Author: Toby Shapshak

South African startup Bank Zero says it’s still going to charge you nothing to bank with it. “We see our promise of Zero bank fees as central to our brand’s unique value proposition, as shown by our four-year track record,” says chair Michael Jordaan. “Some believed this was a gimmick, but in fact, it’s fundamental to who we are. There’s one pricing structure for all our customers, and those fees that are Zero will stay Zero.” Jordaan says Bank Zero offers free core banking, with only extras being charged. Another key innovation, he adds, is the same pricing structure for…

Every year I have a little conversation with myself about whether to pay the SABC’s absurd annual licence fees for owning a television. It’s not a lot of money I tell myself, and I am legally (and therefore ethically) required to pay it. This is despite me not being a consumer of the SABC in any way. Like many South Africans, I haven’t been a SABC TV watcher for decades. Like many South Africans (who can afford it) my primary news and entertainment source has been DStv. Since Netflix and Showmax arrived and streaming services became the de facto form…

After posting a video on X/Twitter supposedly showing armed Hamas fighters going to the homes of Israelis, Ian Miles Cheong wrote: “Imagine if this was happening in your neighbourhood, to your family”. Except the video clearly showed Israeli police, according to a community note on the post. But the video posted by Cheong, a right-wing commentator, was viewed, liked and shared on Twitter (the social network formerly known to have decent content moderation) over 50 million times and it’s still up (I won’t link to any war-related disinformation posts). Another post – from an anonymous premium account – claimed that…

Africa can get as much as a 50% boost in its economy if it can capture only 10% of the global Artificial Intelligence (AI), says Lilian Barnard, the president of Microsoft Africa. “We are excited and optimistic, because it brings hope to Africa. In health, education, sustainability and more it will help to solve challenges,” she told Microsoft South Africa’s ‘A New Era with AI’ event in Sandton this week. “We believe this technology can give us an upward trajectory when it comes to the African economy. In fact, analysts predict we can increase the African economy by 50% if…

Facebook’s decades-long disregard for its users’ mental health is coming back to bite it in the form of a major lawsuit by several states in the US. The attorneys general of 42 States have sued Instagram owner Meta – or Facebook as we all still call it – for the callous and cynical way they have profited from the world’s youth while damaging their mental health. “Meta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens,” according to the 233-page lawsuit. “Its motive is profit.” And that is exactly why Facebook did it. Money,…

Only Google would have the chutzpah to call an invasive new way to track people online “Privacy Sandbox”. This feature, found in its Chrome browser is supposed to be a move away from the intrusive tracking of what has become of the once-useful cookies. This little piece of software was a clever idea when it first emerged in Netscape in 1994. It was a way for a website to store your login details and other pertinent information and these first-party cookies were private. But as search and advertising emerged as the new default business model of the internet, this software…

Geeks don’t watch sport, they say. Nor do we love rugby. Yeah right. After Saturday night’s historic win in the World Cup final in Paris, we’re all Springbok fans. And the internet is filled with patriotic and funny memes celebrating the 12-11 victory – as well as endless video clips of the remarkable moments that we’ve seen in this event where the Springboks held on to win by a single point in their last three games. Inspirational captain Siya Kolisi has united his team and our country in a way that only Francois Pienaar and Nelson Mandela did after the…

South Africans will have to wait a little longer for the holy grail of e-commerce to arrive. Amazon’s much-rumoured local launch was finally confirmed – but its launch has been delayed until next year. “We look forward to launching amazon.co.za in South Africa, providing local sellers, brand owners and entrepreneurs — small and large — the opportunity to grow their business with Amazon, and delivering great value and a convenient shopping experience for customers across South Africa,” says Amazon GM for sub-Saharan Africa Robert Koen. “The launch of amazon.co.za in 2024 will provide independent sellers throughout the country an opportunity to rapidly launch, grow…

When Springbok flyhalf Handre Pollard was working out if he could kick the 55-metre penalty that would ultimately win the quarter-finals against host France, on-field captain Bongi Mbonambi screamed into his ear: “This is for South Africa”. And it was. Pollard slotted that crucial late penalty away, as he did the following week against England, where a lacklustre and emotionally exhausted Springboks stumbled into the final. But we’re in the final and, once again, sports has shown us the way to unite our fractured country – in precisely the way our (ageing) political leaders cannot. Bringing braai-loving South Africans together…

Internet sleuths have revealed that Tom Curry isn’t a “white c**t”, he just can’t understand Afrikaans. Last Saturday night, in the heat of a frantic World Cup semi-final, on-field South African captain Bongi Mbonambi wasn’t taking time out to hurl insults at the English flanker. He was seemingly warning his teammates that England was going “wit kant” (white side) – a warning that the English Roses had changed their attacking direction. We don’t know what “wit kant” referred to, but it clearly wasn’t Curry – who does seem a bit of a narcissist thinking it was all about him. If…