This week Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan highlighted, during the Budget Speech, that partnership between government and businesses is a central priority of the National Development Plan (NDP) and key to rapid development for economic growth.
MTN Business welcomes the budget speech and the recent call by the president for the public and private sectors to work together by mobilising the resources and capacity for quality delivery of services.
Read more: ZA: MTN: Now is time for greater public-private sector collaboration
In the past, the concept of smart cities may have been a lofty consideration for a Sunday afternoon, but smart cities are no longer a preference—they are quickly becoming a critical necessity. This is due to the confluence of increasing urbanisation, greater pressure being placed on the successful management of a city due to a rising population, and climate change. The latter in particular means that a city needs to have the wherewithal to manage a sudden natural crisis, such as flooding, and be able to dispatch emergency and medical units without delay to save lives.
Compounding matters is the fact that, according to Gartner, the digitization of IT is further forcing cities to adapt, and, like most businesses, have a digital strategy in place. Smart cities are far from a flash in the pan—according to Transparency Market Research, the global smart cities market is growing 14% at present and is expected to reach a value of $1 265.85 billion by 2019.
Read more: South Africa’s quest for smart cities: Today’s journey into tomorrow’s reality
SAP Africa has announced the successful graduation of all 75 South African students from its SAP Skills for Africa job creation initiative. The South African chapter of the SAP Skills for Africa initiative was announced four months ago and forms an integral part of SAP Africa’s commitment to train ICT consultants across the continent.
The successful graduation today of all 75 South African students follows the first group of graduates from Kenya who completed the SAP Skills for Africa training certification in 2013 and 2014, as well as in Morocco in 2015.
Read more: SA students graduate from SAP Skills for Africa programme
eGovernment today is changing the quality of service delivery to people around the world But is South Africa on track?
In its forthcoming CA IT Management Symposium* scheduled to take place on the 25th February at Vodaworld in Johannesburg, CA Southern Africa will explore the challenges faced by the public sector and unveil the solutions necessary for successful eGovernment.
The Treasury, along with the government in Gauteng, will make up a R390 million annual revenue shortfall created by changes made to the e-toll system in 2015.
According to BusinessDay, tax payers will fund the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) for the next 22 years, after Cyril Ramaphosa announced a new funding structure to a toll system which has been widely rejected by the public.
A new e-toll dispensation announced in May last year, resulted in fees being cut by 50%, a cap on fees and discounts on outstanding fees.
Read more: ZA: Government to cover e-toll shortfall for 22 years: report