TCS - The TechCentral Show
The TechCentral Show (TCS, for short) is a tech show produced by South Africa's leading technology news platform. It features interviews with newsmakers, ICT industry leaders and other interesting people.
The inside story of toco, the Stellenbosch-born digital currency
TechCentral on Tuesday broke the news about Toco, a new payments platform and associated digital currency, toco, backed by the founder of Vumatel. Now Toco CEO Paul Rowett joins the TechCentral Show (TCS) to chat about the project, which aims to fight climate change by “fixing the current economic model…
How Naked got covered - Alex Thomson unpacks huge funding round
Naked Insurance, the South African digital insurance start-up, announced earlier on Wednesday that it has secured US$17-million (R306-million at the time of writing) in a series-B funding round. Alex Thomson, Naked’s CEO and a co-founder of the company, joins Duncan McLeod on the TechCentral Show (TCS) to unpack the investment,…
Brandon Doyle on Convergence Partners’ big new infrastructure fund
Convergence Partners CEO Brandon Doyle joins Duncan McLeod on the TechCentral Show (TCS) to unpack the recently announced closing, at $296-million (R5.3-billion), of the private equity company’s new Digital Infrastructure Fund. Convergence Partners, which is chaired by well-known South African technology investor and entrepreneur Andile Ngcaba, unpacks what the fund…
Pinnacle’s Tim Humphreys-Davies on the state of the IT nation
Tim Humphreys-Davies, CEO of Alviva Holdings-owned technology distributor Pinnacle, believes the worst of the supply-chain challenges that afflicted the global and local tech industries in recent years is largely over. Speaking on the TechCentral Show (TCS), Humphreys-Davies explains that although there are still some challenges in the networking space, the…
Inside AfriForum's plan to deploy modular nuclear reactors in SA
AfriForum, the vocal Afrikaner civil rights organisation, wants to deploy pebble-bed modular nuclear reactors (PBMRs) in South African communities to help solve the country’s crippling energy woes. But why PBMRs? And how will the project work exactly? It might seem strange for a non-governmental organisation like AfriForum to want to…
Rob Godlonton on his plans for +OneX - and what went wrong at EOH
In the final TC|Daily interview of 2022, Duncan McLeod is joined in the TechCentral studio by +OneX founder Rob Godlonton for a wide-ranging discussion on the company and the South African IT sector more broadly. Godlonton tells McLeod about his career history, including the 10 years between 2009 and 2019…
Alan Dickson on why Reunert is thriving
Despite being one of South Africa’s oldest companies – it was founded in 1888 and listed on the JSE in 1948 – Reunert is a picture of health. The group, which owns assets in engineering, electronics, IT and defence, last month reported a 16% improvement in full-year revenue to 30…
A R3-million TV, and everything else coming from Samsung
How would you like a R3-million TV in your living room? Samsung Electronics is happy to oblige – and they’ll even help you install it. Next year, the Korean consumer electronics giant will launch its new range of ultra-high-premium micro-LED televisions in South Africa – and the top-end model, which…
Uncapped fibre for R5/day - Isizwe's big gambit
Kayamandi, a township next to Stellenbosch, is the subject of two interesting experiments, which, if they succeed, could transform the way South Africans – and the world – connect to the Internet. The township is the site of two fibre deployments, one being led by Vumatel and the other by…
Stephen van Coller on what's really happening at EOH
EOH Holdings is about to embark on a rights offer, seeking up to R600-million from its long-suffering shareholders as it moves to deal with the unsustainable debt on its balance sheet. At the same time, the share price – R3.10 at the time of publication – has fallen to levels…
This South African app wants to help fix your city
Joao Zoio is a man on a mission. As CEO of Acumen Software, he is overseeing the development of My Smart City, a platform that integrates with municipalities to try to resolve service delivery issues quickly and efficiently. The platform, available on the Web or via smartphone apps, allows residents…
Unpacking the FTX disaster, with OVEX’s Jon Ovadia
The collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX has sent shockwaves through the crypto community worldwide. In this episode of TC|Daily, Jon Ovadia, CEO of South Africa crypto exchange OVEX, joins TechCentral’s Duncan McLeod from Dubai to talk about FTX’s bankruptcy and what it means for South African crypto players and for…
Mteto Nyati on investing, IT and South Africa's future
Former Altron Group and MTN South Africa chief executive Mteto Nyati has strong views on South Africa, specifically regarding the country's potential with the right leadership in place. Nyati joins Duncan McLeod on TechCentral's TC|Daily technology show to chat about the announcement this week that he has acquired a 40%…
Russell Southwood on the African telecoms revolution
Russell Southwood probably knows more about the communications revolution in Africa than anyone. The founder and CEO of Balancing Act Africa, Southwood has covered the industry for decades. In a new book, he's now shared the story of how Africa went from having fewer telephone lines than Manhattan in 1986…
This start-up wants to save you from Eskom
Wetility co-founder and CEO Vincent Maposa is a busy man. The alternative energy start-up is helping South African homeowners go solar, overcoming (or at least reducing the impact of) load shedding in the process, using financing models that don’t result in prohibitive upfront capital costs. Wetility – pronounced we-tility –…
Michael Markovitz: ‘My five years on the SABC board’
You’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone in South Africa as passionate about public broadcasting as Michael Markovitz. A former journalist whose storied career has included serving as adviser to Mandla Langa, the former chairman of communications regulator Icasa, Markovitz has just completed five eventful years as a member of the…
TV white spaces - the current state of play, with Keith Pitout
Television white-spaces (TVWS) spectrum – the gaps in the frequencies used by terrestrial TV broadcasters – has long been seen as a way of bringing affordable Internet to even remote areas. But what’s happened with the various TVWS initiatives in South Africa? Keith Pitout, a leading local expert on the…
Vumatel's audacious plan to take fibre to everyone
The leadership teams at Vumatel and Vuma parent Maziv don't dream small. The company, South Africa's largest provider of fibre-to-the-home broadband infrastructure, has an audacious plan to deploy fibre not only to townships - a project that is already well under way - but also to informal settlements. It doesn't…
Netstar CTO Cliff de Wit on IoT, AI and astrophotography
Cliff de Wit, a former Microsoft South Africa director and now chief technology at Altron's Netstar, is passionate about many things: skills development, the internet of things, artificial intelligence ... even astrophotography. He joins TechCentral's Duncan McLeod in the TC|Daily studio for a wide-ranging -- and fascinating -- discussion on…
What's next for Showmax, with MultiChoice's Barry Dubovsky
Meet the man behind Showmax. As chief operating officer of MultiChoice Connected Video, Barry Dubovsky is leading the charge to bring the 2022 Fifa World Cup to Showmax Pro in 4K. Dubovsky joins Duncan McLeod in the TC|Daily studio to chat about what has been involved in getting Showmax ready…