Government’s telecommunications bill, if enacted without radical changes, will have a “devastating” effect on the ICT sector, destroying the incentives that have led to almost universal mobile coverage in South Africa.

Vodacom has rubbished the Electronic Communications Amendment Bill’s wholesale open-access provisions, describing them as “intrusive and onerous”.

The group’s chief innovation officer, Herman Singh, is expected to leave to start his own tech venture, sources said, following chief technology officer Babak Fouladi out the door.

IBM CEO Ginni Rometty has joined a growing chorus of tech executives lambasting Web platforms like Google and Facebook over their collection of user data and urged regulation of them.

First National Bank said on Tuesday that it is launching the ability to tap for transactions at its ATMs.

MTN South Africa was keen to take on Standard Bank’s mobile virtual network operator business, which went to rival Cell C, and is open to other such opportunities – provided they make commercial sense.