TCS - The TechCentral Show
The TechCentral Show (TCS) is a technology podcast from TechCentral, South Africa's leading technology news platform. Each episode features interviews with newsmakers, ICT industry leaders, and other interesting figures in the tech world. The show covers a range of topics, offering insight into the latest developments and trends in technology from a South African perspective.
Episodes
Drones, AI and the future of warfare, with Milkor's Daniel du Plessis
Milkor's 380 drone is flying for a customer in the Middle East, but South Africa's own defence force has yet to buy one. In this episode of The TechCentral Show (TCS), Milkor vice-president for Africa Daniel du Plessis talks to deputy editor Fanie van Rooyen about why, and about where drones, AI and autonomy are taking modern warfare.
Speaking after the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) expo at A
Frogfoot sees bigger fibre deals coming
Frogfoot plans to keep buying smaller fibre network operators in South Africa’s suburbs as the market consolidates, but CEO Shane Chorley stopped short of ruling out a sale of the business.
“I’d be ignorant to say that we would ignore any offer,” Chorley said on the latest episode of the TechCentral Show – watch or listen below. “I would hope to say that we will be the acquirer rather than being s
Norrsken22’s Lexi Novitske on how China is winning African tech
Chinese companies have built their position in African technology one layer at a time – first phones and telecoms equipment, then fintech and now the AI models that local start-ups build on. American private capital, meanwhile, is pulling back. Lexi Novitske, general partner at Norrsken22, thinks US investors will regret it.
Novitske moved to Nigeria in 2012 and has invested from Lagos ever since.
Dominic White and Adam Ely on AI agents going rogue
AI agents are no longer a thought experiment for security teams. They are breaking out of test environments, hacking real companies and, according to one of our guests, already going rogue inside large businesses.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show, TechCentral deputy editor Fanie van Rooyen talks to Dominic White, MD for South Africa at Orange Cyberdefense, and Adam Ely, GM of AI security at
Octotel’s Trevor van Zyl on the fibre merger question
Octotel CEO Trevor van Zyl joins the TechCentral Show to talk about where South Africa’s fibre market goes next – including a potential merger with MetroFibre Networx. Van Zyl told TechCentral that Octotel and MetroFibre Networx are assessing a combination that would create the country’s third-largest fibre network operator, with both companies sitting under a common investor in an AIIM-led consor
Herotel CEO Van Zyl Botha on beating Starlink to South Africa
Amazon’s Leo satellite constellation is coming to South Africa in 2027 through Herotel. TechCentral deputy editor Fanie van Rooyen speaks to Herotel CEO Van Zyl Botha about Evry, the brand that will sell Amazon Leo to South African homes, and about how a company with no local licence walked into a market that has kept Starlink out for years.
Botha explains why low-Earth orbit satellite technology
Money just became native to the internet - Steven Boykey Sidley
Steven Boykey Sidley has been a chief technology officer at a Fortune 500 company, a private equity investor, a videogame designer, a jazz musician and, for the past four years, a professor of practice at the University of Johannesburg. He is a partner at Bridge Capital, heading its futures advisory, and the author of eight books – two of them on bitcoin and crypto – with another due in October.
T
TCS+ | Specops' Darren James on continuous trust in an AI world
Specops Software’s Darren James explains why identity checks alone no longer stop determined attackers.
Traditional approaches to access security no longer hold up in hybrid, cloud-first environments – and AI is widening the gap.
In this episode, host Kevin Smith speaks to Darren James, senior product manager at Specops Software, about the distance between how organisations secure access and how
TCS+ | Why South African workers must become supervisors of digital labour
ADG’s Cliff de Wit on why the next management challenge is overseeing teams of autonomous software agents.
Not long ago, organisations were experimenting with generative AI to draft e-mails, summarise documents and answer questions. Today agentic AI is changing what the technology is for.
In a conversation on TechCentral’s TCS+ podcast, Cliff de Wit, MD for South Africa and group chief innovation
Icasa's rules skip the real bottleneck: ACT
Communications regulator Icasa’s draft rapid deployment regulations – a critical intervention for the sector – risk failing unless the regulator brings municipalities into the process, according to Nomvuyiso Batyi, CEO of the Association of Comms & Technology (ACT).
Speaking on the TechCentral Show with TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod, Batyi said Icasa had consulted network operators and fibre co
How Optasia lends billions to people banks can’t see
Optasia is on target to distribute more than US$6-billion in credit across its markets in 2026 – and it carries every cent of the default risk itself. In this episode of the TechCentral Show, CEO Salvador Anglada unpacks how the JSE’s biggest recent fintech listing actually works.
Formerly known as Channel VAS, Optasia was founded in 2012 as a single-country airtime credit provider. It listed on t
Pick n Pay’s Enrico Ferigolli on Penny, the AI that shops for you
Pick n Pay has switched on an AI shopping companion called Penny inside its asap! app, and in this episode of the TechCentral Show, retail executive for omnichannel Enrico Ferigolli takes editor Duncan McLeod through what it does and why it matters.
Built on Google's Gemini models, Penny lets customers build a grocery basket by asking for what they want in their own words – by voice, text or photo
Charge’s R1.8-billion bet on an off-grid EV future
South Africa has fewer than 400 public electric vehicle charging stations – up from zero just 15 years ago – and EV adoption remains stubbornly slow. Yet Charge, formerly known as Zero Carbon Charge, is betting big that a coast-to-coast network of off-grid, renewable-powered charging stations is exactly what’s needed to fire up the local market.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Joubert Rou
TCS | The Cape Town start-up listening for TB with AI
AI Diagnostics, a Cape Town-based med-tech company that has built an AI-powered stethoscope designed to detect tuberculosis, recently raised R85-million in a pre-series-A funding round.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS), Nkosinathi Ndlovu speaks to the company’s CEO, Braden van Breda, about the funding round and its mission to transform TB screening across Africa and Asia.
The round, l
Werner Lindemann on how AI is rewriting the infosec rulebook
The pace at which artificial intelligence is reshaping the threat landscape is outstripping the ability of most organisations to defend themselves, with shadow AI, synthetic identity attacks and a looming quantum computing disruption all converging at once.
That’s the view of DataGroupIT CEO Werner Lindemann, who joined Duncan McLeod on the TechCentral Show to unpack what business leaders should b
Donovan Marsh on AI and the future of filmmaking
Award-winning South African film director Donovan Marsh has pivoted to artificial intelligence filmmaking and believes generative AI tools could fundamentally reshape how movies are made – and who gets to make them.
Marsh, whose 30-year career includes directing the Hollywood submarine thriller Hunter Killer starring Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman, the Spud films and iNumber Number, is the latest g
MTN’s Divyesh Joshi on the strategy behind Pi
MTN South Africa has launched Pi, a digital-only mobile operator that runs on MTN’s network but operates as a standalone brand, offering contract-free mobile and home 5G connectivity through a single app, with no call centres, no credit checks and no lock-in.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show, TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod talks to Divyesh Joshi, chief commercial officer at MTN South Afri
Anoosh Rooplal on the Post Office’s last stand
The South African Post Office has been in business rescue – a form of bankruptcy protection – since July 2023. Business rescue practitioners Anoosh Rooplal and Juanito Damons have made it clear to parliament that the entity will not survive liquidation unless a R3.8-billion bailout is received soon.
With some 5 500 jobs on the line, the big question is: is the Post Office worth saving? Rooplal spo
Sink or swim? Antony Makins on how AI is rewriting the rules of work
Artificial intelligence isn’t just changing how work gets done, it’s rewriting the rules of business. Organisations are scrambling to redefine processes and job descriptions, while employees are grappling with new tools and new ways of thinking that are transforming the way they approach their daily tasks.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Antony Makins, acting CEO at TForge and chair of th
Watts & Wheels S1E4: ‘We drive an electric Uber’
The fourth episode of TechCentral’s electric motoring show, Watts & Wheels, covers a packed news agenda, two vehicle reviews and an in-depth look at the 2026 South African Car of the Year semi-finalists.
The episode opens with the latest EV news, including fresh import duty statistics from Donald MacKay of XA Global Trade Advisors and a closer look at BAIC’s claims of local manufacturing – with th
BMW CEO Peter van Binsbergen on the future of South Africa’s automotive industry
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South Africa’s automotive industry is in a state of flux. In this episode of the TechCentral Show, BMW Group South Africa CEO Peter van Binsbergen unpacks the challenges – and opportunities – facing a sector under pressure.
He tells TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod about the future of BMW’s Rosslyn manufacturing plant in Pretoria, which
MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita on competition, AI and the future of mobile
South Africa’s big three telecommunications operators have all reported numbers in recent weeks, and the theme is clear: competition in prepaid has intensified sharply.
Telkom’s resurgence has put pressure on both MTN and Vodacom, with MTN acknowledging it has “discernibly” lost prepaid market share.
This is one of the topics covered in this wide-ranging and exclusive TechCentral Show interview wi
Dominic Cull on fixing South Africa’s ICT policy bottlenecks
Returning to the TechCentral Show is ICT regulatory expert Dominic Cull, founder of Ellipsis and regulatory advisor to the Internet Service Providers’ Association (Ispa). Cull recently attended communications minister Solly Malatsi’s policy colloquium in Pretoria – the first under a non-ANC communications minister.
Cull says there is a discernibly different tone from Malatsi compared to his predec
BMW CEO Peter van Binsbergen on the future of South Africa’s automotive industry
South Africa’s automotive industry is in a state of flux. In this episode of the TechCentral Show, BMW Group South Africa CEO Peter van Binsbergen unpacks the challenges – and opportunities – facing a sector under pressure.
He tells TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod about the future of BMW’s Rosslyn manufacturing plant in Pretoria, which was established more than half a centry ago, and the urgent n
Why Altron is building an AI factory
Altron earlier this month announced that it has deployed an "AI factory" in one of Teraco’s new Johannesburg data centres. Powered by Nvidia AI infrastructure and software, the factory is has already gone live with half a dozen customers.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Altron Group chief technology officer Bongani Andy Mabaso explains the rationale for the investment, what building the f
The company building a ‘living computer’ with human cells
The invention of the silicon transistor was fundamental to the success of the digital age, driving the core of the modern-day digital economy.
The rise of generative AI has put hardware at the epicentre of the next wave of economic growth, with chip makers such as Nvidia and AMD reaching record valuations as demand for advanced chips far outstrips supply.
But as AI data centres expand, so, too, do
Why South Africans are starting to spend crypto, not just trade it
Cryptocurrencies are increasingly moving beyond being seen as an investment asset as users find more real-world uses in everyday contexts. It appears that crypto is becoming more like cash – with users prepared to use it as the point of sale.
Crypto payments specialist MoneyBadger recently signed a deal with fintech Scan to Pay allowing crypto wallet users pay at more than 650 000 stores nationwid
Takealot CEO Frederik Zietsman on township growth, EVs and the future of online retail
E-commerce will soon reach an important milestone in South Africa: by January, according to World Wide Worx research, online shopping will top 10% of total retail sales for the first time. The move to 15% and then to 20% will come much quicker.
That’s the view of Frederik Zietsman, CEO of Naspers-owned Takealot Group – South Africa’s largest online retailer – who was speaking to TechCentral editor
Seacom 2.0: Alpheus Mangale unpacks all the details about the giant new subsea system
Seacom last week announced that it plans to build one of the highest-capacity subsea broadband cable systems the world has ever seen.
Dubbed Seacom 2.0, the cable system – which will have an expected design capacity of a staggering 2 000Tbit/s – will be larger than the company’s original system, which brought high-speed connectivity to Africa’s eastern coastline when it was launched in 2009.
The n
PayInc CEO Stephen Linnell on South Africa's payments revolution
South Africa’s payments ecosystem is evolving at a rapid pace. PayInc – previously BankservAfrica – sits at the core of the country’s payments infrastructure. As the builder and manager of the PayShap instant payment rails, PayInc is central to the Reserve Bank’s plans to drive digital inclusion through payment modernisation.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Stephen Linnell, CEO of PayInc,
From lockdown idea to global player: The Invigilator bags $11-million funding
The Invigilator, the developer of a South African application that helps educational institutions monitor web-based assessments to prevent cheating, recenty secured US$11-million (R195-million) in funding to help it expand internationally.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Nicolas Riemer, co-founder and CEO of The Invigilator, joins TechCentral’s Nkosinathi Ndlovu to discuss how the start-u
Barney Harmse on building Paratus Group – and working with Starlink
Paratus Group executive chairman Barney Harmse joins the TechCentral Show to share the story of the telecommunications group’s rise from small beginnings in Angola and Namibia more than 20 years ago and how it became one of Southern Africa’s biggest ICT infrastructure players.
Paratus started life in Angola in 2003, evolving from a local internet service provider into a pan‑African telecoms powerh
Maziv goes massive: CEO Dietlof Mare on Vumatel’s big roll-out plans
Maziv, the company that owns Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa, plans to spend R12-billion over the next five years as its ramps its deployment of fibre infrastructure across South Africa.
Poised for a big injection of cash and assets from Vodacom, which is buying a 30% co-controlling stake in the business, it has unveiled big plans to deploy fibre in townships and other underserved parts of the count
The story behind Nedbank’s R1.65-billion iKhokha deal
Nedbank announced last week that it was acquiring Durban-based fintech iKhokha in a R1.65-billion deal that could signal the start of further consolidation in the payments industry in South Africa.
Nedbank described the deal as a “significant milestone” in its strategy to target small and medium enterprises.
iKhokha co-founder and CEO Matt Putman is TechCentral’s guest in this episode of the TechC
Alan Knott-Craig unveils Fibertime’s big bet on township fibre
Alan Knott-Craig’s new fibre internet business has been flying below the radar for some time now, but the serial telecommunications entrepreneur has finally unpacked his plans for the business.
Speaking to the TechCentral Show this week, Knott-Craig – who has led a range of well-known tech businesses, including Mxit, World of Avatar, Project Isizwe and iBurst – talks about why he believes there’s
Pick n Pay’s Enrico Ferigolli on building asap! and taking on Shoprite
Although Shoprite Group stole a march on many of South Africa’s retailers in on-demand online grocery delivery during the Covid-19 lockdowns, Pick n Pay has a clear plan to make up lost ground and compete aggressively for market share.
Enrico Ferigolli, who co-founded the liquor delivery app Bottles – which was later acquired by Pick n Pay to form the basis of its online shopping push with asap! –
Britehouse MBO: Graham Parker on what’s next for software firm
A recent management buyout of Britehouse from NTT Data – previously Dimension Data – has put the software development house on a new trajectory.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Duncan McLeod chats to Britehouse executive chairman Graham Parker about the MBO of Britehouse Mobility and what it means for the future of the business.
Dimension Data acquired the 60% of Britehouse it didn’t alre
Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network
The Lekker Network is a recently launched global business platform designed to help South African expatriates find business and investment opportunities around the world, including at home.
Founded by a group of well-known businesspeople, The Lekker Network was launched in March and offers members access to a business directory, a jobs portal (for employers and job seekers), a social platform with
TCS | South Africa’s Sociable wants to make social media social again
The digitisation of social interactions has made it easier for people to maintain contact and build online communities. However, there has been a decrease in in-person interaction that has contributed to a sense of disconnect.
South African-made social media platform Sociable hopes to solve this problem by combining online engagement with in-person meetups, connecting people based on shared intere
Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U
Spar Group is determined to play a significant role in the on-demand grocery delivery space in South Africa despite coming from behind, its omnichannel executive for Southern Africa has told TechCentral.
Speaking to the TechCentral Show, Blake Raubenheimer took the publication’s editor, Duncan McLeod, through the retailer’s plan to compete directly with the likes of Shoprite Holdings’ Sixty60, whi
Nomvuyiso Batyi on Starlink, BEE reform and spectrum
What should one make of the noise surrounding the licensing (or non-licensing) of Starlink in South Africa? And what of the plans to reform the rules around black economic empowerment in the sector?
To make sense of these developments – and others – TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod sat down this week with Nomvuyiso Batyi, CEO of the Association for Comms & Technology (ACT), an industry body that r
Sentiv, and the story behind the buyout of Altron Nexus
Altron Group announced last week that it was selling its Altron Nexus businesses in a management buyout led by Nexus MD Louis du Toit and BriteGaze founder and technology entrepreneur Reshaad Sha.
Sha and Du Toit are our guests in this episode of the TechCentral Show, where they tell TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod about the acquisition and their growth plans for the business.
As part of the acqu
Signal restored: Unpacking the Blue Label and Cell C turnaround
TechCentral’s guests in this episode of the TechCentral Show believe Blue Label Telecoms and its affiliate (and soon to be subsidiary) Cell C present a compelling investment case.
Philip Short, global portfolio manager at Flagship Asset Management – which counts Blue label as its sole South African investment – and Dylan Bradfield, portfolio manager at Sharenet, tell TechCentral editor Duncan McLe
Tertius Zitzke on 4Sight’s big turnaround
4Sight Holdings has turned the corner and has signalled this with a recent move from the AltX to the main board of the JSE.
CEO Tertius Zitzke is our guest in this episode of the TechCentral Show. He tells TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod about the turnaround he’s leading – not to mention the mess he inherited when he took over leadership of the business in December 2019, months before Covid hit.
Reserve Bank fintech head Lyle Horsley on the G20 TechSprint
One of South Africa’s responsibilities as president of the global Group of 20 (G20) nations in 2025 is to hosting the G20 TechSprint, an event that invites innovators from around the world to develop financial solutions that solve the most pressing challenges faced by central banks.
The South African Reserve Bank is hosting this year’s TechSprint in collaboration with the Bank for International Se
Dalene Steyn on Capitec’s ambitious mobile gameplan
Boasting 1.6 million subscribers after less than three years in the market, Capitec Connect has quickly become South Africa’s largest MVNO – and it has an ambitious plan for further growth.
Dalene Steyn, head of Capitec Connect, tells the TechCentral Show (TCS) that the MVNO – or mobile virtual network operator – market in South Africa is poised for further expansion as banks, retailers and other
Kiaan Pillay on fintech start-up Stitch and its R1-billion funding round
Cape Town-based fintech start-up Stitch last month caught the attention of many people when it announced it was raising R1-billion (US$55-million) in a significant series-B funding round.
Co-founder and CEO Kiaan Pillay is our guest in this episode of the TechCentral Show, where he tells TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod about the funding round, which was led by QED Investors with participation fro
How Covid sparked a corporate tug-of-war over Adapt IT
Shortly after the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Tiffany Dunsdon – at the time CEO of JSE-listed Adapt IT – found herself having to fend off an unwanted takeover bid from Huge Group.
Dunsdon did not feel the deal made much sense for Adapt IT – a fast-growing enterprise software services provider whose share price, like many others at the time, had been knocked lower by the uncertainty caused by the pandem
From fibre to clean tech: Khudu Pitje on New GX Capital’s next chapter
New GX Capital, one of the principal investors in Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa parent CIVH, recently announced it was launching a R2.4-billion clean-tech investment fund in partnership with RMB Ventures.
To unpack the details of the new fund and why it’s being established, New GX Capital founder and CEO Khudusela Pitje joined TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod in the latest episode of the TechCentr
TCS | How South Africa's Milkor became a global player in drone innovation
A company with its headquarters in Pretoria has designed and built an advanced drone that can attain speeds of 250km/h, reach altitudes of up to 30 000ft and travel more than 4 000km before having to return to its base.
The company, Milkor, is a South African defence equipment and cybersecurity specialist that was founded all the way back in 1981.
Its newly developed Milkor 380 System unmanned a
Discovery Bank CEO Hylton Kallner on tech, AI and the future of banking
Discovery Bank CEO Hylton Kallner believes technology is fundamental to the company’s success.
Kallner, an actuary who joined Discovery in its early days as a medical insurance company and who has held various senior leadership roles over the years, tells TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod about the group’s decision to launch a bank when it did. He shares how the business is doing – spoiler: it’s tr
TCS | Across South Africa in an EV: how one man did it before charging stations
Shaun Maidment crossed South Africa in an electric car, a BMW i3, before there was a network of charging infrastructure along the national routes – and he has a heck of a story to tell about his adventure.
Charging infrastructure along South Africa’s national routes is now so commonplace that a cross-country trip in an EV is a daily occurrence.
But this was not always the case, and drivers in the
Why the CompCom wants Google to pay up
The Competition Commission is girding itself for a fight with Big Tech companies like Google and Meta Platforms after publishing its provisional findings in its investigation into the impact that Big Tech has had on the South African news media sector.
To unpack the provisional report, which was published on Monday, Competition Commission senior analyst and technical lead Donnavan-John Linley join
New player in township fibre market offers 100Mbit/s for R9/day
South Africa has a new player chasing the township fibre broadband market: Wire-Wire Networks has deployed fibre to 15 800 homes in Thembisa (previously Tembisa), a sprawling township in central Gauteng.
CEO JP Schmidtke joined the TechCentral Show earlier this week to share exclusive details about the company’s growth plans and to talk about the business opportunity for fibre companies in South A
Zimi Charge CEO Michael Maas on electrifying SA's logistics fleets
South African logistics firm Bakers SA recently deployed the first electric trucks to its fleet of more than a thousand vehicles.
Working with Stellenbosch-based EV charging and software company Zimi Charge, Bakers’ deployment points a potential future in South Africa in which planet-warming trucks are replaced with electric alternatives.
Michael Maas, CEO of Zimi Charge, recently joined Duncan Mc
Deep impact: Dean Furman on the implications of China's DeepSeek
China’s DeepSeek rocked US technology stocks last month after the company appeared to have developed an artificial intelligence model akin to OpenAI’s most advanced ChatGPT models at a tiny fraction of the cost.
Stocks like Nvidia, Google and Microsoft cratered on the news as it raised serious questions about whether the tens of billions – if not hundreds of billions of dollars – that Big Tech is
We test drive South Africa’s cheapest electric car
We strongly recommend watching the video version of this episode of TCS.
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Enviro Automotive has launched South Africa’s most affordable electric car yet, the Dayun S5 Mini SUV – and TechCentral has taken the vehicle for a test drive.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show, we are joined by Environ Automotive executives Gideon Wolvaardt and Francois Malan to unpack the new Chinese EV and why the
'Activist CEO' Adam Craker on iqbusiness, the GNU and fixing Joburg
Adam Craker has strong views on what’s needed to turn around South Africa’s fortunes and fix its biggest city, Johannesburg, which has fallen into a state of disrepair.
The CEO of iqbusiness, a digital integrator in the Reunert stable formed recently though the merger of IQbusiness and +OneX, is our guest in this episode of the TechCentral Show.
Craker – whose career has seen him working for the l
Meet the team behind Matric Live, South Africa’s App of the Year
Matric Live is a study tool to help students in grades 10-12 supplement their in-class learning with additional exercises – and even get exam practice via a digital platform. And it recently won the FNB App of the Year award amid stiff competition from the likes of Checkers Sixty60 and TFG’s Bash.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Matric Live CEO Kagisho Masae and chief technology officer L
Springboks rugby deal: the tech plan behind the audacious bid
Well-known South African technology entrepreneur Stafford Masie is one of the key backers behind an audacious bid to buy a stake of up to 40% in the South African Rugby Union (Saru)-owned entity that owns the commercial rights to the Springboks brand.
Masie, who chairs JSE-listed Altvest Capital – a key player in the consortium making the bid – joins the TechCentral Show with Altvest CEO Warren Wh
Reserve Bank’s big payments shake-up – an interview with Tim Masela
The South African Reserve Bank is working with its peers in the Southern African region to drive financial inclusion by digitising cash and making instant payments across borders an everyday reality.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS), Tim Masela, head of the National Payments System department at the Reserve Bank – he has been with the Bank for the past 30 years – tells TechCentral’s N
Datafree’s plan to make R1-billion/year from ‘free data’
Datafree Technologies, the company behind popular zero-rated messaging tool MoyaApp, has an ambitious plan to build a R1-billion/year business by tapping to the APN market provided by the mobile operators.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS), Datafree chief commercial officer Kruben Pillay tells Duncan McLeod about the company’s plan to build a software-as-a-service-based APN – or “acces
The story of Telviva, with David Meintjes and Rob Lith
The world of telephony might not be particularly sexy, but it is an industry that has changed fundamentally in the past 20 years.
And David Meintjes and Rob Lith of Telviva, a South African company specialising in cloud-based unified communications solutions for businesses, has been at the forefront of the technology changes that have swept through the industry in that time.
In this episode of the
Andrew Middleton on the state of rooftop solar in South Africa
South Africa’s rooftop solar installation industry has a bright future and is on track for its second-best year on record, despite the suspension of load shedding in March.
That’s according to Andrew Middleton, co-founder and CEO of GoSolr, one of South Africa’s largest rooftop solar installation companies, who spoke to TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod on the TechCentral Show (TCS) earlier this we
Sandile Dube on Equinix and South Africa’s data centre boom
Nasdaq-listed Equinix has completed construction of the first phase of a new data centre in Johannesburg, part of a R7.5-billion commitment to building cloud infrastructure in South Africa and the rest of the continent over the next five years.
The company’s South African MD, Sandile Dube – a former country manager at Hewlett Packard Enterprise and a former executive at Dimension Data (now NTT Dat
Lesaka’s Lincoln Mali on the fintech opportunity in South Africa
Lincoln Mali has been at the helm of Lesaka Technologies Southern Africa, a fintech with a sizeable footprint in Southern Africa’s informal markets, since 2021.
One of his main tasks has been to turn the company’s finances around by reigning in business units that were haemorrhaging cash in the past. Lesaka’s latest set of financial results suggests it’s making progress.
In this episode of TechCen
The Solly Malatsi interview - BEE, SOEs and Starlink
Communications minister Solly Malatsi, a DA MP and the first non-ANC politician to hold the key technology portfolio in the democratic era, has been in the job for three months – sufficient time to get a broad handle on the big issues.
In this first interview with the TechCentral Show, TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod asks Malatsi a range of questions about the sector, including his views on how h
Donald Valoyi: South African on-demand e-commerce pioneer
Donald Valoyi saw the potential market for on-demand grocery delivery in South Africa early on, and his company Zulzi was a pioneer in the space.
It even went on to help Shoprite Holdings launch the Checkers Sixty60 app.
Zulzi was founded in 2013 as an “aggregator” of various shopping outlets to help consolidate online shopping for customers.
Today the company provides support to Sixty60 and conti
Bruce Mellado on the tech-led fight against air pollution in South Africa
South African scientists have launched a cost-effective air-quality monitoring system built using internet of things and artificial intelligence technologies.
Bruce Mellado, professor of particle physics and director of the Institute for Collider Particle Physics at Wits University, is one of the key people behind the new initiative, which is aimed at improving air quality in South Africa and even
TCS | Rebooting Cell C: Jorge Mendes sets out his strategic plan
Jorge Mendes has been in the hot seat at Cell C for just over a year, and the turnaround at the long-troubled mobile operator is starting to gain traction.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS), Mendes sits down with TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod for a detailed interview in which he provides an update on what’s happened in the past year at Cell C, paints of a picture of the state of the
Dominic Cull on why 'Fair Share' is a non-starter in South Africa
The big mobile network operators in South Africa “have never shown a willingness to … accommodate smaller players”, so the notion that they should be entitled to “Fair Share” is “difficult to swallow for smaller operators who have been at the end of their [unfair] business practices”.
That’s the view of Dominic Cull, a leading specialist South African ICT lawyer and regulatory adviser to the Inter
Scott Gibson on his new role as Pragma CEO
Former Britehouse CEO Scott Gibson was recently appointed as chief executive of enterprise asset management company Pragma. He is the guest in this episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS).
Gibson, who also previously headed Dimension Data’s (now NTT Data’s) global digital practice, tells TCS about his appointment and why he decided to join Pragma, which develops a software platform in South Africa t
ESP's Herman Maritz on Eskom's miraculous turnaround
Herman Maritz, one half of the pair that developed the ESP load shedding app (formerly known as EskomSePush), is grateful that Eskom may finally have load shedding licked – even if that means fewer people are using the app.
Maritz, who returns to the TechCentral Show (TCS) – he was last a guest in 2021 – reflects on the past four-and-a-half months without load shedding, and what that’s meant for E
The Ronnie Apteker interview - his life in Ukraine
The 24th of February 2022 is a day Ronnie Apteker – and millions of his countrymen in his adopted home of Ukraine – will never forget.
Apteker woke up early that morning – as millions of others did – to the sound of bombs and missiles raining down. After months of military build-up along Ukraine’s eastern flank, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin had ordered a full-scale invasion.
In this special edi
The Volvo EX30 electric car, reviewed by an owner
The Volvo EX30 is undoubtedly one of the most exciting electric cars to be launched in South Africa in 2024.
The vehicle, whose price starts at R792 000, offers a combination of price, performance and luxury tweaks that has attracted considerable appeal among South African consumers interested in making the switch to electric mobility.
But what is the Volvo EX30 like to drive?
TechCentral recently
Nomvuyiso Batyi on what needs fixing in SA telecoms
South Africa’s telecommunications industry is facing a barrage of threats, from crime and vandalism to power cuts and overreach by politicians.
This is the word from Nomvuyiso Batyi, CEO of telecommunications industry lobby group the Association for Comms & Technology (ACT) and an industry stalwart who served as a councillor at communications regulator Icasa for eight years and as special adviser
Andy Higgins on the outlook for online shopping in South Africa
Andy Higgins, founder of e-commerce solutions company Bob Group, knows more about e-commerce in South Africa than most people.
Higgins founded Bidorbuy (now Bob Shop) at the height of the dot-com boom in the late 1990s, and over the past 25 years has actively participated in the industry as it has mushroomed from those nascent beginnings.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS), Higgins has
VezoPay on new South African-made payment ring
A new smart payment ring has been launched in South Africa – and it’s built by South Africans for South Africans.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS), TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod chats to VezoPay founders Jake Pinkus and Lawrence Baker about the launch of the ring – it’s available in three variants at launch – and what was behind the idea.
In the interview, they not only explain why
Kartik Mistry on Standard Bank Connect and SA's MVNO industry
Kartik Mistry, recently appointed head of Standard Bank Connect, believes there is still strong growth ahead for South Africa’s mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) market.
Standard Bank, which recently rebranded its MVNO from Standard Bank Mobile to Standard Bank Connect and shifted its network partner from Cell C to MTN South Africa, has launched a new value proposition in cellular communicati
Dean Furman on who is winning the AI race
The big developer conferences by Microsoft, Google and Apple this year all focused on artificial intelligence, with each setting out a unique strategy to win in the AI race.
But what did Microsoft’s Build, Google’s I/O and Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference tell us about each company’s strategy, and which company is leading in the race to commercialise generative AI?
Dean Furman, a South Afri
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