Author: Contributor
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
A US body has launched a legal challenge to Vizio, a TV manufacturer, for failing to provide the source code for the software in its smart TV, which may have implications for other software developers. Have you ever purchased an electrical appliance or device, only to discover shortly afterwards that the model is obsolete? A US non-profit organization that supports free software (the Software Freedom Conservancy) has launched legal proceedings against a US-based television manufacturer (Vizio) for failing to provide consumers with the source code for the software used in the Vizio smart television. The Software Freedom Conservancy alleges that…
by Peter Grealy, Nozipho Mngomezulu, Karl Blom, Wendy Tembedza, Cindy Leibowitz from Webber Wentzel The President has declared that some parts of the Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020 (Cybercrimes Act) are operational with effect from 1 December 2021. This follows the signature of the Cybercrimes Act by the President in May 2021. The partial commencement of the Cybercrimes Act ushers in a new era of criminalising the ever-increasing and devastating incidences of digital crime – click here to read more. While we are excited about this new development, we will eagerly await the commencement of the remainder of the Cybercrimes Act to give a full…
Crypto day trading is a very popular trading platform used by traders around the world every day. This is a short-term trading strategy, the main idea of which is to make quick profits. Day traders are buying and selling the cryptocurrency during the same day and this is where the name of this strategy comes from. Day trading is considered to be a high-risk strategy, which takes advantage of the high volatility and liquidity of the crypto trading market. Crypto day trading requires investors to have very deep knowledge and understanding of the market in order to make profits. This…
The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on South Africa’s already fragile economy. Add to that the riots and looting, the cost of recovery and Eskom’s load-shedding, and the current picture is bleak. So where to from here? One sector that is important to rebuilding South Africa’s economy is the technology industry. In addition to supporting South Africa’s economic success and prosperity, technology has the potential to establish itself as an emerging leader in innovative ways of thinking about energy, healthcare, education, and many other fields. In this article, we speak with industry experts, who share their perspectives on technology’s role…
SARS is tightening tax collection on cryptocurrency transactions, which makes it important to distinguish between events that will trigger income tax rates or CGT rates. Have you (i) sold your cryptocurrencies (crypto); (ii) exchanged one crypto for another crypto; (ii) purchased goods and services using crypto; (iii) mined or forked for crypto; (iv) received staking rewards in crypto; (v) then sold your staking rewards; (vi) received air-drops of crypto; or (vii) used crypto as collateral for loans? If you answered yes to any of these questions, remember your taxes! The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is increasingly auditing taxpayers’ crypto holdings…
Times were hard and he needed money so a rich friend gave him a loan of a million rand – that is what State Security Deputy Minister Zizi Kodwa told the Zondo Commission on Monday. Explaining why he turned his wealthy friend Jehad Mackay, who at the time was chief executive of EOH, Kodwa said he was so broke the banks wouldn’t lend him any money, Kodwa says the million rand his property tycoon buddy gave him “had no strings attached”. The deputy minister said he used the bulk of the loan to buy a car. Evidence leader advocate Matthew Chaskalson asked: “If you…
The recently published Crypto Asset Policy Paper lays out the types of crypto-asset service providers that will be subjected to regulatory oversight and how they will be supervised On 11 June 2021, the Inter-governmental Fintech Working Group (IFWG) published its long-awaited Crypto Asset Policy Paper. It shows the IFWG is officially moving towards regulating crypto-asset services in South Africa and bringing an end to the long-standing “user-beware” crypto-asset regulatory position established in 2014. The South African crypto-asset industry will now begin the process of transitioning from its current unregulated landscape to an environment subject to the regulatory purview of the…
On 21 May 2021, the Constitutional Court handed victory to SARS in a decision that may have sweeping ramifications for retailers who operate loyalty plans similar to the Clicks ClubCard loyalty programme. What was at stake for Clicks and other retailers? The matter of Clicks Retailers (Pty) Limited v Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service [2021] ZACC 11 involved the application of section 24C of the Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962 to its loyalty programme. Section 24C allows taxpayers to defer paying tax on income if it accrues in terms of a contract and that income will…
Comments on Government’s controversial proposed data policy – the Draft National Policy on Data and Cloud, released on 1 April 2021 – are due by 18 May. The policy, in which the government will become co-owner of all data generated in South Africa (SA), has already attracted widespread debate amongst commentators, with many saying that it raises issues around privacy and has the potential to scare off much-needed investment into the sector. But, it may be too soon to label the bill a help or hindrance. Aspects of the policy are encouraging, particularly proposals about extending the provision of government…
By Asifa Jiyabudeen, Welcome Mokgabudi and Ayan Bagchi Robotic Process Automation (RPA) refers to business process automation where software robots (Bots) drive the existing applications in a similar manner human does. This basically means that Robotic Process Automation is a platform that orchestrates and operates other application software through the existing application’s user interface and in that sense, it is not integrated into the enterprise application. It is code-free, non-disruptive, non-invasive, and easy to use. This new technology came into the industry to take on some tedious and complex business processes that were carried out by humans, through scaling and…
by Argantic CEO Garry Ackerman Despite Microsoft’s constant reminders, many businesses are still struggling to migrate from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams. With the end of Skype for Business fast approaching, companies need a safe, secure and effective migration plan. Customers need to move to Microsoft Teams before the end of July 2021. There has been a major shift to Teams since remote working empowered more people to move to the cloud. Microsoft Teams is the hub for team collaboration in Microsoft 365 that integrates the people, content and tools that any team needs to be more engaged and…