to 22 May, targeting females aged 18‑35, and includes Microsoft Elevate AI certification vouchers,...
Finding Africa’s Next-Gen Social Entrepreneurs
Change The World (CTW) 2026 in Cape Town featured 11 African impact startups pitching for funding, with Urobo Biotech winning top honors for its enzymatic bioplastic‑to‑fuel technology. Lightaceutics earned second place for AI‑powered smart glasses for the visually impaired, while...
IiDENTIFii Joins Microsoft Digital Natives Programme
Cape‑based biometric verification startup iiDENTIFii has been accepted into Microsoft’s Digital Natives Programme, a support track for fast‑growing, cloud‑native firms. The company already listed its identity platform on the Azure Marketplace in August 2024, using Microsoft Azure to power secure...
Maziv Commits R9bn to Expand Fibre, Create 10K Jobs
Maziv, the open‑access fibre network owner of Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa, announced a R9 billion (approximately $486 million) investment pledge over the next five years to accelerate South Africa’s high‑speed broadband rollout. The plan includes a dedicated commitment to generate 10,000...
Ozow Appoints Chief Risk and Governance Officer
South African payments firm Ozow announced the appointment of Tendi Nyathi as its first chief risk and governance officer, effective 1 April. The newly created role consolidates risk, governance, and legal functions under a single executive. Nyathi, who has been Ozow’s...
Google SA, DHET Partnership Brings AI to Higher Education
Google South Africa and the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) have signed a two‑year memorandum of understanding to upskill students and staff across the country's public universities, TVET and community colleges with AI and digital capabilities. The deal...
Telemetry Data Exposes Scale of Unplanned Power Outages
Telemetry from Wetility’s national solar‑battery network recorded 91,934 unplanned grid outages across South Africa in 2025, showing households endured six to nine outages per month. While Eskom reports an improved Energy Availability Factor of 65.31% and a 46.7% drop in...
Huawei Secure SD-WAN Full SASE Solution: Secure, Intelligent Connectivity for Modern Enterprises
Huawei has launched its Secure SD‑WAN Full SASE solution, a unified platform that blends networking, security and AI‑driven management for enterprise connectivity. The solution dynamically routes traffic over MPLS, broadband, LTE or 5G while encrypting tunnels and providing integrated firewall,...
Top ICT Tenders: SASSA Looks to Modernise WAN
The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has issued a tender to modernise its wide‑area network across 461 offices in all nine provinces. The agency seeks a secure, resilient SD‑WAN solution that integrates its existing APN service, provides automated failover,...
AI Helps Discovery Life Thwart Fraudulent Claims
Discovery Life, the JSE‑listed insurer, has embedded in‑house artificial intelligence and machine learning into its claims operation, enabling rapid identification of the less than 0.5 % of claims that appear fraudulent. In 2025 the company paid roughly $605 million in claims, of...
Solar Experts Pivot From Backup Power to Grid Resilience
Industry leaders at Solar & Storage Live Africa 2026 urged South Africa to move from isolated backup islands to integrated microgrids, emphasizing smart management and design efficiency over sheer battery capacity. Panels highlighted aggressive demand‑side efficiency, AI‑driven optimization, and tiered...
Stats SA Confirms Data Breach as Hackers Demand R1.7m Ransom
Stats SA confirmed that hacker group XP95 accessed its HR recruitment database, stealing roughly 154 GB of personal data and demanding a $100,000 (R1.7 million) ransom. The agency rejected the demand, citing compliance with South Africa’s Public Finance Management Act and plans...
Huawei Urges ‘Grid-Forming’ Tech to Stabilise SA’s Energy Transition
Huawei is urging South Africa to adopt grid‑forming technology to address transmission bottlenecks as the nation accelerates its solar and battery energy storage rollout. The company highlighted that photovoltaic generation will surpass coal globally by more than 22% by the...
Training Room Partners UBU to Launch AI-Powered Training Platform
Training Room Online (TTRO) has teamed with AI‑driven metaverse firm UBU to launch Red Horizon, an immersive 3‑D simulation platform for corporate leaders, university students and early‑career programs. The system combines TTRO’s simulation pedigree with UBU’s virtual environment, featuring an...
Phakamo Tech Champions Integrated GRC Approach at ITWeb Security Summit 2026
Phakamo Tech announced its sponsorship of the ITWeb Security Summit in Johannesburg, scheduled for 2‑3 June 2026, where it will present an integrated cyber security, governance and risk management (GRC) framework. The company argues that African organisations must align security controls...
Discovery Bank Drives Super App Ambition with AI, Integration
Discovery Bank is transforming its mobile platform into a "super app" that merges banking with health, insurance, investment and lifestyle services across the Discovery Group. AI underpins the experience, delivering a virtual financial assistant, real‑time fraud alerts and personalised nudges...
Sci-Tech Ministry Sets Digital Roadmap in Motion
South Africa’s Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) has outlined a digital transformation roadmap slated for the 2026/27 fiscal year, prioritising cloud computing, artificial intelligence and big data analytics. The plan integrates these technologies with existing systems while decommissioning...
BCX Backs Chartered CIO Conference 2026
BCX has signed on as a sponsor for the Chartered CIO Conference 2026, scheduled for 11 June at Montecasino’s Ballroom in Fourways. The one‑day event, themed “Resilient. Intelligent. Inclusive: Shaping South Africa’s digital future,” will convene senior CIOs and technology leaders...
SA’s Parent Sense Chosen for Global Health Tech Fellowship
South African digital health platform Parent Sense has been selected for the Georgetown Thrive Centre Innovation Hub’s 2026 fellowship, a three‑month product development and market‑access program in Washington, DC. Founded by occupational therapist Meg Faure, the app delivers AI‑enabled, evidence‑based...
Listed Firms Risk 30% Share Plunge Amid Rising Cyber Attacks
JSE‑listed companies face the risk of a 30% share‑price plunge after a cyber‑attack, as weekly cyber incidents in South Africa jumped 36% year‑on‑year to 2,145. Response speed dramatically influences losses: incidents contained within hours limit share erosion to 4%, while...
Home Affairs Pressed to Expedite Digital Upgrades
Parliament’s home affairs oversight committee has urged the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to urgently accelerate its digital transformation after a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report exposed large‑scale visa fraud and collusion among officials. The investigation highlighted that manual, paper‑based...
Finfluencers Drive Inclusion but Expose Consumers to Risks
At the FSCA Conference 2026 regulators warned that South Africa’s booming finfluencer market is a double‑edged sword. While creators are making finance more accessible and boosting financial literacy, many operate without licences and provide weak or hidden disclosures. The FSCA...
Clean up Your Digital Clutter or Face the Risks, Firms Warn
South African firms are warned that unchecked digital clutter—dubbed “data toxicity”—is costing millions and exposing them to security breaches. Experts from Integrity360 and KnowBe4 Africa argue that redundant, obsolete (ROT) data inflates cloud storage fees, increases cognitive load, and creates...
Everything You Need to Know About Online Fraud
Online fraud, encompassing financial scams and identity theft, surged as pandemic‑driven digital adoption expanded across banking, retail, and services. In South Africa, criminal syndicates generated between R200 billion and R300 billion in annual losses, with banking fraud alone exceeding R3.3 billion in 2023....
Gartner Predicts Surge in AI-Powered Public Services
Gartner forecasts that by 2028 at least 80 % of governments worldwide will deploy AI agents to automate routine decision‑making, boosting efficiency and service delivery. The firm highlights a shift toward decision intelligence, where governance focuses on the decisions themselves rather...
Postbank Becomes Licensed Financial Services Provider
South Africa’s Postbank has been granted a licence by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority to provide financial advice and intermediary services under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act. The regulatory approval, welcomed by Deputy Minister Mondli Gungubele and parliamentary...
SA Banks Escalate Digital Push to Gain Market Share
South Africa’s major banks are intensifying a digital arms race, using mobile‑first platforms and AI to capture market share. PwC’s Major Banks Analysis shows combined earnings rose 9.4 % to R152.5 billion in 2025, supported by disciplined cost control and strong non‑interest...
New Rules Proposed to Hold Temu, Shein Accountable in SA
South Africa’s consumer regulators have released a joint position paper proposing new rules to hold offshore e‑commerce platforms such as Temu and Shein accountable. The draft guidelines would require foreign sellers moving significant volumes into the country to register locally,...
Top ICT Tenders: IEC Moves to Increase Stakeholder Interaction
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has issued two high‑profile ICT tenders ahead of the 2026 local elections. The first calls for a complete redevelopment of its public mobile app, citing an obsolete framework, security flaws and the need for better...
SA Varsities Tighten Policies as AI-Related Cheating Grows
South African universities—including UJ, UNISA, UP and UCT—are confronting a surge in generative AI‑assisted cheating, especially in take‑home assignments, online quizzes and coding tasks. Detection tools alone prove unreliable, prompting institutions to overhaul assessment designs and tighten AI usage policies....
Cape Town Intensifies CCTV Rollout
The City of Cape Town’s Strategic Surveillance Unit has expanded its CCTV network to over 1,200 cameras, with 85% of installations completed by mid‑February and a R14.4 million investment this fiscal year. New cameras were deployed in high‑crime suburbs such as...
Optasia Posts R4.4bn Revenue on Maiden JSE Results
Optasia, the AI‑driven fintech, posted R4.4 billion revenue for 2025, a 76% year‑on‑year increase, surpassing its IPO guidance. Adjusted EBITDA rose 52% to R1.9 billion, delivering a 43.2% margin, while normalized net income grew 57% to R973 million. The company expanded its user...
Correctional Services’ Critical ICT Systems Still Lag Behind
The South African Department of Correctional Services (DCS) told Parliament that three critical ICT systems—integrated inmate management system (IMMS), audio‑visual (AV) links, and public telephone networks—remain incomplete. An unlawful procurement dispute over the IMMS, projected to cost R300 million, has stalled...
New Hiring Models Emerge to Tackle SA Tech Talent Gap
South African firms are confronting a severe IT skills shortage by shifting toward internal talent development and innovative hiring models. Eighty‑one percent of HR leaders now prioritize reskilling, and many companies are adopting “bootcamp‑as‑a‑benefit” programs that fund AI and cyber‑security...
Canal+ Taps AI to Create Scenes Once Impossible to Film
Canal+, the French media group owned by MultiChoice, announced that it will integrate generative AI tools from Google Cloud and OpenAI into its StudioCanal production pipeline. CEO Maxim Saada said the technology will enable the creation of scenes that were previously...
DSTI Intros Smart Tech for ECape Farmers
The Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) has launched the South African System of Systems for Agricultural Modernisation (SASSAM), a digital platform delivering soil analysis, pest identification, weather and AI‑driven forecasts to farmers. Funded through the Technology Innovation Agency,...
HyperLight Introduces 145 GHz Reference Modulators to Enable 448Gbps per Lane Datacom and 260GBaud Telecom Development
HyperLight Corp unveiled a 145 GHz packaged intensity modulator that delivers over 145 GHz electro‑optical bandwidth, enabling 448 Gbps per‑lane IMDD and 260 GBaud coherent links. The device is offered in O‑, C‑, L‑band configurations with a 1 µm pre‑order option, featuring a compact 0.8 mm...
‘Major’ SmartCape Upgrades in the Works
Cape Town’s SmartCape programme is set for a major technology refresh, with a R15 million budget earmarked for modernising computer hardware and public Wi‑Fi across the city’s libraries. The upgrades will roll out over the next two financial years, adding token‑less,...
SA Recorded Less than 17K E-Vehicle Sales in 2025
South Africa recorded about 16,700 new‑energy‑vehicle sales in 2025, representing roughly 4 % of the 422,103 passenger cars sold that year. Hybrids dominated the segment, accounting for nearly three‑quarters of NEV registrations, while fully electric models remained a niche for higher‑income...
AI Voice Agents Poised to Revolutionise SA’s Digital Customer Service
AI voice agents are set to transform South Africa’s digital customer service, moving beyond traditional IVR by combining locally hosted high‑speed speech‑to‑text engines with large language models and retrieval‑augmented generation. 1Stream’s CEO Bruce von Maltitz says the technology can handle...
FNB Rejigs eWallet with WhatsApp Integration
First National Bank (FNB) has added WhatsApp integration to its eWallet service, allowing users to register and manage a digital wallet directly through a chat interface. The upgrade lets new customers create an eWallet without an existing FNB account, expanding...
Digital Literacy Meets HIV Awareness Through Empower+
Microsoft and UNAIDS have launched Empower+, a free AI and digital‑skills platform for adolescent girls across 21 African countries. The service blends foundational digital literacy, introductory artificial‑intelligence training, and HIV‑prevention content, and is accessible via mobile devices in multiple local...
Absa Ramps up IT Spend to R16.7bn
South African bank Absa increased its IT spend by 6% to R16.7 billion, targeting new digital infrastructure, cyber security, data and cloud capabilities. The bank posted a 12% rise in headline earnings and a 5% increase in revenue, while digitally active...
Quectel Unveils Versatile Pi Series SBCs to Power Developer Innovation
Quectel Wireless Solutions has launched the Pi series of single‑board computers, comprising the Pi M1, L1 and H1 models. The boards target industrial IoT, robotics, and edge‑computing applications, offering LTE, Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth, and Ethernet connectivity. The flagship H1 features a Qualcomm...
The Computing Factory that Defeated the Cipher
The article recounts how Bletchley Park turned Alan Turing’s theoretical computer ideas into massive electromechanical Bombe machines capable of testing the staggering 159 quintillion possible Enigma settings. By leveraging statistical techniques such as Banburismus and a workforce of roughly 2,000 personnel—including...
Australia, Saudi Arabia, Europe Compete for SA’s Tech Skills
South African ICT and engineering talent is attracting heightened interest from abroad, with international job ads rising from 1.6% in 2021 to 2.2% in 2025. Australia remains the top recruiter, focusing on engineers and technicians, while Saudi Arabia’s demand surged...
SA Start-Up Aims to Help Business Side-Step ‘Innovation Theatre’ Using AI
South African start‑up Otinga, founded in June 2023, reports over 275% year‑on‑year growth by delivering AI‑driven transformation through rapid, execution‑focused programmes. The firm positions itself against “innovation theatre”, emphasizing disciplined governance, clear business ownership, and measurable outcomes rather than speculative pilots....
Land Bank Tightens Security After Ransomware Attack
The Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa confirmed a ransomware attack on 12 January 2026 that encrypted parts of its server environment and several laptops. The breach entered through a vulnerable internet‑facing server, but the bank’s core banking, ERP and...