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.
TCS | Starlink in South Africa – separating fact from fiction
There has been considerable noise about the launch – or otherwise – of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service in South Africa, much of it conjecture. What’s the real story? To unpack what exactly is required of SpaceX-launched Starlink to launch in South Africa – including the rules around black…
TCS | GG Alcock on the digitisation of the township economy
In this episode of the TechCentral Show, author, marketer and consultant GG Alcock chats to Nkosinathi Ndlovu about how South Africa’s informal economy is being digitised. Alcock’s background as a white boy growing up in rural Msinga, KwaZulu-Natal has helped him develop a deep cultural understanding of township life and…
Revix founder Sean Sanders on the creation of Altify
TechCentral reported on Friday that South African cryptocurrency platforms Revix and BitFund are joining forces and, together with Austria’s Coinpanion, have formed a new alternative investment platform called Altify. Revix founder and now Altify CEO Sean Sanders joins Duncan McLeod on the TechCentral Show to unpack the merger, how it…
OneCart CEO Aidan Johnson on SA's on-demand shopping boom
Aidan Johnson, appointed by Massmart to lead on-demand delivery platform OneCart, believes South Africa is on the cusp of huge growth in online shopping – and that everything is to play for. Johnson, who joins Duncan McLeod on this episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS), talks about the OneCart business,…
How ShotSpotter is fighting gun crime in Cape Town
ShotSpotter, a technology that “listens” for gunshots to help law enforcement authorities pinpoint potential criminal activity, has been deployed in high-crime parts of Cape Town for some years. In this episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS), Duncan McLeod chat to Tom Chittum, senior vice president for forensic services at SoundThinking,…
Mesh.trade's Connie Bloem on the future of finance
The future of finance is on the blockchain. That’s according to Connie Bloem, co-founder and MD of Mesh.trade, who was speaking to the TechCentral Show (TCS) about alternative (AltFi) and decentralised finance (DeFi). Mesh is owned by 42Markets Group, which recently secured a R182-million funding round from technology investor Convergence…
Rahul Jain on Peach Payments’ big funding round
Earlier this month, Cape Town-based fintech Peach Payments announced it had secured US$30-million (R570-million) in a fundraising round led by Apis Partners. In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Rahul Jain, co-founder of CEO of Peach Payments, tells TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod about the funding round and what the company…
The Information Regulator bares its teeth - an interview with Pansy Tlakula
TCS | Pansy Tlakula: Information Regulator bares its teeth The Information Regulator, the agency responsible for enforcing the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia), is starting to flex its muscles. Among other things, the regulator is tasked with investigating data breaches – including cyberattacks – and will not hesitate to…
The Levy brothers on the future of Blue Label and Cell C
TCS | The Levy brothers on the future of Blue Label and Cell C When JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms released its annual results two weeks ago, it showed its core business continuing to grow at a respectable pace. Yet investors dumped the share, worried about a lack of disclosure about…
Sumeshin Naidoo on Sigfox and the future of IoT in South Africa
It’s been a year since investors, including the business’s own customers, came to the rescue the Sigfox internet-of-things (IoT) network in South Africa. Now its chief commercial officer, Sumenish Naidoo, has told the TechCentral Show (TCS) that Sigfox South Africa is not only on a sustainable growth trajectory, but has…
Joel Bronkowski on Paystack's big expansion plans
Nigerian fintech Paystack, which was acquired by Stripe, the Irish-American firm founded by the Collison brothers in 2020 for US$200-million, has big plans to expand elsewhere in Africa. Joel Bronkowski, Paystack’s country head for South Africa, joins the TechCentral Show (TCS) to talk about these expansion plans as well as…
TCS | Superbalist founders on their new venture, Bash
Luke Jedeikin and Claude Hanan are well known for founding Superbalist, the online fashion store bought in 2014 by Takealot Group. Now the pair has embarked on a new venture, launched in The Foschini Group (TFG) stable, called Bash, and they tell Duncan McLeod on the TechCentral Show (TCS) all…
Takealot Group CEO Mamongae Mahlare on the outlook for e-commerce
What does the future hold for e-commerce in South Africa? Takealot Group CEO Mamongae Mahlare joins the TechCentral Show (TCS) to unpack this and more. In the interview, Mahlare talks about her career background and how she came to Takealot. She also discusses: • The transformative impact of the Covid-19…
Volvo MD Greg Maruszewski: SA is ready for EVs
Volvo Cars, part of Sweden’s Volvo Group, has seen a big growth in interest in electric vehicles from the South African motoring public – and the company hopes the introduction early next year of its most affordable EV yet, the EX30, will accelerate that. That’s according to Volvo Cars South…
Bryan Hattingh on what’s required of leaders in 2023
Bryan Hattingh, CEO of Cycan, is well-known in South Africa’s technology industry for his leadership coaching and for helping companies find top talent. Hattingh joins Duncan McLeod on the TechCentral Show (TCS) to discuss what he believes is required of leadership in a post-Covid world – hint: it’s not more…
Andile Ngcaba on his go-global investment plans
It’s been just over 20 years since Andile Ngcaba quit his government job – he was director-general of communications – and became an investor in the technology sector. Now, in an interview with Duncan McLeod on the TechCentral Show (TCS), Ngcaba looks back at the past two decades, the formation…
TCS | Bayobab CEO Frédéric Schepens on wiring up Africa
Following the recent decision to rebrand MTN GlobalConnect as Bayobab, founder and CEO Frédéric Schepens joins the TechCentral Show (TCS) to chat about the telecommunications infrastructure provider’s expansion plans. Bayobab, which owns stakes in a number of subsea cable systems and other telecoms infrastructure, is the result of “change under…
Serame Taukobong on where to next for Telkom
Telkom is facing difficult times, but CEO Serame Taukobong has insisted the company “does not need a knight in shining armour” to come riding to its rescue. In this TechCentral Show (TCS) interview with Taukobong, the Telkom boss provides his views on the interest received from a consortium that includes…
Altron’s Collin Govender on South Africa’s challenge of leadership
Senior Altron executive Collin Govender is passionate about leadership – and believes South Africa needs much more of it if it is to solve its myriad challenges. Govender – who started his career as a forklift operator in a Durban warehouse and who today heads two important businesses in the…
Bongani Mabaso's plan to fix the State IT Agency
The State IT Agency (Sita), government’s central IT procurement and services agency, has been through the wringer. The entity, created in 1999, has been plagued for much of its existence by oftentimes poor leadership and well as widespread corruption – detailed in a 2017 TechCentral interview former CEO Setumo Mohapi…