Thursday, November 28African Digital Business Magazine

South Africa News

South Africa News

South Africa. How Designated Service Providers Help In Making Medical Aid More Affordable
Medicine, South Africa News

South Africa. How Designated Service Providers Help In Making Medical Aid More Affordable

With healthcare inflation continually on the increase, medical schemes must find ways to keep contributions as affordable as possible for their members while still ensuring that they receive quality of care. One of these ways is through negotiation with groups of hospitals, doctors and pharmacies for better tariffs in return for directing members their way. These groups then become the scheme’s Designated Service Providers (DSP). The Health Funders Association explains the ins and outs of DSPs and why they are important to medical schemes and their members: Medical schemes are not-for-profit organizations which provide a mechanism to assist medical scheme members in funding their healthcare providers for medical care rendered.  Medical schemes are similar to trust funds or stokvels, whe...
Fintech, South Africa News

Telephonic payment solution helps companies deal with Covid-19 challenges

VerPay enables verbal commerce as businesses adapt to serve their customers in contactless ways  As South Africa enters its third wave and lockdown restrictions tighten, certain businesses - such as those in hospitality - once again find themselves having to temporarily close their doors, while seeking alternative avenues to generate income, such as take-aways. “The pandemic has forced us all to do business in new ways, and presented new challenges - as well as opportunities, says Dana Buys, CEO of VerPay Pty Ltd, a Cape fintech company that specialises in cloud-based payment. “Not all companies have the means - or inclination - to go completely online. Many consumers still prefer dealing with a person, as opposed to solely an app or webs...
South Africa News, Tech

TinSky Connect is Now Offering Intelsat FlexMove, the Industry-first Land Mobile Managed Service for Ubiquitous, High-Throughput Satellite (HTS) Connectivity

TinSky Connect (PTY) LTD today announced that it is now offering the Intelsat FlexMove managed service for ubiquitous, high-speed  connectivity. With FlexMove, TinSky Connect’s customers can easily connect to the internet, private data networks and cloud services from virtually anywhere in the world, including while on-the-move, or on-the-pause at a temporary site. “With the Intelsat FlexMove service, we can help our customers quickly and easily deploy mission-critical communications and maintain a seamless connection to the people and applications they rely on,” said TinSky’s Executive Director, Alan Geldenhuys. The TinSky Group is excited to partner with Intelsat to offer an industry-first high-throughput, ubiquitous connectivity solution.” The “always-on” FlexMove connect...
South Africa News, Startups

Top Tech Ideas for Accelerating Inclusive Economic Growth in the Township Economy Revealed and Rewarded

Over the weekend of the 19th and 20th of June 2021, Silicon Cape and the U.S. Mission to South Africa hosted a virtual hackathon aimed at discovering digital solutions to accelerate inclusive economic growth for local businesses in the township economy. This was the third of four hackathons which form part of an initiative called Hackathons for South Africa: Digital Solutions for Real World Challenges. Finally, after much anticipation, the winning solution was announced on Sunday, the 27th of June. Walking away with the R25,000 grand prize was Team Basket. Outlining their idea, team leader Esihle Vellem said: “We help street vendors and spaza shops buy fresh produce from small-scale farmers and wholesalers by providing them with an online application and an instant delivery service. With t...
Business, South Africa News

Five principles for collaborative leadership

Andy Brough The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a bright spotlight on our leaders. With companies switching over to remote working in unprecedented numbers, a new form of leadership is needed. Although the uncertainty of the time puts pressure on both employees and management, leaders must rise to the occasion and provide the required stability. The secret to effective collaborative leadership lies in collaboration itself: COLLAB. Converge the goals Organise the dance Lead and Localise the climate Assess the process Build in bandwidth and measures  With these principles as a compass, any decent leader can become a great leader. Converge the goals              Whether we are managing a project, performing a task, or leading a meeting, ensuring the team has a single, unifying aim...
Energy, Green Energy, South Africa News

Cape Town And Dubai Battle Over Africa’s Energy Future

Op-Ed by Duggan Flanakin, director of policy research for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow.  It was quite a shock to Africa Energy Chamber Executive Director NJ Ayuk – and an even bigger shock to the Chamber – that the London-based Hyve group decided to move the annual Africa Oil Week from Cape Town, South Africa to Dubai. It was such a shock that the AEC shortly afterward announced it was sponsoring Africa Energy Week on the same weekend (November 8-12) as the (Out of) Africa Oil Week. Mr. Ayuk works hard to ensure the interests of African companies and citizens in African energy ventures are widely recognized. He calls the dueling conferences a major confrontation between “Cancel Fossil Fuels” (Dubai) and “Protect our Oil and Gas Industry” (Cape Town). The Cancel Fossil Fue...
Fintech, South Africa News

BEC Attacks: Who is legally responsible?

Business Email Compromise (BEC) and cyber attacks are on the increase worldwide. Conveyancing firms, their clients, and other organisations effecting many large non-recurring type transactions are particularly vulnerable to BEC fraud. Ryan Mer, Managing Director, eftsure Africa, a Know Your Payee™ (KYP) platform provider says gaps in organisations’ payment systems not only pose massive financial and reputational risks, but can have serious legal implications as well. According to a global survey conducted by Mimecast Cyber Security Services in 2020, six out of ten companies globally were infected with ransomware and there was a 64% increase in email threats. An Accenture report from May 2020 confirms South Africa had the third most cybercrime victims globally, resulting in losses toppin...
Medicine, South Africa News

New study on the causes of Cerebral Palsy may have far-reaching impact on medico-legal outcomes

A new paper on Cerebral Palsy, published in the South African Medical Journal, challenges commonly held views on the subject and suggests that the causes of this tragic condition may be far more complex and multi-faceted. Commonly held assumptions that CP arises as a direct result of preventable adverse events during childbirth inform the current paradigm within South African medico-legal cases, in which the focus is almost exclusively on events during childbirth (intrapartum events). Among the paper’s findings are that intrapartum trauma may constitute the final link in a complex chain of pathophysiological processes that lead to brain injury and ultimately CP. In many cases this causal pathway could depend on (among other things) genetic factors, as well as adverse circumstances and even...
Africa Travel, Events, South Africa News, travel

An Oil and Gas Drive for Cape Town and Multi-Sectoral Growth

Taking place in Cape Town, African Energy Week 2021 ensures Africa-focused events benefit African tourism and associated sectors. African concerts, sporting events, and even oil and gas events are beginning to take shape in 2021 after a significant period of inactivity due to COVID-19 restrictions. African cities including Cape Town in South Africa and Dakar in Senegal have created amazing hospitality and tourism industries that have brought in millions of visitors each year and fueled millions of dollars in economic output. While most foreign event firms like London based Hyve group/Africa Oil Week have deserted the continent for ‘greener pastures’ elsewhere, Africans and Africa-focused energy events are leading the way and cities like Cape Town stand to benefit. The ongoing coronavirus p...
South Africa News

How does the mining sector impact the South African economy?

Mining has had a larger impact on shaping the South African economy than any other sector. It transformed a predominantly rural economy into an industrial one. It resulted in the development of Kimberley, Johannesburg, and other cities. It attracted massive amounts of foreign cash. It required the creation of stock exchanges, colleges, and other contemporary institutions. Exploiting tiny veins of gold up to four kilometers (almost two and a half miles) below the earth's surface necessitated the development of extremely high levels of competence. It aided in the formation of the nation's job markets. It attracted a large number of South Africans out of discrete segments and into paid work. In addition to that, the mining industry attracted a big amount of laborers from broader countries, wh...