Author: Gugu Lourie
Private hospital group Life Healthcare says its southern African operation has been the victim of a targeted criminal attack on its IT systems. “We acted immediately on becoming aware of the incident and took our systems offline, in order to actively contain the attack,” the company said in a statement. The group added that it was still investigating whether any data was compromised in the attack. “External cyber security experts and forensic teams have been brought on board to advise and supplement our internal teams and capacity,” Life Healthcare said. “We have alerted the relevant authorities and investigations are underway.”…
JSE-listed technology group EOH is slowly winning its battle over its debt burden. The group has agreed to a R1.6 billion deleverage plan with its lenders. The troubled company, which is primarily focusing on reducing its debt, informed investors on Tuesday that it had achieved its first capital repayment milestone having repaid R540 million of the R1.6 billion. “This is in excess of the R500 million agreed with lenders and well ahead of the 31 August 2020 deadline.” Since 1 August 2018, EOH said it has repaid R1.77 billion to its lenders – R1,140 million in the capital and R626…
Amid questions of “what is happening with our R350 COVID-19 Grant?” Applicants remain disappointed as their concerns are posted on social media were once again ignored by the South African Social Services Agency (SASSA) and the Ministry of Social Development. Despite weeks of cries of the unemployed on Twitter seeking answers about their applications for the jobless grant, SASSA and the Ministry of Social Development remained mum until today. SASSA decided to respond to the tweets, stating on its official Twitter page that: “There is a high volume of applications, however, SASSA will respond to all applicants.” There is a…
The decision to prohibit the sale of tobacco products, e-cigarettes and related products was taken after careful consideration, not only of the submissions received but also the relevant medical literature focusing on the effects of smoking, especially in the face of respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19 said President Cyril Ramaphosa. “At this stage, it is difficult to determine when the ban on the sale of tobacco and related products will be lifted,” said Ramaphosa. “This will depend on such factors as the progression of the disease in South Africa, the readiness of our health systems and evolving knowledge on the…
FNB customers are unable to buy airtime, data and electricity on the bank’s online platforms. FNB has confirmed that some of its functionality is temporarily unavailable. “Our IT teams are working to restore the affected functionality,” the bank said in a statement. “We apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused.” Users on Twitter said they Yo @FNBSA your cellphone banking app is not working. What going on there chief?— #ThoughtsInMelody (@DotCom_SA) June 8, 2020 FNB app whats going on?????? pic.twitter.com/knjWo2Cv6F— Peace (@uPeace_) June 7, 2020
As we watch the number of infections rise further – probably far faster than most of us imagined – we should be concerned, but not alarmed, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday. Writing in his Monday morning address, entitled From The Desk of the President, Ramaphosa said: “That is because we have the ability, as individuals, communities and as a country, to limit the impact of the disease on our people.” Over the course of the coming week, he said the country can expect the total number of cases to pass the 50,000 mark. “Sadly, we are also likely to…
A South African law firm is warning people of the dangers of publishing, sharing and forwarding defamatory messages on social media, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and TikTok. Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr wrote in a note that that South African law considers repeating or sharing defamatory content as sufficient to constitute “publication” and, thus, defamation in its own right, even if the repeater or sharer was not the author of the original defamatory post. “So just by clicking share, you could be perpetuating the defamation, exposing yourself to a damages claim for defamation or to potential dismissal by your employer,” Timothy Smit and…
The ANC is accused of attempting to use the COVID-19 crisis to muscle in on the DA-led Western Cape. The Sunday Times reports that among the deployed ministers, whose duties in the Western Cape have not been spelt out in detail, are lockdown big-hitters police minister Bheki Cele and trade, industry & competition minister Ebrahim Patel. “It seems there is a coup d’etat from national to administratively start taking over certain aspects of the Western Cape by neutralising the provincial government,” a senior official within the provincial government told the Sunday Times. As of yesterday, the Western Cape remains a…
The reopening of alcohol sales has placed a significant strain on hospital emergency rooms. The Sunday Times reported that across the country, a massive surge of people in hospital emergency rooms with alcohol-related injuries has put additional strain on health-care numbers and filled up ICU beds needed for COVID-19 patients. A hard lockdown was imposed at the end of March to curb the spread of COVID-19 while giving the government time to prepare the healthcare system for the expected spike in virus infections. Level 3 of the lockdown began on 1 June and enabled the sale of alcohol. The South African government…
MultiChoice, Africa’s biggest pay-TV operator, announced today that it expects to deliver a rise of between 35% (144 ZAR cents) and 40% (164 ZAR cents) of core headline earnings per share (HEPS) for full-year ended 31 March 2020. HEPS is South Africa’s main profit gauge. Africa’s biggest pay-TV operator said on Friday that trading profit is expected to be between 10% (R700 00) and 15% (R1.1 billion) higher than the prior year´s R7 billion. The operator attributed the improved financial performance to management’s focus on cost containment, which allowed the business to offset these challenges and drive a further reduction…