Author: Contributor

By Carryn Alexander, Partner & Sakiwe Canca, Candidate Attorney from Webber Wentzel The South African Reserve Bank estimated that the rolling blackouts hitting South African businesses and households cost the economy approximately ZAR 900 million a day.  In addition, the Deloitte Centre for Sustainable Progress reported that – if left unchecked – climate change could cost the global economy USD 178 trillion over the next 50 years. Therefore, the proposed solar energy tax incentive aimed at encouraging the installation of rooftop solar panels to expand electricity generation represents an opportunity to address the current energy supply crisis and the imminent climate…

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Africa’s journey to financial independence In a world where divisions and regionalism are on the rise, the African Union stands tall and resolute. While threats of fragmentation and divergent interests loom, Africa remains united and unyielding. There is no “Afri-exit” in sight, for the bonds of African unity remain unbroken. But let us delve deeper into the African Union as we celebrated Africa Day yesterday, and a more complex reality unveils itself. The continent finds itself torn between the financial and political interests of both the traditional West and the East. Though we may wear a facade of unity, unseen…

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By Joshua Leroni, Candidate Attorney & Carla Collett, Partner at Webber Wentzel South Africa’s Copyright Amendment Bill and Performers Protection Amendment Bill could potentially harm rather than help the creative industry and needs serious reconsideration. Copyright serves two broad functions in society.  It reassures business and investors that the works they commission, licence and invest in are protected and can be commercialised.  It also ensures that the artists, authors, programmers, composers, and musicians who create the works are fairly and properly compensated. These are not competing functions. They are two sides of the same coin.  Without investment, creators cannot commercialise…

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At the launch of the BambaLearn App by Afrika Tikkun Bambanani (ATB) last night, expert insights were shared around the upskilling and training of teachers required to assess and monitor learner development. Simultaneously the programme is designed to facilitate teacher progression equipping them to screen for learning difficulties and arrange intervention, provide psychosocial support and monitor child growth and progress. The BambaLearn App aims to extend children on the curriculum ensuring that no child is left behind. “The period from birth to six years old is the most vital stage of brain development for children and these informative years represent…

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Huawei’s mission is to bring digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected intelligent world but it also believes there are ten challenges ahead of us ranging from understanding the world to energy and healthcare. An intelligent world needs new networks and new computing Through discussions with academia and industry partners, including scientists and customers it has identified two key areas as we move towards an intelligent world: new networks and new computing. Dr. Zhou Hong, President of the Institute of Strategic Research outlined the challenges as he addressed Huawei Analyst Summit 2023 explaining “Communications networks are…

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At Huawei’s 20th Global Analyst Conference Meng Wanzhou, Vice Chairwoman, Rotating Chairwoman, and CFO, shared how digitalization is a common opportunity for industry, but emphasized that the strategic objectives of industry should drive digital transformation, rather than the technology itself. Blue Ocean for Industry She opened the event with a keynote speech saying that “In this new era of digital transformation, the ways in which people understand the world and create are changing” and continued “This is having a deep impact on industrial innovation and economic development” “Digitalisation is a new blue ocean for the whole ICT value chain. Enterprises…

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By Mzukisi Kota, Partner, Lubumba Kamukwamba, Senior Associate& Lize-Mari Doubell, Candidate Attorney from Webber Wentzel The declaration of South Africa’s energy crisis as a National State of Disaster may be open to court challenge, as there is already sufficient legislation in place to deal with it During his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on 9 February 2023, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that South Africa’s energy crisis  “and its impact” had been declared a State of Disaster in terms of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (the DMA). The declaration, which was published by the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional…

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Despite varying challenges, during the Covid-19 pandemic years and in periods before, there has been an impressive upsurge in women entrepreneurs in South Africa. In fact, a study by Heavy Chef revealed that women are leading the charge behind the current E-commerce boom in the country. According to the report, over 60% of the country’s E-commerce companies were founded and are headed up by women. As a panel of experts at the recent Global Startup Awards Africa concluded, “women are #winning”. In a number of ways,” says Regan Adams, CEO of RCS – the consumer finance arm of international banking…

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Regardless of their income bracket, South Africans have always been savvy about getting their content fix. Enter what has been dubbed the Great Streaming Boom; a mass move to video on demand (VOD) services. And while not exactly catalysed by the pandemic, this shift certainly accelerated during Covid-19, with viewers signing up to VOD bigwigs like Netflix, Showmax and Viu at speeds that rivalled the emergence of new coronavirus cases. While South Africa is in no way unique in its mushrooming streaming status – which is very much a global phenomenon – Sales Director at Reach Africa Leslie Adams says…

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The first of July 2022 marks the one-year anniversary of the compliance deadline of the Protection of Personal Information Act No 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”) for all organisations. While the operational provisions of this Act became effective on 1 July 2020, a one-year grace period was granted to allow businesses to effect the necessary changes. This resulted in a compliance drive to bring various information practices in line. Compliance with this Act requires ongoing vigilance. At this stage, it is imperative that organisations understand the implications of their personal information practices and put in place systems and measures to manage…

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