TCS | Dominic Cull on fixing South Africa’s ICT policy bottlenecks
Returning to the TechCentral Show is ICT regulatory expert Dominic Cull, founder of Ellipsis and regulatory advisor to the Internet Service Providers’ Association. Cull recently attended communications minister Solly Malatsi’s policy colloquium in Pretoria – the first under a non-ANC communications minister.
Cull says there is a discernibly different tone from Malatsi compared to his predecessors: more openness, more willingness to engage stakeholders and a stronger focus on evidence-based policymaking. However, while the intent is encouraging, South Africa’s ICT policy environment remains inconsistent, slow and fragmented.
In the podcast, Cull discusses:
• Malatsi’s policy colloquium and what came out of it
• The state of ICT policy and regulation in South Africa
• The biggest policy bottlenecks holding back growth in the ICT sector
• Why government doesn’t fully grasp the economic impact of digital infrastructure
• The latest on the next spectrum auction
• The EU’s decision to hand much of the 6GHz band to mobile operators – and why South Africa shouldn’t blindly copy it
• What’s needed to fix the Rica legislation
• Why Starlink isn’t coming to South Africa anytime soon
Cull also shares the top priority areas he’d focus on in 2026 if he was minister of communications.
It’s a great discussion – don’t miss it! TechCentral
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Meet the CIO | How BDO’s Khaya Mbanga is preparing the firm for the AI future
Welcome to season 2 of Meet the CIO, TechCentral’s podcast series that dives into the minds of South Africa’s top technology leaders. Meet the CIO is brought to you by NTT DATA – where global experience meets local impact.
After a highly successful first season featuring CIOs from across the corporate landscape, we’re kicking off season 2 with a conversation with Khaya Mbanga, chief information and digital officer at BDO South Africa, where he also heads the firm’s growing BDO Digital division.
BDO is one of the world’s largest professional services firms, specialising in audit, tax and advisory. Headquartered in Belgium, its name comes from the three founding firms – Binder, Dijker and Otte – that merged to form the organisation.
In this wide-ranging episode, Mbanga reflects on his career journey through consulting, FMCG and mining; how he first got into technology; and the evolution of the CIO role into one that now straddles digital strategy, cybersecurity, AI and organisational change.
He also unpacks his passion for artificial intelligence, including his involvement in the IITPSA Special Interest Group on AI and Robotics, and offers his perspective on how AI will reshape auditing, tax and broader business functions in South Africa. From managing hallucinations in large language models to rethinking talent pipelines, Mbanga shares candid insights into both the opportunities and risks ahead.
Topics covered include:
• What it means to be the CIDO of BDO South Africa
• Career background across consulting, FMCG and mining
• His first computer and how he got into technology
• Robotic process automation in the mining sector
• How AI will transform auditing and tax
• Dealing with the risk of AI hallucinations in data-sensitive environments
• The broader impact of AI on South African business
• Technology talent shortages and what skills CIOs need today
• His favourite productivity hacks and tools
Don’t miss this great opener to the new season of Meet the CIO. If you missed any of the interviews from season 1, you can find them all on TechCentral. TechCentral
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TCS | BMW CEO Peter van Binsbergen on the future of South Africa’s automotive industry
South Africa’s automotive industry is in a state of flux. In this episode of the TechCentral Show, BMW Group South Africa CEO Peter van Binsbergen unpacks the challenges – and opportunities – facing a sector under pressure.
He tells TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod about the future of BMW’s Rosslyn manufacturing plant in Pretoria, which was established more than half a century ago, and the urgent need for new government policy to ensure the automotive industrial base in South Africa is future-fit and ready for the shift to electric mobility.
Van Binsbergen also discusses the rise of imported vehicles in the sales mix in South Africa – including the rapid expansion of Chinese brands. China is a market he knows well, having spent three years there with BMW.
In the interview, TechCentral Show viewers will also hear about:
• The state of the local automotive manufacturing industry;
• What South Africa needs to implement in policy reform to ensure the automotive industrial base in South Africa – and why this is urgent;
• How the country must adapt to the global shift to electric mobility;
• The role of BMW’s IT Hub in South Africa;
• BMW’s global EV strategy, and what that means for South African EV buyers; and
• BMW’s Neue Klasse vehicles, which run the company’s next-generation EV platform, and why they are significant to its future.
Don’t miss a fascinating discussion! TechCentral
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TCS | Why Altron is building an AI factory
Altron earlier this month announced that it has deployed an "AI factory" in one of Teraco’s new Johannesburg data centres. Powered by Nvidia AI infrastructure and software, the factory is has already gone live with half a dozen customers.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Altron Group chief technology officer Bongani Andy Mabaso explains the rationale for the investment, what building the factory entailed and what the anchor tenants are using the platform to do.
Mabaso tells TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod:
• What an AI factory is exactly and why Altron has decided to build one;
• What’s involved in deploying AI infrastructure, especially from a power and cooling perspective – and why Altron decided to locate its AI factory at Teraco;
• What companies like Lelapa AI, MathU and Dataviue are using the Altron AI Factory to do;
• Why Altron partnered with Asus and HPE on the project;
• How the infrastructure can be used; and
• The advantages of hosting an AI factory in South Africa, as opposed to an offshore data centre – it’s not only about better network latency.
Don’t miss the conversation! TechCentral
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TCS+ | Videsha Proothveerajh on Vodacom Business’s new approach to enterprise technology
Vodacom Business recently appointed an “extraordinary business advisory board”, a strategic initiative designed to strengthen its enterprise expertise and support organisations on their digital transformation journeys.
To unpack the decision to appoint an advisory board, TechCentral is joined in this episode of TCS+ by Videsha Proothveerajh, director of Vodacom Business, who explains that it’s all part of Vodacom’s shift from being a traditional telecommunications provider to a “techco”, or technology company.
In this episodes Proothveerajh chats about:
• The advisory board, who it is comprised of and the purpose it is meant to serve in the business services landscape in South Africa;
• The fact that the pace of technology change has accelerated coming out of Covid and how this influenced Vodacom Business’s approach to digital transformation;
• How the new advisory board influences Vodacom’s approach to guiding enterprise clients on digital transformation;
• The role the latest telecoms technologies, including 5G and the internet of things, are playing in the business-to-business environment in which Vodacom Business operates;
• How Vodacom Business tailors its digital transformation solutions to meet the needs of different industries or enterprise segments, or indeed of customers that might not be as advanced as others in their application of technology;
• The most common obstacles South African enterprises face when it comes to technology adoption and digital transformation; and
• The emerging trends and technologies that will have the biggest impact on the business market in the next few years.
Don’t miss an informative discussion! TechCentral
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