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.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
MultiChoice declares war on piracy - the man leading the fight
MultiChoice Group has been involved in two major enforcement actions against piracy kingpins in as many weeks. Frikkie Jonker, of MultiChoice subsidiary Irdeto, is the man leading the charge against these pirate operations, and he tells the TechCentral Show (TCS) that, despite recent arrests, the broadcaster’s war on streaming piracy…
MTN's Bradwin Roper on PayShap - and the future of mobile money
MTN South Africa last week announced that PayShap, South Africa’s rapid payments platform, is being integrated into its Mobile Money (MoMo) platform. Bradwin Roper, chief financial services officer at MTN South Africa, is the guest in the latest episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS). He unpacks the PayShap development and…
Meet the CHIPendales - South Africa's biohacker duo
In this special episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS) – presented by MTN Business – Duncan McLeod chats to two South African biohackers, Daniel de Kock and Jarryd Bekker, about why they have voluntarily installed microchips in their bodies. Respectively the chief technology officer and CEO of Riot Network –…
From Namibian start-up to regional powerhouse: the rapid rise of Paratus
Paratus Group is rapidly emerging as a major player in the telecommunications industry in Southern Africa. But who’s behind Paratus, and what’s its history? From landing Google’s Equiano subsea cable in Swakopmund and building a new fibre route between South Africa and Namibia – providing a new data corridor between…
The internet revolution happening in Olievenhoutbosch
A dusty township in Gauteng is the site of a South African-developed mesh network that could change everything. Read the full story at https://techcentral.co.za/internet-revolution-in-olievenhoutbosch/241698/
Pretoria firm Hydrox Holdings in global hydrogen ‘breakthrough’
South African firm Hydrox Holdings has developed a new way of extracting hydrogen for use in cars and other applications that it believes will help usher in a new era of plentiful clean energy for the world. The company, based in Pretoria, has won a number of awards and other…
TechCentral announces TCS Legends
TechCentral, the publisher of South Africa’s leading business technology podcasts, is thrilled to announce the launch of TCS Legends. The new show will feature interviews with (and about) some of the leading figures who helped shape South Africa’s technology industry into what it is today. As the show’s name implies,…