ADSL on its last legs in South Africa

-
Image
  By   Daniel Puchert Partially state-owned telecommunications company Telkom announced in its financial results for the year ending 31 March 2025 that its ADSL subscribers had more than halved to under 30,000. According to the company’s operational data, ADSL lines decreased from 64,959 in March 2024 to 29,770. This 54.2% decline highlights that the legacy broadband technology is slowly approaching the end of the road. Telkom’s ADSL business peaked at the end of March 2016 with 1.01 million subscribers — two years after fibre upstart Vumatel  broke ground in Parkhurst . What followed was a sharp decline in Telkom ADSL subscribers. Customers connected to its copper networks decreased by more than 500,000 over the next four years. This was partly driven by Telkom itself, which began actively switching off its copper network in some neighbourhoods. If it did not have fibre in the area, it would offer a “fixed line lookalike” wireless service that ran over its cellular ...
Post a Comment

WATCH | Noxolo Grootboom at a loss for words as Ramaphosa shifts 'family meeting' for last bulletin

-

 

Sesona Ngqakamba
0:00
play article
SUBSCRIBERS CAN LISTEN TO THIS ARTICLE

WATCH | Noxolo Grootboom at a loss for words as Ramaphosa shifts 'family meeting' for last bulletin

SABC's isiXhosa veteran news anchor Noxolo Grootboom reacted with shock upon hearing that president Cyril Ramaphosa delayed his address meant for 7pm on Tuesday evening to allow SABC viewers to watch Grootboom deliver her last news bulletin.

  • SABC 1 viewers are eager to watch broadcast veteran Noxolo Grootboom for the last time at 19:00 on Tuesday.
  • Grootboom is retiring after serving the SABC for 37 years. 
  • The line everyone is eagerly waiting to hear from her one last time is: "Ndinithanda nonke emakhaya."


South Africa's SABC 1 viewers are eagerly waiting to watch 60-year-old veteran news anchor, Noxolo Grootboom, for the last time as she ends an era on television screens. 

Grootboom will read her last TV news bulletin in isiXhosa on SABC Iindaba after having done so for more than three decades.

And viewers are waiting to hear Grootboom's legendary sign-off: "Ndinithanda nonke emakhaya" - which loosely translates to "I love you all at home". 

READ | No curfew changes, but alcohol restrictions possibly as Ramaphosa set to address the nation

On Tuesday afternoon, those counting down to her swansong expressed their disappointment when it was announced that President Cyril Ramaphosa would be addressing the nation at the same time as her bulletin at 19:00.

They pleaded with the president to give the broadcaster her moment to shine one last time.


Ramaphosa was expected to update the nation on developments in the country's response to the Covid-19 pandemic ahead of the Easter weekend.

And, much to everyone's delight, the Presidency later sent an updated announcement to say it would move the president's address by 30 minutes to allow Grootboom her final sign-off.

"The time for the address has moved from 19:00 to 19:30 to allow SABC viewers to watch veteran newsreader Noxolo Grootboom's final bulletin as she retires after 37 years."

The announcement left the veteran lost for words and teary-eyed.

A video posted on Twitter by journalist, Yolisa Njamela, showed an emotional Grootboom, covering her mouth, as though in disbelief at the news.

Njamela had earlier posted another video, which showed a good gesture from a woman, named Nombuyiselo Zinco, who travelled by bus from Gqeberha to Johannesburg on Monday night to deliver an outfit for the broadcaster to wear when she bows out.

The woman had asked if she could make the outfit for her, Njamela said in her tweet.

Channel24 earlier reported that Grootboom grew up in Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape and started her career at the SABC as a typist before making her way on-air. 

She also anchored the funeral services of late struggle stalwarts Nelson Mandela in 2013 and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in 2018.  

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
In times of uncertainty you need journalism you can trust. For only R75 per month, you have access to a world of in-depth analyses, investigative journalism, top opinions and a range of features. Journalism strengthens democracy. Invest in the future today.
Subscribe to News24
READ MORE ON:
SABCNOXOLO GROOTBOOMLOCKDOWNMEDIACORONAVIRUS

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If everyone on Earth sat in the ocean at once, how much would sea level rise?

-
Image
  There are a lot of people, but the oceans are very big.   Rosley Majid/EyeEm via Getty Images If everyone on Earth sat in the ocean at once, how much would sea level rise? March 29, 2021 2.07pm SAST Author Tony E. Wong Assistant Professor of Mathematical Sciences, Rochester Institute of Technology Disclosure statement Tony E. Wong does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Partners Rochester Institute of Technology  provides funding as a member of The Conversation US. The Conversation is funded by the National Research Foundation, eight universities, including the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Rhodes University, Stellenbosch University and the Universities of Cape Town, Johannesburg, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Pretoria, and South Africa. It is hosted by the Universities of the Witwatersrand and Wester...
Read more

Andrew Watson: The 'most influential' black footballer for decades lost to history

-
Image
  By Andrew Aloia BBC Sport Last updated on 11 October 2021 11 October 2021 . From the section Football Watson was a trailblazer who helped transform how football was played There are two murals of black footballers facing one another across an alleyway in Glasgow. One helped shape football as we know it, the other is Pele. Andrew Watson captained Scotland to a 6-1 win over England on his debut in 1881. He was a pioneer, the world's first black international, but for more than a century the significance of his achievements went unrecognised. Research conducted over the past three decades has left us with some biographical details: a man descended of slaves and of those who enslaved them, born in Guyana, raised to become an English gentleman and famed as one of Scottish football's first icons. And yet today, 100 years on from his death aged 64, Watson remains something of an enigma, the picture built around him a fractured one. His grainy, faded, sepia image evokes many differen...
Read more

Which countries have the world’s largest coal reserves?

-
Image
  Visual Capitalist Elements   | September 15, 2021 | 8:58 am   Intelligence   Australia   USA   Coal   The Countries With the Largest Coal Reserves Cheap and abundant coal remains one of the largest sources of energy worldwide, even as governments set out goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. While jurisdictions in Europe and North America have been phasing out coal use in power generation, it has been on the rise in Asia. China and India are scrambling to provide electricity to a growing population and relying on coal power plants to meet demands despite the environmental costs. SIGN UP FOR THE ENERGY DIGEST Sign Up This infographic takes a look into the  BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2021 , and the 11 countries that make up  89%  of the coal reserves globally. Coal Reserves, by Country While countries need to phase out coal by 2040 to achieve the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5ºC, consumption in key ...
Read more