South Africa’s Digital Future in Focus as AI, Fibre and Lottery Tech Drive Innovation
These are the top stories making headlines on ITWeb this week: Incoming National Lottery operator Sizekhaya is preparing a major digital transformation of South Africa’s lottery ecosystem through new technology partnerships and an omni-channel gaming platform ahead of officially taking over the fourth National Lottery and Sports Pools licence on 1 June. Meanwhile, 1-Grid suffered a large-scale distributed denial-of-service attack that disrupted services across its web hosting platform. In connectivity news, Fibertime says it aims to reach one million homes by mid-2027 after rapidly expanding from 10 000 to 420 000 homes across 13 cities and seven provinces. In academia and innovation, Vukosi Marivate from the University of Pretoria was honoured with the Order of Mapungubwe in silver at the 2026 National Orders for his contributions to AI, computer science and natural language processing. Finally, Google has opened registrations for its 2026 Hustle Academy programme to help entrepreneurs and students across So
The pay-as-you-go fibre provider plans to reach a million homes, if all goes according to plan, says founder Alan Knott-Craig Jr.
The telecoms giant intensifies its efforts to expand connectivity, drive local innovation and develop ICT skills in South Africa.
400 000 homes in underserved communities earmarked for connectivity as Fibertime chases goal to connect two million homes by 2028.
The people who need unlimited internet the most are in the townships, yet they currently pay the most for mobile data, says Fibertime founder Alan Knott-Craig Jr.
ITWeb OTR: Fibertime bridges digital divide in Alexandra township
In this episode of ITWeb on the Road, Fibertime founder Alan Knott-Craig Jr takes ITWeb on an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the company’s township fibre rollout. He explains how Fibertime is addressing South Africa’s digital divide by offering uncapped 100Mbps internet access at just R5 per day.#Fibertime #ITWebOnTheRoad #DigitalInclusion #TownshipTech #InternetForAll
Founder Alan Knott-Craig Jr shares his plans for Fibertime, as well as the challenges he has faced in his bid to connect South African townships.
ITWeb TV: Alan Knott-Craig Jr details journey from Mxit to fibertime | Episode #93
In this episode of ITWeb TV, serial tech entrepreneur Alan Knott-Craig Jr, who was involved in organisations like Project Isizwe, Mxit, iBurst and Herotel, discusses the successes and failures he has faced as a businessman and how he learnt from them. Knott-Craig also talks about his new venture fibertime and how it’s planning to bridge the digital divide. #Fibertime #Internet #entrepreneurship #digitaldivide
These firms are dedicated to providing affordable connectivity to lower-income households, as the upper income market saturates, says BMIT.
Fibretime aims to reach 1.5 million homes in underserved areas within the next five years.
After connecting Cosmo City, the new kid on the block sets its sights on other South African townships to challenge larger, established players.