Although the South African government has a reputation for openness towards innovation, it has yet to embrace the remarkable opportunity that lies within the mobile sector.
By Lionel Moyal 26 Feb 2014 09:37
Public Protector Thuli Madonsela released her report on the SABC yesterday. The report - 'When Governance and Ethics Fail' - paints a damning picture of abuse of power, mismanagement, waste and corruption, and outright dishonesty at the public broadcaster.
By Rod Baker 18 Feb 2014 07:38
"The senior management at the SABC couldn't even be bothered to do the numeracy test that was required for a proper skills assessment. The entire senior management of the SABC is in a dire, dire state." Marian Shinn, Parliament 4 February 2005
By Ed Herbst 10 Feb 2014 08:08
At the risk of being utterly boring once again banging on about the SABC, I feel as though some sort of bizarre sense of duty requires me to comment on the completely predictable findings of a PriceWaterhouseCoopers audit on the national broadcaster...
By Chris Moerdyk 7 Feb 2014 06:19
'MMA has viewed the headline news bulletins from SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3 and can confirm that no mention of the booing incident was made in any of the bulletins.'
By Ed Herbst 4 Feb 2014 15:46
Isn't it astonishing how the closer we get to elections, the closer our politicians become to their ancestors? In fact, judging by the way they are mouthing off in the media, I'm almost convinced that they have a hotline to wherever it is that these all-knowing spirits may gather.
By Janine Lazarus, Issued by Janine Lazarus Media Consultancy 31 Jan 2014 11:15
NEWSWATCH: Gauteng's use of ANC colours in billboards and posters - supposedly to publicise the administration's work, but using ANC party colours - has raised questions, reports Mail & Guardian.
By Rod Baker 17 Jan 2014 08:07
Isn't it about time we created an annual journalism award that will recognise, praise and honour in perpetuity the year's most outrageous Comical Ali statement in a media context?
By Ed Herbst 6 Jan 2014 10:17
It is just a fleeting moment of stunned surprise. The dawning realisation that the status quo has ineluctably changed and so too has any predictable future. (video)
By Ed Herbst 17 Dec 2013 08:11
NEWSWATCH: Independent head Iqbal Survé says the group's editorial staff are assured of their editorial freedom, and need have no fear when writing about any company within the Sekunjalo Group, reports Mail & Guardian, which also reports the government has admitted - shock and horror - to making a mistake.
By Rod Baker 13 Dec 2013 07:11
NEWSWATCH: The interpreter for the deaf at the memorial service for Madiba is a fake, and produced gibberish, it is claimed, reports Singapore's Straits Times, and you won't hear Zuma being booed... well, not on the SABC, anyway, reports City Press.
By Rod Baker 12 Dec 2013 06:45
Over the last few years the South African government has advocated for the domestic beneficiation of locally mined minerals in an effort to grow the economy and create employment.
By James Fungai Maposa 11 Dec 2013 08:49
NEWSWATCH: The ANC insists Thuli Madonsela leaked the provisional Nkandla report to the media, reports Mail & Guardian. She insists she didn't.
By Rod Baker 5 Dec 2013 09:08
The unbearable lightness of Yunus Carrim as he seeks to limit the damage from the Special Investigative Unit report on endemic SABC corruption.
By Ed Herbst 4 Dec 2013 08:09
NEWSWATCH: Police apparently fear that reporters with machine guns hidden in their cameras could pose a risk to Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir, reports Times Live, and Communications Minister Yunus Carrim says he has received the PP's report on the SABC, reports IOL.
By Rod Baker 26 Nov 2013 09:19
NEWSWATCH: First they couldn't, now they can - the media that is... can cover Julius Malema's trial on multiple charges, reports news24. BDLive reports the owner of Goldfields newspaper is to testify against Media24, and Google and Microsoft have agreed to measures to block images of child abuse, reports the BBC.
By Rod Baker 18 Nov 2013 11:39
The African Media Leaders Forum in Addis Ababa last week ended on a weak note: Politicians want the media to generate a new, positive African narrative.
By Anton Harber 15 Nov 2013 06:33
NEWSWATCH: Noluthando Gosa, who has resigned twice from the board previously, has made it a hat-trick, reports Mail & Guardian, and EWN reports the ANC is taking City Press to the ombudsman over one of the newspaper's reports.
By Rod Baker 12 Nov 2013 06:27
NEWSWATCH: Mail & Guardian reports the South African Police Service has threatened Independent Newspapers because it wants the group to 'hand over material related to intercepted calls involving national police commissioner Riah Phiyega'. On the media front, Gill Moodie reports on Grubstreet that Caxtons is buying RamsayMedia.
By Rod Baker 4 Nov 2013 08:10
This is a golden age for investigative reporting in South Africa. In the Muldergate era there were two enduring themes, apartheid itself and the Info Scandal.
By Ed Herbst 1 Nov 2013 13:24
It's already firmly in the air - election fever. So what's new? Not much, there will still be the usual rhetoric, with politicians visiting downtrodden communities, giving out food, t-shirts, and promises of a better life for all.
By Marion Scher 30 Oct 2013 06:17
Before the birth of the electricity generating industry, any enterprise needing power had to build and run private generators. These were inflexible, inelastic and did not scale easily. In the mid-19th century, centralised generation allowed electricity to be provided as a utility, meaning that consumers only had to pay for what they used.
By President Ntuli 18 Oct 2013 11:17
NEWSWATCH: Communications Minister Yunus Carrim has inaugurated the National Cyber Security Advisory Council (NCAC), reports Mail & Guardian.
By Rod Baker 16 Oct 2013 07:05
NEWSWATCH: According to an ITWeb report, quoting City Press, former communications minister Dina Pule sanctioned the controversial R550m SABC/MultiChoice deal.
By Rod Baker 14 Oct 2013 07:46
President Jacob Zuma appointed a new SABC board of directors two weeks ago. Veteran SABC reporter Ed Herbst, in the second part of his essay (see part one here, looks at the history of board interference and political control of the SABC.
By Ed Herbst 14 Oct 2013 07:17
Whilst government has a clear role in delivering essential services to the needy, you won't find many of the millions of suffering South Africans at airports or on flights. Quite the opposite in fact, as once you've become a "jetsetter" you've arrived at a space unavailable to the poor. So, why are government involved in the airline industry?
By Rob Baker 9 Oct 2013 10:56
NEWSWATCH: ENCA (and Mail & Guardian - on the receiving end) report the Guptas are suing M&G and Sunday Times for R500m; meanwhile, a senior air force officer (suspended), says Zuma was involved in Guptagate, reports Mail & Guardian.
By Rod Baker 3 Oct 2013 11:12
The next generation of tenderpreneurs is waiting in the wings, and we should all be very worried.
By Anton Ressel 26 Sep 2013 07:48
On 20 August 2013, the National Assembly passed the final version of the Protection of Personal Information Bill (POPI). This final version of POPI is to be submitted to the President for his assent.
By Danette Breitenbach 19 Sep 2013 06:37
For some people the only purpose of a business is to make money for shareholders. For others there might be some underlying social investment - such as creating jobs or providing a better quality of life - but one thing is certain: without profit, no business is sustainable.
By Paddy Hartdegen 11 Sep 2013 08:41
