Author: Trent Meikle

You might have thought it couldn’t get much worse for South Africa. You were wrong. Load shedding, rising petrol prices, and ‘water shedding’ are just some of the headlines we see every day. Well, we have yet another to throw at you. Sorry. The Democratic Alliance (DA) is concerned about South Africa’s fuel stocks, worried that a national shortage is on the brink. This comes after a strike at Transnet, now over, caused disruptions at ports and transport networks. This leaves South Africa with a problem, with far lower refined fuel stocks than is necessary. Struck down A three-year wage…

The end is nigh. No, not ‘The End’ the end, but rather the end of South Africa’s brief spell of descending petrol prices. All that is gone, at least according to The Central Energy Fund’s latest round of data. Unless some sort of miracle takes place before 2 November, it looks like both petrol and diesel drivers are set for disappointment. As always, we can’t take these numbers ‘entirely’ seriously. These predictions are based on The Central Energy Fund’s estimate, which is based on factors such as the international fuel prices and the Rand/Dollar exchange that South Africa uses to…

Runnings Rings  Samsung could be giving ‘Rings of Power’ a new meaning, potentially entering the realm of smart trackers that fit around your finger. A patent was discovered on South Korean forum Naver. Sure, patents need to be taken with a pinch of salt. It’s not necessarily a sign of what’s to come. But in this case, it tells us that Samsung is at least considering the possibility of a smart, lightweight ring tracker. According to Notebookcheck, Samsung is looking for ways to fit an optical heart rate monitor and ECG tracking into the ring. There isn’t much else to see…

MultiChoice has done the impossible. this week, it launched a new channel with – get this – no ads. Yes, we couldn’t believe it either. The channel, known as the Moonbugs Kids Channel is aimed at kids still in preschool. Moonbug Entertainment, the company behind the channel, is known for its various YouTube channels that offer children’s entertainment content in a multitude of languages. Unfortunately, the channel on DStv is locked to English. You’ve probably heard of Moonbug Entertainment before. Perhaps not by name, but certainly by one of the company’s most popular shows – CoComelon. The channel became an…

Well well well, just as we expected, yesterday’s load-shedding announcement was all for nought. Eskom has announced stage 3 power cuts “until further notice.” Great, just what we needed. Power to the people Overnight saw breakdowns at the Kusile and Komati power stations, leading to an extension of stage 3 power cuts. Those breakdowns led to a delay in returning generating units at Duvha, Grootvlei, Kendal and two units at Tutuka power stations to the country’s power grid. #PowerAlert2 Stage 3 loadshedding will continue to be implemented until further notice. pic.twitter.com/xmeokAm7cL — Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) October 20, 2022…

The Department of Transport has announced plans for a ‘railway renaissance’ in South Africa. The Department showed its plans during a virtual standing committee on transport on Wednesday. The plan proposed a complete shift in the railway industry for both passenger and freight functionality. Plans were outlined in the Department’s National Rail Policy Draft White Paper, which was briefed directly to parliament. The brief, which falls under the National Rail Act, is looking to bring a “cheaper, more competitive and effective” railway system in by 2050. We have to move faster An essential part of the plan is to not…

South Africa is set to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference, taking place in Egypt next month. Once there, South Africa will present its plans for cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions. This comes from South Africa’s Environment Minister Barbara Creecy. South Africa is 13th on the list of the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters. This puts the country in an awkward position. One of the proposed plans involves the closure of at least ten Eskom Power Stations. Another is the spending of plenty of donated money to focus on expanding South Africa’s EV market. Goodbye power stations, you…

Talks of a buyout deal between MTN and Telkom have soured beyond the point of return. The deal was set to make MTN South Africa’s largest network operator, above Vodacom and Cell C. Talks apparently stopped due to MTN’s concerns about the deal not being exclusive between the two parties. A potential Rain buyout is back on the table In the aftermath of the deal’s termination, both parties have released statements regarding the matter. “Discussions were at an early stage and had not progressed to due diligence, nor had a binding offer been received by the Telkom board of directors,”…

UPDATE: In response to media reports yesterday claiming South Africa’s only driving license card printer had suffered another breakdown, the Road Traffic Management Corporation has issued a statement contradicting those reports. Transport minister Fikile Mbalula stated the machine is “operating at full steam.” This comes after Xolisa Jakula, Eastern Cape’s acting chief director for transport regulations stated the opposite while speaking to MyBroadband. According to Mbalula, the machine is still managing to print 300,000 licenses per month, with no backlog in sight. “As will be expected, glitches might be experienced at some point, but the team is keeping a close…

Yet another challenger attempting to dethrone Nintendo’s Switch and the Steam Deck has arrived. This time around, it’s Razer trying to cash in on the action, with the announcement of the Razer Edge; an Android gaming handheld system. Thankfully, it looks far better than the leaked version we saw in 2021. The Edge is the first of these consoles to introduce 5G in the portable gaming space. This means South Africans (probably) won’t be able to lay their hands on it. The device makes use of Verizon’s network capacity to supply 5G, which we don’t have. Never fear, however. A…