South African Business 2024
Welcome to the 12th edition of the South African Business journal. First published in 2011, the publication has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to South Africa, supported by an e-book edition at www.southafricanbusiness.co.za. A special feature in this journal focusses on the relationship between tertiary education, training and the jobs market. The youth unemployment rate is referenced in a discussion of the various measures that are being taken in the public and private sectors to help prepare young people for work, or to encourage them to start businesses. The role of the country’s Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) is highlighted. Regular pages cover all the main economic sectors of the South African economy. This includes tracking the rapidly evolving renewable energy landscape and reporting on the progress of exploration and discoveries of oil and gas off the coast and on land. Landmarks such as BMW’s 50-year celebration of making cars in South Africa are noted and a snapshot of each of the country’s provinces is provided. South African Business is complemented by nine regional publications covering the business and investment environment in each of South Africa’s provinces. The e-book editions can be viewed online at www.globalafricanetwork.com and www.southafricanbusiness.co.za. These unique titles are supported by monthly business e-newsletters. The Journal of African Business joined the Global African Network stable of publications as an annual in 2020 and is now published quarterly.
Welcome to the 12th edition of the South African Business journal. First published in 2011, the publication has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to South Africa, supported by an e-book edition at www.southafricanbusiness.co.za.
A special feature in this journal focusses on the relationship between tertiary education, training and the jobs market. The youth unemployment rate is referenced in a discussion of the various measures that are being taken in the public and private sectors to help prepare young people for work, or to encourage them to start businesses. The role of the country’s Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) is highlighted.
Regular pages cover all the main economic sectors of the South African economy. This includes tracking the rapidly evolving renewable energy landscape and reporting on the progress of exploration and discoveries of oil and gas off the coast and on land. Landmarks such as BMW’s 50-year celebration of making cars in South Africa are noted and a snapshot of each of the country’s provinces is provided.
South African Business is complemented by nine regional publications covering the business and investment environment in each of South Africa’s provinces. The e-book editions can be viewed online at www.globalafricanetwork.com and www.southafricanbusiness.co.za. These unique titles are supported by monthly business e-newsletters. The Journal of African Business joined the Global African Network stable of publications as an annual in 2020 and is now published quarterly.
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OVERVIEW<br />
Telecommunications<br />
The Competition Commission has blocked a fibre merger.<br />
In 2023 the Competition Commission blocked a proposed<br />
deal in which Vodacom would buy a stake in Maziv, a holding<br />
company with two fibre units.<br />
The two companies behind the proposed merger, which had<br />
previously won approval from the country’s telecommunications<br />
regulator, intend taking the matter to the Competition Tribunal on<br />
appeal. The Commission argues that 5G fixed wireless access (FWA)<br />
and fibre compete in the same market and that the link-up would<br />
reduce that competition to the detriment of the consumer.<br />
One of the fibre units within Maziv, Vumatel, announced in March<br />
2023 that it had reached the milestone of having connected twomillion<br />
<strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> homes to the Internet while Dark Fibre Africa,<br />
which is a provider of open-access connectivity infrastructure, is also<br />
the national leader in its field. Maziv is part of Community Investment<br />
Ventures Holdings (CIVH), which is the telecom infrastructure division<br />
of the Remgro Group.<br />
Vodacom and MTN are the two biggest providers of mobile<br />
phone services in <strong>South</strong> Africa, with more than 70% of the market<br />
between them. Telkom and Cell C are the other two major operators.<br />
The SA Connect project, intended to connect 5.8-million sites<br />
across <strong>South</strong> Africa to high-speed Internet by 2026, received an<br />
additional R3-billion in 2023 from National Treasury. The Department<br />
of Communications and Digital Technologies, the implementing entity,<br />
wants to see remote rural areas having better access to technology.<br />
As of 2021, National Treasury has appointed four companies<br />
as service providers to government, through its new mobile<br />
communication services contract, known as RT15-2021. The contract<br />
covers all entities of the state and is expected to allow for significant<br />
cost saving through better controls.<br />
The contract, which was previously held by Vodacom, is now<br />
shared between Cell C, MTN, Telkom and Vodacom. The transversal<br />
contract is for uncapped data for different categories of employees<br />
and includes mobile devices for packages from all service providers.<br />
Nearly 450 organs of state participated in the previous contract.<br />
ONLINE RESOURCES<br />
Department of Communications and Digital Technologies:<br />
www.dcdt.gov.za<br />
Independent Communications Authority of <strong>South</strong> Africa:<br />
www.icasa.org.za<br />
State Information Technology Agency: www.sita.co.za<br />
Wireless Access Providers Association: wapa.org.za<br />
SECTOR INSIGHT<br />
The national broadband<br />
project has received<br />
additional funding.<br />
This included 38 national<br />
departments, 99 provincial<br />
departments, 106 local<br />
government departments and<br />
207 other state institutions.<br />
The National Department<br />
of Communications is<br />
responsible for the Independent<br />
Communications Authority<br />
of <strong>South</strong> Africa (ICASA), the<br />
regulator of communications,<br />
broadcasting and postal services,<br />
the <strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> Broadcasting<br />
Corporation (SABC) and three<br />
other agencies.<br />
The Wireless Access<br />
Providers Association (WAPA)<br />
has a large and growing<br />
membership. WAPA is a nonprofit<br />
which aims to be a liaison<br />
between wireless Internet<br />
service providers (WISPs), ICASA,<br />
network operators, service<br />
providers and consumers. It<br />
offers information to members<br />
on regulations and technical<br />
training and lobbies on behalf<br />
of the sector. ■<br />
SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2022<br />
50<br />
PHOTO: MTN
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