Home Blog Page 811

R18 Million awarded to 29 of South Africa’s most inspiring Social Innovators

Partner Content
-
0
R18 Million awarded to 29 of South Africa’s most inspiring Social Innovators

On the 13th of October 2022 Johannesburg The SAB Foundation, in partnership with the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), awarded R18 million in grant funding and business development support to 29 deserving entrepreneurs at its 12th annual Social Innovation and 7th annual Disability Empowerment Awards.

Liz Moynihan, founder of Kotonki and Sibongile Mongadi, from Uku’hamba Prosthetics and Orthotics were the overall winners of the Social Innovation and Disability Empowerment Awards.

The Kotonki innovation was awarded top prize in the Social Innovation category and Uku’hamba Prosthetics and Orthotics won first prize in the Disability Empowerment Awards category. Both innovations received R1.3 million each in grant funding and business development support.

Siyabonga Mgadi

Joint second place in the Disability Empowerment Awards Category went to Louine Griessel from Breede Valley APD Business Units and Chelsea Williamson from iSchool Africa. Both innovations were awarded R750 000 in prize money.

Breede Valley APD Business Units provides a platform for vulnerable persons with disabilities to develop their full vocational potential and iSchool Africa empowers deaf youth with digital skills.

In the Social Innovation Awards Category, iKhaya Lekhaya was awarded second place with grant funding of R800 000 and From Waste to Value walked away with third place and R700 000 in grant funding.

iKhaya Lekhaya is a co-financing model that enables employers to directly assist employees in improving their living conditions by providing fire and flood-retardant shelters.

From Waste to Value collects disposed cooking oil from local food establishments and transforms it into sustainably packaged and affordable soap bars.

“We congratulate all the finalists and winners of the SAB Foundation Awards. We are also proud to see that three projects previously supported by TIA are among the finalists,” says Ms Tshembani Khupane, Acting Head of Strategic Partnerships and Business Development for TIA. “Through this partnership we are committed to expanding innovation-related activities in underserved regions as well as promote social entrepreneurship development in South Africa.”

The theme for this year’s awards was renewal, revival and resilience, honouring the tenacity and sheer will of South African entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs have gone through a period of hardship and struggle following the pandemic, civil unrest and global conflict, but still thrived against all odds.

“Our awards took inspiration from the South African Fire Lily, a tough plant that defies the elements by producing its beautiful salmon to scarlet blooms just nine days after the destructive effects of a fire,” says Bridgit Evans, SAB Foundation Executive Director. “Today we celebrate these amazing social innovators for their endurance and we want to see them flourish into bigger and better enterprises that will stimulate local socio-economic activities beyond their current areas of operation.”

“To date we have invested over R73 million in funding and business development support, to help 143 social innovators,” she continues. “Each innovator focuses on solving a social problem in the sectors such as housing, healthcare, education, social services, disability, energy, water and sanitation, community safety and security, agriculture, recycling, and financial inclusion, and we forward to working with this year’s cohort.”

“This year, we are also extremely grateful to TIA for believing in our work and making their own contribution to this year’s winners,” adds Evans.

This year the awards included a new category, in partnership with the South African Breweries (SAB). The SAB SHARP Awards were established to specifically target innovators, institutions, students, researchers and social enterprises with innovative ideas or prototypes that empower women in at-risk communities.

Izipho Zokuphila Tracking, founded by Simphiwe Ntuli and Siyabonga Mgadi, walked away as the overall winners, taking home the top prize of R500 000 in funding.

“We are so inspired by the innovations we have seen and applaud these brilliant problem solvers,” says Zoleka Lisa, Vice President of Corporate Affairs from SAB. “We support social innovation and it has been a privilege for us to collaborate with the SAB Foundation.”

To learn more about the Social Innovation and Disability Empowerment Awards visit

https://sabfoundation.co.za/social-innovation-awards

About the SAB Foundation

Founded in 2010, the SAB Foundation provides funding for small, medium and micro-sized enterprises in order to contribute to the economic and social empowerment of historically disadvantaged persons through entrepreneurship development. The SAB Foundation’s primary beneficiaries are women, youth, people living with disabilities and people living in rural areas, from low-income backgrounds. More than R534 million to date has been invested in social innovation, disability empowerment and SMMEs.

 

 

Xiaomi to launch first store in South Africa

LnT Desk
-
0
Xiaomi to launch first store in South Africa

The official countdown has begun to the highly-anticipated launch of the inaugural Xiaomi experience store in South Africa. Located at Shop L21 at Sandton City shopping center in Johannesburg, there will be 50% off deals on select items on the opening day.

Making quality technology accessible to everyone’ is not just a slogan for Xiaomi; it is becoming a reality for South African fans as the brand reaches another milestone in the country.

The official launch event of the store at Sandton City shopping centre in Johannesburg, in the heart of Africa’s richest square mile, will officially take place on 29 October 2022, though its doors have already opened for fans to visit.

As this is an experience store, fans will finally have a chance to see, touch, test and engage with Xiaomi’s wide range of smartphones and AIoT products. Afterall, offering Xiaomi fans, who are at the heart of what the brand does, choice and value for money is always front and centre.

What can consumers look forward to at the opening?

Xiaomi will be having 50% off select items with launch day deals and fans can already get 10% off select items during the month of October, while stocks last. In addition, any fan who purchases a smartphone in-store during October will receive a free Mi Smart Band 5, valued at R699 (RRP).

Some of Xiaomi’s products you can look forward to seeing at the store include Redmi Note 11 Series smartphones (Redmi Note 11 and Redmi Note 11 Pro), and the flagship Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi 12 Lite devices. Fans will also be able to view and interact with a multitude of AIoT smart hardware products such as smart watches, speakers, robot vacuum cleaners, home security cameras, Mi TV boxes and so much more.

South Africans have been asking for a physical store and Xiaomi has listened. Xiaomi wants to provide every opportunity to consumers to interact with the brand as well as make their lives easier and more convenient.

Mobile technology meets fashion and design at SAFW

Partner Content
-
0
Mobile technology meets fashion and design at SAFW

18 October 2022, Johannesburg – MeanIt is undeniable that clothing is one of the most powerful forms of non-verbal communication. while fashion is an artful form of self-expression which reflects a particular mood and style at a particular place in time.

OPPO, as one of the world’s leading smart device manufacturers and innovators, believes its mission is to elevate life through technological artistry.

And, as mobile technology increasingly plays a role in making fashion accessible beyond the front row, the leading technology business is amplifying its partnership with SA Fashion Week both on and off the ramp.

Black Coffee

The OPPO Collections, comprising autumn/winter ranges by South African labels Munkus, Ntando XV and Black Coffee, is set to be one of the highlights of this year’s fashion week schedule when it takes place on October 21st at 7pm at Mall of Africa in Gauteng.

The showing tangibly demonstrates how customers can use technology and design to add value to their daily lives, drawing on OPPO’s philosophy of ‘Technology as an Art Form’. And, while the ranges showcased will be intuitive of the current mood in fashion and its aesthetics, mobile technology continues to make it easier for fashionistas to share the designers’ creative viewpoints in thread both seamlessly and immediately.

Ntando XV

Once controlled by professional photographers and videographers who captured models wearing the latest designs from a specially designated area usually at the front of the stage, the advent of social media and advances in camera phone technology has democratised the way in which fashion week imagery is now transmitted.

Acknowledging the role that digital devices have played in enhancing and magnifying fashion beyond the front row, OPPO has hand-picked key South African identities including artists Nadia Nakai, Kyle Deutsch and Musa Keys;  influential stylist Macc Gee and actor and model Wiseman Zitha, to share their take on the collections with their millions of followers in real time.

Like fashion’s power in communicating non-verbally, OPPO envisions technology as an art form, with the brand’s stated mission being to exist to elevate life through technological artistry.

“OPPO prides itself on being a brand which is human-centric, with a focus on innovating for people. Designers are intrinsically innovative creators, and through our partnership with SA Fashion Week we are demonstrating how technology and design can be harnessed to add value to our daily lives,” explains Avashnee Moodley, Head of Marketing at OPPO South Africa.

Meanwhile Lucilla Booyzen, convenor and founder of SA Fashion Week, says it isn’t only the audiences at SAFW who are embracing the power of mobile technology to capture their experiences. She says she has noticed a tangible shift amongst designers themselves in harnessing technology to tell their stories and connect to their customers.

Booyzen said OPPO’s involvement with SA Fashion Week, now into its fourth season, is a natural extension of that movement.

“Our partnership with OPPO is a supernova partnership, seriously building the artistry of technology with that of creative fashion design. At fashion week, we align ourselves with like-minded partners. OPPO and SAFW are aligned in innovation, design, on sustainability and in our commitment to the ethical way of doing business,” said Booyzen.

 

Adding one 30-minute workout to their week could change women’s odds of developing depression, study finds

Staff Writer
-
0
Adding one 30-minute workout to their week could change women’s odds of developing depression, study finds

A new study, published in the International Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, shows that even moderate increases in exercise could help prevent about one-fifth of cases of depression among women.

The research is one of the largest studies to date to examine the effect of exercise on depression in South Africa. Globally, most of the research examining the mental health benefits of physical activity has taken place in high income countries outside of Africa.

“For decades, research on depression has largely focused on treating depression in higher-income countries,” says Vitality’s Head of Wellness Dr Mosima Mabunda, co-author of the paper. “Our study is among the first outside of that context to track a large number of people over time to see how we might prevent depression.”

Mabunda says that while there may be no silver bullet for reducing a person’s risk of depression, the research provides more evidence that physical activity has a vital role to play. She says this is especially important in many countries like South Africa, where treatment remains out of reach for most people living with the condition.

“When we exercise regularly, fascinating things happen in our brains that can help us better deal with stress by, for instance, lowering levels of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol,” Mabunda explains. “Regular physical activity has also been shown to reduce anxiety and improve feelings of self-worth.”

The World Health Organization estimates that depression affects one in 20 adults globally. In low-and middle-income countries more than 75% of people living with depression go untreated.

For at least a decade, studies have shown that exercise can reduce the risk of developing depression. In people who are already living with depression, research has also found that physical activity can reduce the severity of symptoms.

Why we embarked on this study

Discovery Health is South Africa’s largest private medical scheme, with more than 3.5 million members. For more than 25 years, Discovery Health members have had access to Discovery Vitality, a behaviour-change and wellness programme that incentivises members to adopt better health, driving and financial behaviors.

To see what effect different levels of physical activity had on depression risk, scientists from organisations including Harvard University and the University of Cape Town reviewed anonymised data from nearly 50,000 Discovery Health and Discovery Vitality members between 2013 to 2015. People included in the study had not been diagnosed with depression in 2013 and had low levels of physical activity as measured by fitness trackers, gym visits or participation in Discovery-sponsored fitness events like fun runs.

As part of the study, scientists compared how people’s exercise habits changed over time with cases of diagnosed depression among the group. The study found that in women with low levels of exercise, moderate increases in physical activity — such as doing even one additional 30-minute workout or 5,000 more steps in a day, every week — could be enough to reduce cases of diagnosed depression by 19% among this group.

Finding solutions for global issues

“At Discovery Vitality, we’ve spent nearly a quarter of a century refining the science behind how to best support people to lead healthier lives,” CEO of Discovery Vitality Dinesh Govender says. “For many, big changes in diet and exercise can seem overwhelming — even if the payoff in better health is huge.”

Govender continues: “This study should encourage people everywhere, especially women, that achieving a simple goal such as walking an additional 5,000 steps, one day a week – as this research found – could make for a healthier, happier life.”

The research found women were almost twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with depression as men, in line with existing global data. Although researchers internationally have speculated a range of factors that could explain women’s higher risk of diagnosed depression, science still can’t say for sure why this occurs.

The study could not show whether increased exercise prevented cases of diagnosed depression among men. Although roughly half of the nearly 50,000 member records included in the research were from men, men’s lower incidence of reported depression likely means the study would have had to include far more men to accurately study the relationship between increased exercise and depression.

Additionally, the results may not be broadly generalisable to South Africans because the research was conducted among a medically-insured population — which represents less than one in five South Africans.

“As a behaviour-change programme, Vitality applies insights from clinical, behavioral and data science to help people live healthier lives. Studies like this showcase the outcome of our efforts to do that and we’re delighted that our data is shaping the way the world thinks about better health,” Govender says.

He says he hopes the research encourages everyone to get moving, even if it means adding in a few extra thousand steps a week. “This study adds to growing research that says you don’t have to be running marathons to start feeling the benefits of exercise.”

Tourism Grading Council of South Africa facilitates grading training in Seychelles

LnT Desk
-
0
Tourism Grading Council of South Africa facilitates grading training in Seychelles

The Tourism Grading Council of South Africa (TGCSA), is the only recognised and globally credible quality assurance and service excellence body for tourism products in South Africa.  This week TGCSA, a business unit of South African Tourism, are in the Seychelles conducting and facilitating assessor grading training for the Seychelles Tourism Board.

The training started on Monday, 17 and will run until Friday, 21 October in Mahe Island Seychelles, the training aims to refine the skills and techniques of the Seychelles assessors and assist them to supplement their knowledge and experience to carry out grading assessments fairly, objectively, and consistently. The training also seeks to educate the assessors on quality standards in the hospitality industry, to familiarise them with the various quality standards when conducting the assessments.

This five-day covers 13 modules which include local and international Grading Systems, Trends and Designs, Linen and Upholstery, Quality in Tourism, as well as detailed training on the application of the Universal Accessibility module. The training session will encompass the practical application of grading assessments of accommodation establishments by assessors, providing insights into managing the grading process. At the end of day four, assessors will be required to conduct a mock assessment of the hotel’s offering and this will be concluded at the end of the training workshop with a theoretical examination.

“It is a privilege to be requested to train our tourism colleagues in other countries.

Training team Seychelles on the TGCSA star grading system CATHSSETA accredited training program, is a testament to TGCSA’s quality assurance program. “Bronwen Auret, Chief Quality Assurance Officer.

The training will be conducted and facilitated by Nokukhanya Mbonambi and Karabo Moshoete both TGCSA Provincial Quality Assurance Specialists.

TGCSA is mandated to promote quality assurance of South Africa’s tourism product, through the star grading system.  Ensuring that South Africa remains a destination of choice that achieves the highest level of quality assurance and customer service excellence.

In accordance with the ETQA Regulation R1127 of the South African Qualifications Authority Act, number 58 of 1995 (SAQA Act No. 58 of 1995) Culture, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality, and Sport Sector Education and Training Authority (CATHSSETA) the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa is accredited for the “Grade an Establishment” unit standard level 5 with CathSSeta.

Shoprite app wins big at MTN Business App of the Year awards

Partner Content
-
0
Shoprite app wins big at MTN Business App of the Year awards

Shoprite’s mobile application, with the Money Market Account functionality at its core, is the winner of Most Innovative Solution and App of the Year at this year’s MTN Business App of the Year Awards.  

The Shoprite app supports Shoprite’s Money Market Account, a fully-fledged, transactional bank account – the first by a SA retailer – and the lowest-cost bank entry-level account on the market.  

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mtn-business_2_mtnappawards-activity-6986425739461963776-T7cs/

“The development of the Money Market Account has been driven entirely by customer needs and we are going to reinvest the prize money to continue to uplift the lives of our customers,” says Jean Olivier, General Manager for Financial Services at Shoprite. 

“Winning App of the Year and Most Innovative Solution is the result of the collaboration, commitment and dedication from the Financial Services team and Information Technology partners to give customers what they want and need in a dynamic, feature-rich application.” 

Roughly two million customers already use the Shoprite Money Market Account, which allows customers to send money, buy airtime, data, electricity, send grocery vouchers, pay bills and groceries all from their mobile phones. There are no debit orders or deductions, so customers are in full control of their money.

The Shoprite app is not the first to win awards in the supermarket industry; in 2020, the Checkers Sixty60 app won the People’s Choice Award as well as the Best Enterprise Solution at the MTN Business App of the Year Awards.

Huawei nova 10 Pro: The vlogger’s perfect companion

LnT Desk
-
0
Huawei nova 10 Pro: The vlogger’s perfect companion

The Huawei nova 10 Pro is now available in South Africa and has great industry-first features which make it the perfect phone for content creation.

In a world where documenting your life has led to lucrative careers in the million-rand influencing industry, the gadgets one uses can make or break their budding career.

The Huawei nova 10 Pro has positioned itself as the vlogger’s invaluable companion and as the perfect tool to curate the perfect content for your brand.

It has been reported that in South Africa content creators earned over R100-million between 2019 and 2021 on just one social media platform.

A powerful camera system is essential to a content creator and the Huawei nova 10 Pro has dual front cameras with upgraded autofocus capabilities.

There is nothing worse than shooting a video only to find that the camera focused on a plant behind you or only on your friend the entire time. The Huawei nova 10 Pro can switch the focus to different subjects within the camera frame depending on movement. This is enabled by the Showcase Focus function, which is a new feature that gives the user comfort that they will be in focus even in dimly lit surroundings.

The sleek, impressively thin and lightweight (thickness of 7.88mm and weighs at 191g) smartphone has dual front cameras with back cameras which allows for a multi-camera shooting experience.

The dual front camera consists of 8 MP (portrait) + 60 MP (ultrawide). It has a triple-camera on the rear side that consists of 50 MP (wide) + 8 MP (ultrawide) + 2 MP (depth).

The front dual camera has an industry-first Portrait Close-up Camera which supports 2X optical zoom and up to 5X digital zoom.

After visuals, sound is what most content creators cite as a make-or-break for their videos and vlogs. The Huawei nova 10 Pro has impressive functions such as audio tracking, which allow the vlogger’s voice to be heard even if they move around, it also has background sound suppression which tunes out all unnecessary sounds.

Unlike most of the phones in its range, the Huawei nova 10 Pro comes with a charging head (power adaptor), a type-C USB cable and a complimentary protective phone case.

The phone has a great battery life and typically takes about 40 minutes to be fully charged using its 100 watt SuperCharge charging head (power adaptor).

The phone is backed by 8GB of RAM and there’s also 128GB or 256GB of internal storage. This means the phone has enough space for all the content the user will be capturing and creating.

Although this new phone is great for content creation and vlogging, it can be under-utilised if your main concerns are capturing and sharing photos and videos.

The phone has a duality that allows it to be a work phone and a leisure phone. To enable this separation between work and play on one device, the Huawei nova 10 Pro allows for dual nano SIM insert.

The phone also comes standard with “Hey,Celia” which is Huawei’s AI voice assistant developed to provide assistant features on the brand’s smart devices making staying abreast of work easier.

The Huawei nova 10 Pro retails for R15 999 and is now available from the Huawei online store and selected retail stores. For such a price and these features it only makes sense for the aspiring vloggers and content creators to have the gadget as their perfect companion.

FlySafair and GoodLuck Join Forces Ahead of a Huge Summer Season

Staff Writer
-
0
FlySafair and GoodLuck Join Forces Ahead of a Huge Summer Season

Low-cost carrier FlySafair has signed a partnership deal with South African electronic music group GoodLuck in support of the band and the popular Get Lucky Summer concert series taking place this December. This as flight and concert ticket sales soar offering a leading indicator for a strong end to the year for local tourism and entertainment alike.

Image: Low-cost carrier FlySafair has signed a partnership deal with South African electronic music group GoodLuck, welcoming the band as official brand ambassadors

Since March 2020, both the live music and travel industries have experienced untold losses due to the impact of COVID-19 regulations. With the easing of restrictions travel and entertainment have been recovering well and this partnership exemplifies an innovative collaboration between the local industries as FlySafair and GoodLuck work to re-invigorate tourism and the local live music scene.

“It’s awesome to be part of such a dynamic partnership and to see a successful local airline standing in solidarity with local entertainers in this recovery,” says the bands founder and producer Ben Peters. “Ultimately this collaboration will have positive effects beyond just our pairing, as the local economies of the town we perform in will benefit from the visitors we bring.”

Leading indications are that the December Holiday period for 2022 is going to be very busy and offer a much needed boost to the economies of coastal towns in South Africa.

“We’ll be operating 141% of the seats we operated last year which is actually a 61% growth on Summer 2019’s pre-pandemic levels,” says Kirby Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer at FlySafair. “Sales on December departures are looking very strong already, far more so than this time last year,” he adds. FlySafair will operate approximately 700 000 seats in the month of December alone.

“Tickets for the Get Lucky Summer are flying,” confirms Juliet Harding, lead singer of GoodLuck, further indication of a strong summer season ahead.

Image: Get Lucky Summer NYE 2021, Plettenberg Bay

Four of the concerts in the series will be taking place in Plettenberg Bay between 18 December and 8 January. “We’re looking forward to hosting these local artists in Plett, and the town is putting preparations in place for a brilliant summer season,” confirms Councillor David Swart, Executive Mayor of the Bitou Municipality.

In addition to sponsoring GoodLuck, FlySafair is also the official domestic carrier of the Springboks. The airline has been a sponsor of the national side since 2017 and renewed its deal in January 2020 for another four years.

“As a South African airline, we feel it’s important to support our own as they continue to do our country proud, whether it’s on the rugby field or live on stage. We’re also strong believers in the arts and the important role the arts have historically played in supporting and building economies, cultures, and communities,” says Gordon.

About The Get Lucky Summer Concert Series Presented by FlySafair

Founded by multi award-winning South African live electronic band GoodLuck, Get Lucky Summer has become a key fixture in the local entertainment calendar and is celebrating its 8th year hosting some of the best artists from around South Africa.

Dates, venues and lineup:

Edition 1 – Sun 11th Dec ‘22: Constantia Cricket Club, CT ft. GoodLuck, Craig Lucas, Will Linley & Casey Lowry

Edition 2 – Sun 18th Dec ‘22: The Beacon Island Lawns, Plett ft. GoodLuck & Majozi

Edition 3 – Wed 21 Dec ‘22: Stanford, Hermanus ft. GoodLuck,Will Linley, Casey Lowry & Veranda Panda

New Year’s Eve 3-Day Festival

Day 1 – Fri 30th Dec ‘22: Plett Rugby Fields ft. Spoegwolf & Elandre

Day 2 – Sat 31st Dec ‘22: Rugby Fields ft. GoodLuck,Veranda Panda, Kimmy K, Will Linley & Casey Lowry

Day 3 – Sun 1st Jan ‘23: Plett Rugby Fields ft Mango Groove & The Kiffness
Edition 4 – Wed 28 Jan ‘23: The Beacon Island Lawns, Plett ft. Prime Circle & Gerry VDM

Edition 5 – Sun 8 Jan ‘23: The Beacon Island Lawns, Plett ft. GoodLuck & Msaki

Tickets start from R200 and are available at www.getluckysummer.co.za

Get excited, watch the 2019/2020 after-movie here: https://youtu.be/4SKMWigmzA0

Connect with Get Lucky Summer

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/getluckysummer

Twitter: https://twitter.com/getluckysummer

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getluckysummerSA

Website: http://getluckysummer.co.za

About GoodLuck

GoodLuck is a chart-topping and award-winning electronic pop band from Cape Town, South Africa. Their sound is defined by a modern electronic edge, with influences from electronica, jazz, house, drum and base and beyond. The band’s first international release, “Back In The Day” (Armada Music), exploded on Spotify, while their breakout track, “I’ve Been Thinking About You” (Ultra Music) was the most played song across all Top 40 stations in South Africa in June 2016.  One of their recent singles, “Be Yourself” – released on their own Get Lucky Records label –  has gained massive radio support across Europe, including Top 40 success in the Netherlands. The band has amassed 40+ million plays on Spotify and iTunes and 14+ million YouTube views.This June, the band collaborated with Nigeria’s rap star Ice Prince for a summer-evoking new single dubbed ‘‘June’’, which is climbing the charts on national radio stations around the country.

Connect with GoodLuck

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goodlucklive/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Goodlucklive

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodlucklive/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@goodluckofficial

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/goodlucklive

Website: http://goodlucklive.com/

Online EPK/Bio: https://express.adobe.com/page/BKXD59hVp84MG/

Media queries: [email protected]

 

 

 

 

Starting trips before 7am saves time, men are better at braking smoothly, and women stay within speed limits, says new driving trends data

Staff Writer
-
0
Starting trips before 7am saves time, men are better at braking smoothly, and women stay within speed limits, says new driving trends data

New driving trends data released today reveals that people can save between 13% and 14% of their commuting time on their trips if they choose to start driving before 7am or after 8am. The data also highlights that men brake more smoothly and tend to use their cellphones less often than women when driving, while women are better at taking corners and staying within the speed limit.

Discovery Insure’s driving trends, released today, are an analysis of the driving behaviour of over 230,000 personal and commercial Discovery Insure Vitality Drive clients from between January 2019 and March 2022.

“Our data also confirms that people today are driving less frequently, compared to pre-pandemic driving levels,” says Precious Nduli, Head of Marketing and Technical Marketing at Discovery Insure.

It highlights that people currently embark on an average of 60 trips per month, which is 10 fewer trips per month than prior to 2020. This equates to 14% less trips per month since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, although this figure appears to be gradually increasing back to pre-COVID levels.

Friday is the most popular day to drive

People currently drive on 15 days in the month with an average distance of 12km per trip. Fridays are the most popular day to drive, and Sundays are the least popular. Interestingly, Discovery Insure’s Work From Home Index, which was released recently, revealed that Friday was the least popular day to go to work which means that people who are driving on Fridays are likely to be driving to places other than their place of work.

As for total road trips, the data shows that an average South African driver will, over their entire lifetime of driving, travel 13.3 times around the circumference of the Earth. If this driving was continuous, a driver would be traveling non-stop for 1.5 years in total – or spending the equivalent of 13,149 hours on the road.

Vitality Drive is a unique driver behaviour programme that rewards clients for driving well through a range of incentives, including offering clients the most competitive cash back on fuel spend in the market. Vitality Drive uses the latest vehicle telematics technology to collect real-time information about clients’ driving behaviour.

“Our Vitality Drive clients start each day with 25 points. Points are then deducted throughout the day for poor driving behaviours such as harsh acceleration, braking, cornering, cell phone use and speeding,” explains Nduli. “The programme employs the principle of loss aversion to encourage clients to drive well.”

Additional insights gleaned from Discovery Insure’s driving trends show that semigration (i.e., people relocating to a different town within the borders of the same country), specifically from Gauteng to the Western Cape was up 33% from 2020 to 2021.

“We measured semigration by looking at changes to our Discovery Insure clients’ place of residence,” adds Nduli. “One cannot help but wonder if the increased flexibility offered by remote and hybrid working models which developed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, is potentially the main reason for the notable increase in semigration.”

People drive faster in the mornings than in the afternoons

Nduli says that another insight revealed by the data was that people who start a trip between 3am and 5am spend more time on the road as these trips tend to be for longer distances. However, trips shorter than 20km tend to take longer per km driven than those trips where the average distance travelled is over 500km. These shorter trips possibly tend to be on urban roads with lower speed limits, greater traffic congestion and in areas with many traffic lights, leading to slower journeys overall.

Nduli adds that people drive 11% faster between 6am and 10am, compared to trips made between 4pm and 8pm, which may indicate that traffic congestion is worse in the afternoon than in the morning.

Vitality Drive for Business is Discovery Business Insurance’s driver behaviour programme that rewards businesses and their drivers for good driving behaviour. This group of clients also provided interesting insights into changing driving patterns. These clients, some of which include fleet businesses, individually typically drove the length of Africa 3.5 times each year. The study shows that fleet clients take 18% fewer trips than personal lines clients per week, but business clients drive almost five times further in distance than personal lines clients.

Discovery Insure’s Gold and Diamond drivers have fewer accidents

By measuring how clients drive, Discovery Insure is able to help clients to improve their driving, and the more they improve, the more points they earn and the higher their Vitality Drive status, ranging from Blue to Diamond. This leads to more rewards such as higher fuel cash back and discounts at partners, such as Tiger Wheel and Tyre.

Nduli adds that the driving trends data clearly indicates that Gold and Diamond Vitality Drive clients are safer drivers and have fewer accidents. Should an incident occur, these clients’ collisions are also less severe. This is supported by the data released this week, which found that Gold and Diamond Vitality Drive clients lose 10 times less points for speeding than the worst drivers. Further, the data shows that people who claim lose 53% more points for speeding than clients who have not claimed. People aged 30 – 35 were found to speed more than any other age group, including those aged 25 and under who are usually considered to be a high risk.

“It’s important that clients are given tools to understand and improve their driving behaviour because research shows that if all individuals in South Africa were on Gold or Diamond Vitality Drive status, we could achieve a reduction of up to 90% in the number and cost of accidents,” says Nduli.

Explaining the significance of these new driving trends, Nduli says that analysis of driving trends enables Discovery Insure to harness its personal and business insurance offerings to meet the changing needs of its large client base.

“We have seen many changes to the lifestyle and working patterns of our clients over the past few years. However, the importance of road safety remains central to our philosophy. It is encouraging to see that clients who engage with our Vitality Drive programme across our personal and commercial lines, have lower loss ratios, submit fewer claims, are better drivers, and are also benefiting from the savings that we can pass back to clients in the form of cash back,” Nduli concludes.

Strong growth in South Africa extends Talk360 seed funding to $7m

Staff Writer
-
0
Strong growth in South Africa extends Talk360 seed funding to $7m

International calling app Talk360, which enables people around the world to make reliable and affordable calls to any landline or mobile phone worldwide, has secured an additional $3 million in seed round funding, taking its total seed round to $7 million after its first closing in May. The funds will help the company grow its market share in South Africa, drive its growth on the rest of the continent and launch its market first pan-African payment platform in 2023.

The latest round of funding includes new South African investors like Allan Gray E2 Ventures (AGEV), Kalon Venture Partners, E4E Africa, Endeavor, existing lead investor HAVAÍC and angel investors in the form of the co-founders of TymeBank, Tjaart van der Walt and Coenraad Jonker.

In the past year, Talk360 has seen 167% growth in customers and 130% revenue growth, and has nearly doubled the number of calling minutes to and from South Africa, on the back of what it calls a ‘significantly improved’ distribution network.

Founded in 2016 by Dutch entrepreneurs Hans Osnabrugge and Jorne Schamp and South African venture builder Dean Hiine, the company connected 2.3 million people worldwide so far this year. Hiine says it has doubled its headcount this year as it looks to aggressively grow the business.

“Our mission is to bridge distance and connect lives by offering reliable, affordable, and easy-to-use digital services, delivered in a localised manner to all communities, particularly emerging countries, so they can connect to the world,” said Hiine. “But we’re not just solving socio-economic issues: we’re also offering micro-entrepreneurship and income generating opportunities to our growing network of agents across the country.”

Talk360’s agent model in South Africa is key to its success, with agents earning cash for every customer referred. The company has seen a 33% growth in agents, bringing in over 800% more customers over the past year, as it looks to build micro-entrepreneurship, bring income opportunities & jobs to under serviced communities and grow its footprint.

Clive Butkow, the CEO of Kalon, said the Talk360 team had ‘a wealth of experience’ in the communications space in South Africa and across the continent. “We’re excited to add this investment to the Kalon portfolio, and believe it has the potential to rapidly scale across Africa,” he said.

Ian Lessem, managing partner at HAVAÍC, said the fact the initial seed round target was oversubscribed is a testament to Talk360’s remarkable traction to date and growth potential.

“We invested more into Talk360 based on its strong progress in the South African market to date, as well as its potential in the rest of Africa. Since our first investment, the company has shown spectacular growth, and a genuine ability to crack the challenge of distribution in Africa. We’ve seen the company convert users to paying customers by offering them relevant services, and making this accessible in an easy, affordable, reliable and trustworthy way,” said Lessem.

Tjaart van der Walt said the Tyme founders were investing because Talk360 enables potentially millions of people in remote areas to make and receive calls more affordably. “We see this need for many years to come. We believe in the Talk360 team: they are passionate and purposeful, and can execute,” he said.

Hiine expects Talk360’s growth to be further boosted when it launches its pan-African payment platform in 2023. The new platform will allow users across the continent to buy products and services using any currency and more than 160 payment methods. It will also be opened to other merchants. This year alone, Talk360 has added six new currencies, added African-specific payment methods such as OTT vouchers, and grown its partnerships with local solutions such as Kazang and Blu voucher.

1...810811812...836Page 811 of 836

About Us

Lifestyle and Tech is at the forefront of current news and trends covering business, technology, personal finance, travel, fashion and smart living. We aim to deliver quality content that inspires your life and influences the way you decide to live it

Read More

CONTACT US

At Lifestyle and Tech, we believe in the trust of our audience. Hence, we cordially welcome suggestions to make this platform user-friendly.
You can kindly contact us for the following:

  • If you are keen to write for us
  • If you have any questions
  • If you have press releases

[email protected]
WhatsApp or Call +27 71 260 0299

FOLLOW US

© Lifestyle and Tech | WordPress website design and development by The Ethical Agency, a leading Digital Marketing Agency for sustainable brands | Website powered by green renewable energy website hosting