Author: Contributor

South Africa is a beautiful country with diverse cultures, wildlife, and some breathtaking landscapes. However beautiful, South Africa is today considered the most unequal country in the world. Stats SA reports that South Africa’s Gini Coefficient is typically above 0,6. The high unemployment rate is the biggest contributing factor to this issue which then leads to income inequality. While the high inequality levels remain a problem for government to solve, it also presents an opportunity for organisations to look at and analyse their payroll information and remuneration policies. A well thought out pay equity analysis is a step in the…

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Crypto assets have revolutionised the FinTech market due to the cryptography technology of blockchain. Cryptocurrencies are becoming more mainstream and a word known by many financial buffs. However, the new buzzword in recent months is NFTs.  NFTs – Non-fungible tokens – can be bought and sold using cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum or Bitcoin. The most that a digital art piece has been auctioned for is a record-breaking $91 800 000. Is it not mind-boggling, that digital art, which is mere pixels on a screen, can be a millionaire-making investment asset? Further, in what way should the legal market take note of this…

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Reading like Shakespeare’s ‘The Comedy of Errors’, a recent Labour Court judgment wades through muddied water to reiterate the crystal-clear effect of an employee’s resignation in Mohlwaadibona v Dr JS Moroka Municipality (J718/21) [2022] ZALCJHB 91. While the events of this matter unfolded, the employer, Dr JS Moroka Municipality, was under administration and the appointed administrator, Mr Mhlanga, dealt with the matter. The employee was suffering from a mysterious illness which resulted in his resignation with immediate effect on 1 April 2021. Fifteen days later, by a stroke of miraculous good fortune, his health condition improved, and he wrote a letter to…

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Securing meaningful, sustainable growth in Africa requires a precise skillset with an airtight strategy, the right product fit with a tailored understanding of the market, and crucially, forward-looking leadership. On the back of two high profile customer wins in the financial services sector, Marilyn Moodley, Country Leader for South Africa and West, East, Central Africa at SoftwareONE, says accelerated digital transformation presents exciting new opportunities for growth that are finally being shaped by and for African people and reflects on the five ways IT companies can grow in Africa.   Build a network of partnerships Partnerships are extremely important in…

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It has been 10 months since the commencement of the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA). We have taken stock of recent data protection developments and have set out some key learnings to guide you in your POPIA compliance journey. The matric results debacle – the parameters of compliance when publishing personal information At the start of 2022, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) decided not to publish the 2021 matric results on public platforms, as it has traditionally done at the start of each year. The Information Regulator issued a statement following this decision, in which it said…

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As the global fallout of the Russia-Ukraine war escalates, and Russia retaliates against sanctions through widespread cyber-attacks, a new “cyber pandemic” is predicted to spread around the world. This situation may cause very serious repercussions for organisations and societies that are caught unprepared. Cybercrime expert Dan Thornton, a military veteran and CEO of cybersecurity awareness training platform GoldPhish, warns that while the world is rushing for cover from cyber-attacks and potential cyber warfare, the insurance industry finds itself in a precarious position – how does it define cyber war? And could it be on the hook for paying claims it…

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The world seems to have gone ‘crypto-mad’. Digital currencies like bitcoin, Monero, Ethereum, and even Dogecoin, are all over the internet. Their soaring value promises big wins for investors (if you’re “buying the dip”, that is). And the ‘fortunes’ to be made by mining for virtual money have echoes of gold rushes that formed the first mining towns in South Africa back in the 1800s. Or at least, that’s what many, including a long list of scammers, will have you believe. In reality, if you’re interested in cryptocurrency today, you’re quite possibly at a major risk for fraud. In many…

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Gender equality in the workplace has made strides in recent years, but there is still a long way to go before we achieve full equality and inclusion and we must continue to discuss it. According to the World Bank’s Women, Business, and the Law 2022 Report, 95 countries do not guarantee equal pay for equal work. The WBL Index improved the most in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and North Africa in 2021, although they still lag behind the rest of the world. And even among women in positions of power, many feel forced to apologise for juggling a family…

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Today, the world commemorates International Women’s Day. Below is a Q&A content piece where Cecelia Regolo shares her personal insights about what working in tech entails and how the pandemic has affected the working environment. Cecelia is a senior Business Development Specialist at Western Digital. As a woman, what have some of your biggest challenges been in your industry? How have you overcome them?  As an industry, technology has sometimes been a challenging sector for women to get into, and that’s replicated right the way down to the education level. For example, when I was studying for my Institute of…

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The South African Revenue Services (SARS) appears to be reviewing the tax deductibility of donations made after 30 September 2021 to organisations set up to provide economic forms of disaster relief for Covid-19 If you donated to a Covid-19 disaster relief organisation or, as such an organisation, issued a tax-deductible receipt after 30 September 2021, you should take note of divergent interpretations that have emerged of what qualifies as disaster relief within the ambit of the applicable legislative matrix. Covid-19 relief organisations were set up in response to the call by the President for South Africans to stand together in…

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