Yekani assembly facility and devices auctioned off

[Jan]

South African tech manufacturer bites the dust

The Yekani manufacturing facility in East London has had its assets auctioned off, with some of its 10-inch tablets being sold for as little as R234, MyBroadband has learned.

Yekani closed the R1 billion factory in January 2020, citing financial issues.

 

[Ockie]

Absolutely no marketing means your product will fail. Not once did I see any advertising for their products. Huge majority of people don't even know this brand existed.

 

[Heisenborg]

Who?

 

[Ockie]

Who?

See? Point proven. And this is a mybroadband member. MyBB at least had a article about them when the factory opened and yet he also does not know who these people were.

 

[Fox1]

Yet we have a President that dreams of a 4th Industrial Revolution while the building blocks have crumbled.

 

[PaulNOTsaul]

And yet....

Nearly R1bn — cost of a soured Eastern Cape school tablet deal with Iqbal Survé-linked group

%%excerpt%% According to the DA, the Eastern Cape Department of Education has set aside almost a billion rand to cover the potential costs of leasing 55,000 tablets from the Iqbal Survé-linked Sizwe Africa IT Group.

www.dailymaverick.co.za

 

[genetic]

Yet we have a President that dreams of a 4th Industrial Revolution while the building blocks have crumbled.

Uhmm... first start producing a product people WANT. No president is gonna save a no-name brand with no market, especially if your only market is the KZN education Department.

Hisense's SA factory on the other hand is thriving in SA, as they have built up a reputable brand and now exporting globally;

Hisense "Made in South Africa" Products Debut on the European Market

/PRNewswire/ -- Hisense, provider of high-performance TV and home appliances, has successfully delivered its first batch of South African-made combi...

www.prnewswire.co.uk

 

[Danie_V]

The irony for me is always seeing politicians lining up to open factories... but none ever appear to close a factory down... Same happened in the USA with Trump and the Foxconn factory in Wisconsin that went nowhere.

 

[_TrXtR_]

This is a history article

 

[RonSwanson]

Lekker AA and BEE.

 

[grok]

yekani: Cease Forbear

Come to an end, Bring to an end, Finish, Lay off

LOL!

 

[yebocan]

And yet....

Nearly R1bn — cost of a soured Eastern Cape school tablet deal with Iqbal Survé-linked group

%%excerpt%% According to the DA, the Eastern Cape Department of Education has set aside almost a billion rand to cover the potential costs of leasing 55,000 tablets from the Iqbal Survé-linked Sizwe Africa IT Group.

www.dailymaverick.co.za

was just going to mention : could have had Yekani supply schools with tablets/laptop...that don't cost the price of Franschoek or Camps Bay with hotels on them on Monopoly (SA Edition)...

 

[SilverCode]

Maybe it was nothing more than a laundry for dodgy cash.

It 100% sounds like a dodgy cadre deal.

From the other linked article

When it launched in 2018, the company said it aimed to be the largest smartphone company in South Africa, with “Yekani-branded mobile phones”.

However, when MyBroadband asked South Africa’s leading technology retailers whether they had ever sold or stocked Yekani laptops or smartphones, these retailers said they had not.

Takealot, Incredible Connection, and Massmart – Game, Makro, Dion Wired – were among the companies contacted.

I am pretty certain that this company was set up with promise of contracts from the department of communications as long as kickbacks were provided. Then Stella got greedy and said they had to sell a controlling stake to her boyfriend, they said no, so Stella pulled the plug on the dodgy contract deal and Yakani was left with no future contracts.

 

[Jodes]

Was BEE involved?

 

[grok]

I am pretty certain that this company was set up with promise of contracts from the department of communications as long as kickbacks were provided. Then Stella got greedy and said they had to sell a controlling stake to her boyfriend, they said no, so Stella pulled the plug on the dodgy contract deal and Yakani was left with no future contracts.

Why does this sound so familiar?

 

[Azbubu]

With a k** name like Yekani there was only ever ONE way this was going to end.

Jy kan nie?

 

[RedViking]

With a k** name like Yekani there was only ever ONE way this was going to end.

Kanyemahndani?

 

[SubtleBeast]

Kanyemahndani?

I'd buy one of those

 

[Yskasmetnstoof]

Follow the money and see who got richer. This is SA under ANC rule.