FirstRand became the first banking group to declare a dividend after the SA Reserve Bank’s Prudential Authority lifted its effective ban on dividends last month. The group – which owns First National Bank (FNB), RMB and Wesbank – reported a 20% fall in its half-year headline profit (to R11.1 billion). “Since June 2020, earnings have recovered faster than expected...
Month: <span>March 2021</span>
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WhatsApp’s Desktop App has Now Added Video and Voice calls
According to TheVerge, WhatsApp’s desktop app for Mac and PC is getting voice and video calling today, the company announced, offering end-to-end encrypted calls to other WhatsApp users on both computers and mobile devices. Voice and video calling isn’t a new idea for WhatsApp: the mobile apps for Android and iOS already offer the feature,...
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Square Buy Jay-Z’s Music Streaming Service for $297 mn and Appoint him to Board
Jay-Z acquired Tidal for $56 million in 2015 and announced plans to turn it into the first artist-owned streaming service. Square Inc. has agreed to buy a majority stake in Tidal, the streaming music service led by rapper Jay-Z, as part of an effort to expand the company’s suite of financial tools to musicians and...
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Buckingham Palace ‘perpetuating falsehoods’ says Meghan
Prince Harry’s wife Meghan has accused Buckingham Palace of “perpetuating falsehoods” about her and her spouse, saying the royal couple would not be silent in telling their story. Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, made the comments to American talk show host Oprah Winfrey in an interview about why they quit their royal roles that is...
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Facebook’s Response to SA’s Information Regulator (IR) on WhatsApp’s New Privacy Policy
South Africa’s Information Regulator (IR) has written to Facebook South Africa “and provided an analysis of some of the concerns that it has” around WhatsApp’s new privacy policy, it said in a statement on Wednesday night, Business Insider SA reported. Facebook responded to the IR’s statement: “We are reviewing a letter from the Information Regulator...
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Broadcast Journalist Karima Brown Died after Short Battle with Covid-19
South African veteran journalist and political analyst Karima Brown has passed on this morning in Johannesburg. According to the media reports the talk show host died from COVID-19 related complications on Thursday morning. Brown was admitted to hospital in February and was receiving treatment for the virus. “We are enormously proud of the fierce determination...
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Apple Alumni Join Self-driving Startup Aeva
Self-driving sensor startup Aeva Inc, founded by two Apple Inc alumni, has hired another former Apple executive to oversee manufacturing and supply chain operations ahead of an expected deal to become a public company later this month. Aeva, founded by former Apple engineers Soroush Salehian and Mina Rezk, makes a lidar sensor that helps cars...
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It is Unfair for Joburg Residents to be Burdened with Paying – tolls, says Mamabolo
Gauteng government has made submissions to the national government to reaffirm its rejection of the implementation of the e-tolls in the hope of halting its rollout in the province, The Citizen reported. According to the MEC of public transport and roads infrastructure Jacob Mamabolo, provincial government has been working with national government to ensure the implementation...
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Jack Dorsey’s Company Square Launches its Own Bank
Twitter and Square Co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey has launched his own bank, Square Financial Services. The bank begins its banking operations this week. According to the company’s statement, the operations comes after completing the charter approval process with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions. Square Financial Services...
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Communications Minister to Give New Post Office CEO all the Support to Succeed
Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams on Monday said she would give newly appointed Post Office CEO Nomkhita Mona her full support to turn around the state-owned entity. Last week, Mona was appointed to the position for a five-year term after it was left vacant since 2019. Mona has experience in both the private...