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While Facebook access has been the preserve of those with Internet access or a data plan, France Telecom Orange plans to bring a simple version of the social network to mobile phone users across Africa.

Facebook via USSD will offer users of even the most basic phones access to key elements of the social network, such as status updates and friend requests.
While Facebook access has been the preserve of those with Internet access or a data plan, France Telecom Orange plans to bring a simple version of the social network to mobile phone users across Africa.

The MTN SA foundation has opened media centres with Internet connectivity in 10 schools in KwaZulu-Natal's Msinga district.

MTN announced it would invest R4 million in rural KwaZulu-Natal schools to raise the basic education bar and bolster electronic education in rural areas.

In line with this bid, the MTN SA Foundation announced it has officially opened media centres in 10 schools in the province's Msinga district.

A back-up system to store data from a user's cellphone has been unveiled in Kenya, and is said to be the first such service in Africa. The system, known as M-Wingu, was developed by a team of six Kenyans, at a cost of Sh5 million, and has already attracted 3 000 subscribers since its inception in December.

“It took us four months to develop and we are glad of the reception it is receiving,” says M-Wingu CEO Charles Musungu.

Zambia's second-largest mobile telecoms service provider, MTN Zambia, has launched its first solar green site in the country to provide efficient telecommunications services to people living in rural areas.

The site will cover a distance of 35 kilometres to the surrounding community in the Chisamba areas in the northern part of the country. Zambia, like many other countries in Africa, is facing erratic electric power supply due to low generating capacity, despite high power demand.

The fact that the new card will be linked to the user's phone will significantly enhance the security features, says Fundamo CEO Hannes van Rensburg.
Global credit card company Visa and Africa's largest cellular operator, MTN, have partnered to introduce a new Visa prepaid account mobile service as an extension of MTN Mobile Money in developing countries.

The product is a result of Visa's recent acquisition of local mobile money platform Fundamo, which has now been integrated with Visa's global payment network, VisaNet.

The Wise Touch tablets are manufactured in China, but are locally branded and customised, with applications and content specifically for the local market. South African company, Wise Tablets, is soon to release a low-cost tablet developed and customised for the local market.

The “Wise Touch 1” will be available in 7-inch and 9-inch formats, with capacitive multi-touch, running Android 2.3.

The 9-inch tablet will retail for less than R3 500, while the 7-inch 3G tablet will cost less than R2 500, and the entry-level 7-inch WiFi tablet will go for less than R1 500.

IS International's MD understands how tough Africa is, says IS MD Derek Wilcocks.
Dimension Data subsidiary Internet Solutions (IS) aims to speed up its growth beyond SA's borders and has created IS International to facilitate the expansion.

The new unit will provide additional support and investment to the group's existing operations in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Mozambique, it says in a statement.

ANC Youth League (ANCYL) president Julius Malema is yet again at the centre of a social media explosion, as South Africans respond to the verdict of his disciplinary hearing.

The ANC found Malema guilty of provoking divisions within the ruling party and of bringing the organisation into disrepute. The controversial leader has been suspended from the ANC for five years, and has been asked to step down as ANCYL president.

The hashtags #Malema, #ANCYL and #ANC were all trending as soon as the announcement got under way.

Here are some of the reactions from Twitter:

The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) will be laying charges against the Democratic Alliance (DA) for “trying to kill copper thieves”. The federation says it will report deputy Cape Town mayor Alderman Ian Neilson's plans to electrocute copper cable thieves to the Public Service Commission and the Human Rights Commission.

“Cosatu will also lay charges at the police station about the DA's intention to do grievous bodily harm, through the policy of the City of Cape Town.”

Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele has put a halt on all future tolling projects.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) says the hearing into e-tolling at the Gauteng Legislature will be futile.

After receiving several petitions against e-tolling, the Gauteng Legislature combined them into one and announced it would host a hearing on the matter on 11 November.

It believes it is through this process that parties will begin finding a solution to the tollgates impasse in the province.