You are here: > About Us > Media Centre > Archive

26 June 2014

Popular Business Reality TV Show ‘Dragons’ Den’ Takes Flight in South Africa

26 June 2014
 
A local production of business reality television show Dragons’ Den will soon be premiering on South Africa screens. In partnership with Telkom Business, the show, which has been widely popular in the United Kingdom, will appear on Mzansi Magic on Tuesday nights at 19:00, starting in September. The excitement leading up to the first episode starts on Thursday 26 June with a call for entries to the competition.
 
The Dragons’ Den series invites budding entrepreneurs to persuade four to five millionaires – established business people in their own right known as the ‘Dragons’ – to invest their own cash in a business idea or invention.
 
Telkom Business has long recognised the critical role small business plays in growing the local economy.  “It was an easy decision for us to take the opportunity to partner with Dragons’ Den because it’s all about promoting an entrepreneurial culture in South Africa,” said Enzo Scarcella, Telkom’s Chief Marketing Officer.  He said that the company aims to exhibit how the ideas and economic opportunities provided by SMMEs benefit the overall culture and progress of the country.
 
Dragons’ Den is already well known in South Africa as the United Kingdom version has been showing locally for quite some time. The local production is expected to be even more popular, offering Telkom Business an invaluable opportunity to reach the small business market, attract customers and build its profile as an enabler of small business.
 
According to Scarcella the Dragons’ Den partnership creates a platform for positive associations for the Telkom navbar-brand.
 
It is widely recognised that SMEs have a major role to play in economic growth and job creation in South Africa, as is in other emerging markets across the world. The Telkom Business team that is dedicated to value creation for the small business sector, shares this sentiment and concentrates its efforts on offering value specifically designed for small business owners.
 
“Telkom is delighted to partner with a show that is purposeful on several levels. We believe that apart from the obvious benefits to the participants on the show, through capital and business assistance from the “Dragons”, the viewing public is exposed to much needed entrepreneurial knowledge and skills. The show also has the potential to inspire young South Africans towards expanding their ideas into businesses,” he concluded.
 
Small business owners wanting to appear on the show and pitch their ideas to the Dragons, can make their submissions via dragons@rapidblue.com. The call for entries will be screened on the DStv channel Mzansi Magic.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Pynee Chetty

Senior Specialist: Media Relations

Group Communication

Tel:+27 12 642 1716

Mobile: +27 81 389 7874

Email: chettpr2@telkom.co.za

OR

Leigh-Ann Francis

Specialist: Media Relations

Group Communication

Tel: +27 12 642 1728

Mobile: +27 81 391 4780

Email: francilm@telkom.co.za

Telkom Park, The Apex

92 Oak Avenue

Technopark

Highveld

Centurion

ABOUT TELKOM:

Telkom is a leading communications services provider in South Africa. We had consolidated operating revenue of R16.8 billion and normalised profit after tax of R1, 683 million for the period ended 30 September 2015. Total assets amounted to R41.9 billion and equity attributable to the owners of Telkom to R23.5 billion as of 30 September 2015. The group generated normalised free cash flow of R1.4 billion for the period ended 30 September 2015.

As of 30 September 2015, we had approximately 3.3 million telephone access lines in service and 1,030,441 ports connected via MSAN access. We offer business, residential and payphone customers a wide range of services and products, including:

  • fixed-line retail voice services using PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) lines, including ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) lines, and the sale of subscription based value-added voice services and calling plans;
  • fixed-line customer premises equipment rental and sales services both voice and data needs and these include PABX, Computers, Routers, Modems, Telephone handsets and other ancillary equipment;
  • interconnection services, including terminating and transiting traffic from South African mobile operators, as well as from international operators and transiting traffic from mobile to international destinations;
  • fixed-line data services, including domestic and international data transmission services, such as point-to-point leased lines, ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) services, packet-based services, managed data networking services and internet access and related information technology services;
  • Data Centre Operations includes e-commerce, application service provider, hosting, data storage, e-mail and security services;
  • W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), a 3G next generation network, including fixed voice services, data services and nomadic voice services;
  • mobile communication services, including voice services, data services and handset sales through our mobile navbar-brand called Telkom Mobile;
  •  information and communication services including cloud services, infrastructure services, workspace services, global service integration management and hardware and network equipment sales locally, in seven African countries, the UK and Dubai through Business Connexion Group; and
  • other services including directory services, through Trudon (Pty) Ltd, wireless data services, through Swiftnet (Pty) Ltd.

Convergence is one of our key strategic initiatives in building a sustainable future for Telkom.  We will lead the provision of converged services in South Africa in support of our mission statement: Seamlessly connecting people to a better life.