A bit o’ vengeance? A disgruntled developer got 4 years in prison for a kill switch that locked everyone out of the company’s systems when they fired him. 🥷

In This Open Letter

With so many small businesses looking for business and SA’s tender transparency such a mess, this new AI tool could change the game…

SA’s public procurement system moves around R1 trillion a year procuring goods and services through tenders – it’s SA’s biggest buyer.

Only problem is, the awareness system’s seemingly designed to keep small businesses out. The official eTenders portal is almost unusable: clunky, inconsistent and hostile to search. For most entrepreneurs, the opportunity is invisible, if not non-existent.

SA’s Tender Opportunity

Of the 8’100 tenders awarded (average value: R4.1 million) so far this year, it’s anyone’s guess how many went to able and willing new companies…

Because, while most startups and entrepreneurs default to chasing clients through cold outreach or AdWords, tendering is one of the largest, most reliable sources of B2B income in the country (R1 trillion – hello).

The problem isn’t opportunity. 

South Africa has no shortage of tenders, but too many remain locked behind complexity and bad systems. And when those doors stay closed, it’s not just SMEs that lose out; the wider economy does too.

The local player tapping SA’s R1 trillion startup opportunity

AI Tenders is an AI-powered tender-matching platform that cleans and delivers the Gov’s messy public tender data in a normalised, easily searchable and filterable format, and then delivers it directly into your inbox every week.

The upshot? It helps connect startups and entrepreneurs to active, relevant tender opportunities.

The early version is simple, but AI Tenders is building an enterprise layer for sales teams, including collaborative tools (tenders often need input from multiple stakeholders), competitor insights and even historical pricing benchmarks. 

Imagine knowing your local police station spent R 5’000 on toilet paper every order for the past decade, and adjusting your bid accordingly. 

Valuable SME use cases

We caught up with Jason Adriaan, Founder of Tactical Software (the team behind AI Tenders), and he told us it isn’t just about big infrastructure projects. You could, for example, land a R20’000 contract just installing Microsoft Word at a few libraries. 

For an underemployed graduate or a hustling SME, that’s real income. And with tenders awarded daily, consistency can compound into a full-fledged business.

But there’s something bigger at play here:  What if startups actually treated tenders as a channel, not an afterthought? What would that do for South Africa’s SME landscape? 

AI Tenders is betting that unlocking visibility could be the first domino, and we’re watching this space.

Running a standout SME? Lula & News24 are giving away R300k in prizes in the inaugural SME Excellence Awards. Enter here.

Need a private AI that actually performs? Proton’s Lumo now delivers 170% better context, 40% stronger coding, and 200% improved reasoning. Read more.

Want a voice assistant that knows your day? April connects to Gmail & Calendar so you can ask “what’s my first meeting today?” hands-free. Check it out.

What’s the surest way to kill a real feeling of appreciation for a colleague?

Subject it to a five-step nomination form for the quarterly #Values award to see if your boss’s boss approves it… 

Most teams know recognition matters. But clunky HR tools and top-down programmes just don’t cut it anymore. You’ve got culture to build, talent to retain and no time for bloated rollouts.

What if appreciation felt… natural?

That’s why Zuzo exists — the only employee recognition tool built inside Slack and MS Teams, designed for real moments between real people. No separate logins. No gimmicks. Just meaningful praise and instant, spend-anywhere rewards.

Appreciation where you work. Recognition with your people, not to them.

It’s already trusted by growing SA teams, from 17 to 700 people. Built by WiCode makers, Yoyo, Geoff Forbes and the Zuzo team are making culture scale without making it feel corporate.

Ready to make recognition easy and effective?

🏆 Numbers Game. Fintura has won the South African Startup World Cup with its AI accounting platform, heading to Silicon Valley for a shot at $1 million. This startup is already saving 1’500 clients 10 hours of billable time weekly. Looks like they’ve got the numbers to crunch those numbers.

🌙 Lunar Nuclear Power Play Style. NASA has unveiled plans for a lunar nuclear reactor by 2030, outpacing China's celestial ambitions. Geopolitics aside, this move could be the next step in prepping for a cosmic highway to Mars. Hmm, a hop, skip and a jump away from some Bond-villain level stuff here, folks...

🚐 SME Skills Glue. Henkel transformed a van into a roaming Loctite training hub to boost skills in SMEs and educational spaces. This mobile unit packs a punch with tailored workshops and expert guidance, starting its journey in Gauteng. Looks like err'body is after that #VanLife now…

✈️ Taking off. SA SOE Airports Company SA has pocketed a whopping R1.1 billion this year, more than double last year's R472 million win. With revenues hitting R7.9 billion and sharp cost controls in place, they’re taking flight with a firm growth strategy. Nice one.

✅ The Stack. Founders need reliable tools and suppliers. That’s why our Founder’s Stack gives you real-time AI insights and decision automation from Sidekicklab, zero-monthly-fee bank accounts and business loans in 4 minutes from Lula, plus loads more vital startup tools & services.

Yesterday, we told you how Rondawel is using AI to bring new home insights to SA, asking about the most important factor about a neighbourhood to live in. For most, it’s about safety…

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🎓 How close it is to a good school (12%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🌳 How close it is to nature (16%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 😎 What’s cool to do (4%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ ☕ The nearest (good) coffee spot (7%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🚓 How safe it is (61%)

Your 2 cents…

Sounds like a solid metric, Sara. We’re on board. ☕

On August 26, 1938, the first-ever full radio broadcast of an entirely pre-recorded show was aired by New York classics station WQXR (still around today) using the Phillips-Miller tape system.

Incidentally, on the same day, one year later (1939), the first baseball game was televised by what would become WNBC, also from New York.

🛠 Tool to Try: Mirage 2 generates playable game worlds in real time, in your browser — and you can steer the world with text prompts. Insane.

🤔 That’s Interesting: An entire squad of Marines bypassed an AI security camera by somersaulting, posing as a box and even acting like a bush.

🔥 Next Level: A Chinese girl did 69 head-forward flips in one minute to take the Guinness World Record.

🍔 Hack: Level up your pitch nerves and stage presence with this visual public-speaking cheat sheet.

🌐 Wow Site: You can now relive the entire Apollo 11 mission in real time from any angle with synced audio, video and timelines.

We are always keen to get reader feedback to help make The Open Letter the most useful of its kind for you. So please select