The healthcare industry in South Africa is in a state of flux, not least because of the introduction of the much-derided national health insurance (NHI) law. Technology can, however, play a big role in helping address the myriad complex issues facing the sector.
That’s the view of Henry Adams, country manager at InterSystems South Africa and an expert on the healthcare industry, who was speaking recently in an interview with TechCentral’s TCS+ business technology talk show. Watch or listen to the episode below.
In the episode, Adams succinctly unpacks:
• The role played by InterSystems in the local healthcare industry, including the company’s background and focus areas;
• The lack of integration of healthcare systems in South Africa, the role of electronic medical records, and why no national health insurance scheme can possibly work without addressing interoperability;
• What impact the NHI will have on the sector;
• The role of electronic medical records and why they are key to any reform of South Africa’s healthcare industry – plus, what’s the best way of protecting these records and ensuring compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act;
• What a fully integrated system for healthcare providers and their patients might look like and what it would take to build it;
• The guidelines and legislative support needed to bridge the gap between government and the healthcare industry; and
• The role InterSystems believes it can play in helping address some of the challenges facing South Africa’s healthcare industry.
Visit InterSystems South Africa’s website for more information – and be sure not to miss a fascinating discussion that affects all South Africans. TechCentral

A strong and reliable Wi-Fi network is no longer a perk but a fundamental necessity. Just like access to good coffee and comfortable chairs, businesses are expected to provide a seamless Wi-Fi experience for employees, guests and tenants. A frustratingly slow or spotty connection can bring your entire operation to a crawl, hindering productivity and damaging your reputation.
Wi-Fi experts at Vox
Vox understands the critical role Wi-Fi plays in a successful business and how its Wi-Fi offering can be a major differentiator. The guest today in this episode of TCS+ is Craig Blignaut, product manager for Wi-Fi at Vox. Blignaut brings a wealth of knowledge about the needs of businesses and the technology that keeps them connected.
Planning for success: proactive Wi-Fi solutions
Blignaut discussed the importance of having a well-defined Wi-Fi strategy from the very beginning: proper planning prevents problems later. Vox takes a proactive approach by using specialised software to create virtual models of your office space. This software considers building materials like brick, glass and metal, allowing it to predict how Wi-Fi signals will travel and where obstacles might cause issues.
This virtual planning isn’t just about signal strength; it also helps determine the best placement for access points and switches, as well as how to route cables in the most efficient way. It even considers factors like employee traffic patterns to optimise network performance and capacity in areas where it’s needed most.
Just like any other piece of equipment, Wi-Fi needs regular check-ups to ensure optimal performance. Vox offers a comprehensive Wi-Fi audit service that includes both on-site and remote testing. This ensures your access points are delivering the data, bandwidth and capacity you need to function smoothly. The audit also considers factors that can fluctuate over time, such as the number of users on the network, peak usage times, and even changes to your building’s structure or materials.
Staying secure
Security is another crucial aspect of any Wi-Fi network. Outdated systems are vulnerable to breaches, leaving your business data and your users’ information at risk. As Wi-Fi technology improves, so, too, should your security protocols. Vox recommends using strong encryption like WPA3 to keep your network safe from unauthorised access and data loss.
Managed Wi-Fi solutions: the power of remote support
In addition to supplying enterprise-grade equipment, Vox offers a managed Wi-Fi solution that provides off-site management and remote support. This means you have a team of experts behind the scenes, constantly monitoring your network and proactively addressing any issues that may arise. Vox’s AI-powered software can even anticipate and troubleshoot potential problems before they occur, preventing disruptions before they start.
The bottom line
Don’t settle for a sluggish, unreliable Wi-Fi network. A poor connection can frustrate employees and guests alike, hindering productivity and creating a negative impression of your business. A Vox Wi-Fi audit can identify areas for improvement and ensure you’re getting the most out of your network. Imagine a world where your employees can download large files, stream video conferences and access cloud-based applications without a hitch.
Ready to upgrade your Wi-Fi experience?
Contact Craig Blignaut at Vox or your Vox account manager to discuss your options and take your business Wi-Fi to the next level.
• Visit www.vox.co.za or e-mail [email protected]
• Book a Wi-Fi survey or audit
• Guest Wi-Fi solutions from Vox
This promoted content was paid for by the party concerned TechCentral

Softline co-founder and former CEO Ivan Epstein is TechCentral’s guest in the latest episode of TCS Legends.
Epstein, who co-founded Softline in 1988 with Alan Osrin, chats to host Duarte da Silva – who also happens to have been the first guest on TCS Legends – about the early days of Softline, its listing on the JSE and its eventual sale to Sage.
It was a heady time in South Africa’s nascent IT sector, and Epstein relates interesting titbits from that time, including what was involved in the JSE listing and the eventual sale to Sage.
It’s a fascinating story, not only about a successful South African business, but also the people behind it.
TCS Legends is powered by Mitel. For all your Unified Communications and Customer Experience needs, visit Mitel.com. TechCentral

MTN South Africa last week announced that PayShap, South Africa’s rapid payments platform, is being integrated into its Mobile Money (MoMo) platform.
Bradwin Roper, chief financial services officer at MTN South Africa, is the guest in the latest episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS). He unpacks the PayShap development and what it means, and explores MTN’s fintech strategy and the future of mobile money in South Africa.
In this episode of TCS, Roper chats about:
* The significance of MTN becoming the first non-banking platform to offer access to PayShap;
* Why and how it’s working with Investec and technical service provider Electrum to deploy the solution;
* What MTN customers will be able to do with PayShap;
* The growth of mobile money in South Africa, and the work that MTN is doing to grow the ecosystem; and
* Lessons South Africa can draw from other emerging markets, notably India and Brazil, in mobile money and rapid payments.
Don’t miss the interview! TechCentral

David Frankel played a pioneering role in the commercial development of the internet in South Africa as co-founder and CEO of Internet Solutions.
Since then, he’s gone on to a successful investing career in the US, where he is co-founder and managing partner at Boston- and New York-based Founder Collective, a seed-stage venture capital fund whose successful investments have included Uber Technologies, Brontes (sold to 3M) and PillPack (sold to Amazon).
Frankel, widely regarded as one of the most successful entrepreneurs to come out of South Africa’s technology industry, joins TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod on TCS Legends to chat about:
• His career, and how the Internet Solutions opportunity came about;
• What it was like in the early days of the internet in South Africa;
• The fight he led, with Mark Todes, against Telkom’s attempts in the 1990s to monopolise the internet industry – and how the industry won the battle;
• The cast of characters at Internet Solutions, including brothers Ronnie and Alon Apteker, that made it a special place to be at the time;
• Whether he was really offered the job of CEO of Dimension Data;
• His studies at Harvard Business School;
• The creation of Founders Collective, and why Boston is a great place for a tech-focused venture capitalist to be; and
• His views on South Africa in 2024 and his continued connection to the country.
Don’t miss this insightful interview with one of South Africa’s leading entrepreneurs, exploring the role he played in the heady days of the internet in South Africa and what it took to build a successful investment career in the US.

We apologise for the audio quality issues in this episode. TechCentral

In this special episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS) – presented by MTN Business – Duncan McLeod chats to two South African biohackers, Daniel de Kock and Jarryd Bekker, about why they have voluntarily installed microchips in their bodies.
Respectively the chief technology officer and CEO of Riot Network – the wireless broadband specialist that is building low-cost networks in underserviced areas, including Olievenhoutbosch in Gauteng – they tell TechCentral about why they chose to implant the chips and what they’re used for.
The pair, who both profess a desire to receive brain implants from Elon Musk’s Neuralink, explain how they started augmenting their biological bodies with electronics, what’s involved, the information they’re able to glean from the chips, and where the fusion of human biology and electronics is headed over the coming decade.
In the interview, Bekker and De Kock unpack how electronic circuitry in the human body can help detect and manage serious health issues, and the impact this could have on fighting disease and prolonging people’s lives.
The two discuss a range of issues related to biohacking, including:
• What’s involved when it’s time to upgrade the chips;
• How one goes about having them installed;
• The growing online biohacker community;
• Integration with artificial intelligence; and
• Much more.
Don’t miss this offbeat but fascinating discussion! TechCentral

From the internet of things (IoT) to private 5G networks, MTN Group has a lot to offer public sector organisations, according to David Behr, CEO of MTN Converged Solutions.
Behr, a stalwart of the local ICT industry and a recent recruit to MTN, tells TechCentral’s TCS+ business technology show about the solutions that MTN Business offers its government clients, including smart government solutions, IoT (for example, for smart metering) and private 5G (which has strong applications in areas such as healthcare and education).
Although some government processes have been automated successfully and improved using technology, many areas of the public sector are still quite manual and paper-based, and modern technologies offer an opportunity to reduce administrative overheads and improve service quality for South African citizens, Behr explains in the interview.
In this episode of TCS+, Behr unpacks:
• The state of spending on ICT solutions in South Africa’s public sector, and where spending should be directed;
• What further role technology can play in improving government’s work and the effective management of government services;
• The role of private 5G networks in the public sector;
• The state of cybersecurity in government and what more can be done to protect public sector systems from attack; and
• The public sector opportunity in the rest of Africa.
If you work in the public sector, be sure not to miss this important conversation. TechCentral

TechCentral is thrilled to bring you an interview with Mike Lawrie, a pioneering figure at Rhodes University who helped bring e-mail and later the internet to South Africa.
In this episode of TCS Legends – the podcast series that features interviews with (and about) some of the leading figures who helped shape South Africa’s technology sector into what it is today – TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod sat down with Lawrie to chat about the ground-breaking work that happened at Rhodes University in the early days of the internet.
In this episode, Lawrie shares wonderful anecdotes about that time at Rhodes, and why the Eastern Cape university was able to achieve things its bigger rivals in the cities couldn’t – or wouldn’t – during the height of apartheid.
Lawrie remembers many of his colleagues at Rhodes at the time, and the role they played in connecting South African universities to e-mail, and later to the internet.
Episodes 1 and 2 of TCS Legends featured well-known investor and businessman Duarte da Silva, who reminisced about some of the business leaders that helped build South Africa’s tech industry. Episode 3, featuring Hein Engelbrecht and Carlos Vizcarra, turned the focus to the late Mustek founder David Kan.
TCS Legends is a by-invitation-only, editorially driven tech show that builds on TechCentral’s credible, market-leading podcast productions.
TCS Legends is powered by Mitel. For all your unified communications and customer experience needs, visit Mitel.com. TechCentral

Paratus Group is rapidly emerging as a major player in the telecommunications industry in Southern Africa. But who’s behind Paratus, and what’s its history?
From landing Google’s Equiano subsea cable in Swakopmund and building a new fibre route between South Africa and Namibia – providing a new data corridor between Gauteng and the world – to working with Meta Platforms to wire up Zambia and building expansive satellite ground stations, the Namibian-born group has its eyes firmly set on becoming a significant telecoms player in the region.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS), TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod chats to Paratus Group chief commercial officer Martin Cox about the company’s origins (although founded in Namibia, it cut its teeth in Angola), its current footprint and its future growth plans.
Among other topics, Cox discusses:
• The impact of the recent subsea cable breaks in West Africa and the role of diverse routes in reducing the impact;
• Paratus’s new fibre route from Swakopmund to Johannesburg, which runs through Botswana – its significance and what was involved in its construction;
• The group’s footprint in South Africa, including its new satellite ground station in Irene, near Pretoria; and
• Paratus’s culture, and why its management team is happiest in “the trenches”; and
• Whether a listing for Paratus Group could be on the cards at some point (its Namibian operation is already listed in Windhoek).
Don’t miss the discussion! TechCentral

A dusty township in Gauteng is the site of a South African-developed mesh network that could change everything. Read the full story at https://techcentral.co.za/internet-revolution-in-olievenhoutbosch/241698/ TechCentral

David Kan, the late founder and former CEO of Mustek, is the focus of episode 3 of TechCentral’s new podcast series, TCS Legends – powered by Mitel.
In this episode, TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod is joined by Mustek CEO Hein Engelbrecht and Carlos Vizcarra, CEO of CPS Technologies, who was close friends with Kan for decades, for a wide-ranging discussion on the man’s life and achievements.
Kan founded Mustek in 1987 as a technology importer and distributor, and the company quickly became known for its locally manufactured line of Mecer PCs. Today it’s one of the country’s biggest technology distributors, and is listed on the JSE.
Kan, who passed away in 2022 at just 62, was born in Taipei. He worked various menial jobs in his native Taiwan, including as a dishwasher, truck driver and removal company worker.
After matriculating, he left to study mechanical engineering in the US at Pittsburg State University. In 1986, he moved to South Africa where his father was working a Taiwanese diplomat. He worked for a time at a cutlery manufacturing company before attending his first PC expo in Johannesburg.
It was there that he met the MD of a Taiwanese company called Mustek Corporation. The MD of that company, Owen Chen, wanted to set up a warehouse in South Africa – Mustek in South Africa was born. He went on to establish one of the first PC assembly lines in South Africa.
In this episode of TCS Legends, Engelbrecht – who joined Mustek in 1997 as group fin0ancial manager – and Vizcarra, with whom Kan formed a business relationship in the early days of Mustek, pay tribute to Kan, and share personal anecdotes about the man and his life.
Vizcarra discusses the origins of Mustek, the early days of the PC industry and touches on the development of the Springbok, a South African-built clone PC brand that predated Mustek’s Mecer line.
In the interview, you’ll hear about:
• Mustek’s early days building PCs in Garankuwa and why local assembly made sense in the era of sanctions;
• How Kan and Vizcarra became close friends, despite competing with each other in business;
• How Engelbrecht met Kan, and his first impressions of the man;
• Vizcarra and Engelbrecht’s favourite memories of Kan;
• What drove Kan, a foreigner to South Africa, to business success – and how he became to embrace his adopted country; and
• What he was like to work for;
This episode of TCS Legends includes special bonus content: a full audio interview that TechCentral had with Kan in June 2017.
Don’t miss the episode!
TCS Legends is powered by Mitel. For all your Unified Communications and Customer Experience needs, visit Mitel.com. TechCentral