Budget does little for under-pressure SMEs
Kathy Gibson reports – The budget tabled by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on Wednesday offers very little benefit for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Despite the fact that SMEs provide about 60% of the private sector jobs in South Africa, tax increases in the...
Phishing campaign targets Booking.com users
Starting in December 2024, leading up to some of the busiest travel days, Microsoft Threat Intelligence identified a phishing campaign that impersonates online travel agency Booking.com and targets organisations in the hospitality industry. The campaign uses a social...
Hire for promise not proficiency to close skills gaps
Organisations lose out on performance gains when they require employees to demonstrate proficiency in all skill requirements before moving them into critical roles, according to a survey by Gartner. In fact, employees hired based on promise are 1,9-times more likely...
YouTube creators blackmailed to spread crypto malware
Cybercriminals are targeting popular YouTube creators with fake copyright claims, forcing them to distribute cryptocurrency mining malware disguised as Internet restriction bypass tools to thousands of viewers. Kaspersky Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT)...
How VAT will influence business considerations ahead of May 2025
The 2025 Budget tabled by Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana in Parliament on Wednesday, 12 March 2025, saw the 2% VAT increase initially proposed in February 2025 replaced by two consecutive 0,5% increases, bringing the VAT rate to 16% in the 2026/27 financial year....
VAT increase reflects tough fiscal choices
The revised approach to VAT increases announced in the delayed Budget speech represents a concession by Treasury while still striving to meet the revenue requirements necessary to offset government spending, sustain public services, and maintain fiscal stability. By...
Budget scales up private sector-driven infrastructure funding
In his 2025 Budget Speech, South Africa’s Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana, identified infrastructure as a key pillar for the country’s growth strategy. He announced that over R1-trillion will be allocated to infrastructure spending over the next three years,...
Google, YouTube account for 25% of the world’s web traffic
Last year, internet users worldwide spent an average of six hours and 38 minutes per day browsing the web, nearly a third of their waking hours. Smartphones accounted for a massive 95% of total web traffic, while just two websites, YouTube and Google, claimed...
SA needs 2,2m homes to meet demand
South Africa has a housing supply backlog of at least 2,2-million units, with a significant shortage in the affordable housing or “gap market”, according to a recent study by the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance (CAHF). The gap housing market is generally...
New earnings threshold expands pool of protected employees
With effect from 1 April 2025, the earnings threshold will increase to R261 748.45, entitling employees falling below the new threshold to stricter protections under labour legislation. By Kate Collier, partner, Brett Abraham, partner, and Jamie Jacobs, associate at...
Strategic partnerships play a role in municipal cybersecurity
Strategic partnerships are essential for enhancing cybersecurity in South African municipalities. By Kumar Vaibhav, lead senior solution architect: cybersecurity at In2IT As cyber threats evolve and become more sophisticated, local governments face significant...
How to overcome the challenges of AI agents
Agentic technology is a multi-trillion-dollar industry opportunity, writes Linda Saunders, country leader and senior director solutions engineering Africa at Salesforce. Generative AI has transformed how people interact with technology through prompts, and the next...