Author: Staff Writer

President Cyril Ramaphosa has tested negative for the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). “The President submitted for testing as a precautionary measure upon the advice of his physicians on Tuesday and received his results last night,” the Presidency said in a statement on Thursday. As Head of State and Chair of the National Command Council (NCC) the President has a rigorous public engagements schedule; and has, during the course of the last few weeks, held numerous meetings with a wide cross-section of people from all walks of life. “The Presidency has deemed it necessary to make the test results public to reassure…

“Feeling the Pinch? Buy a Business” is possibly one of the most juxtaposing statements off the back of a dismal 2019 GDP performance, the Rand’s current position, consistent rolling blackouts and now, coronavirus having hit South African shores. Yet, when asked to repeat himself, Sean Stegmann – CEO of SA’s largest second-hand retailer, Cash Crusaders confirms that “yes, this is a great time to buy a recession-proof business.” “In a pressured environment that is currently in an economic recession – the severity of which appears to shift daily, our business continues to thrive,” says Sean. “People are tired of being…

As actions are taken against the virus, customer behaviours will also adjust and this will have a huge social and economic impact. FNB CEO Lee-Anne van Zyl said over the past few days “Our customers can use our app to download bank statements and manage their debit or credit cards without going into a branch” Online financial service QuotesAdvisor.com has analyzed its website transactions and the results indicate a change in customers’ behaviour as a result of the outbreak. “In the last days we registered a slight increase in the number of online payments, and we expect this trend to…

Distell, Africa’s leading producer and marketer of spirits, fine wines, ciders and ready-to-drinks (RTDs), today announced that it will begin producing hand sanitisers and other hygienic products at its production facilities as part of its efforts to help curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. “Our priority as Distell – right now and always – is the safety and well-being of our employees, our stakeholders and society at large. We are determined to support our government in its bid to halt the current rapid spread of COVID-19 and in the absence of a vaccine, good hygiene remains one of…

Short-term insurer and financial services provider MiWay has announced that it will give over R25 million in premium income back to its clients during April as a result of the twenty-one-day lockdown declared by President Cyril Ramaphosa to combat the spread of COVID-19. Most South Africans will be staying and working from home for the next few weeks and most businesses will not be running at full capacity, following the sweeping measures put in place by Government to tackle the pandemic. This means there will be far less traffic on our roads, thus reducing the risk of car accidents. MiWay…

5G can enhance the effectiveness of pandemic prevention and treatment, and drive the digital transformation of healthcare systems in response to major public emergencies, such as the current pandemic of COVID-19, a newly released Deloitte report suggests. The white paper titled, “Combating COVID-19 with 5G: Opportunities to improve public health systems,” was produced in collaboration with Huawei. During the outbreak in China, telecommunications operators collaborated with Huawei to rapidly set up a specific 5G network dedicated to COVID-19 treatment hospitals. The white paper analyses examples of COVID-19 control and treatment measures in China and identified challenges that face epidemic management…

Avon on Wednesday condemned unfounded, unsubstantiated and untrue social media allegation that the company has classified its business as an essential service. Government has stipulated which sectors of the economy it deems as essential services. “Avon takes a dim view to these unsubstantiated claims which it regards as malicious,” said Mafahle Mareletse, Managing Director: Avon Justine SA. “When the numbers of confirmed coronavirus infections steadily increased, Avon made provisions to protect its employees, suppliers and customers by instructing its employees to work from home.” As at yesterday, Avon Justine Head Office employees that been working from home since Wednesday last…

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) will remain fully operational throughout South Africa’s 21-day lockdown which will be implemented from midnight (SA Standard Time) tomorrow, Thursday 26 March 2020. JSE Group CEO, Leila Fourie said that the bourse was constantly monitoring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, continuously engaging with National Treasury, the Prudential Authority and the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). The JSE had already moved close to 90% of its employees out of the exchange to work remotely. Critical staff would be able to work from the exchange should the need arise to enable the JSE to seamlessly trade,…

Shoprite, Africa’s largest food retailer, has announced a once-off R102 million appreciation bonus for its shopfloor and distribution centre employees to thank and support them for their tireless efforts to feed the nation in these unprecedented times. The largest private employer in South Africa said this follows President Cyril Ramaphosa’s call on larger businesses, in particular, to take care of their workers during this period and to marshal every resource and their every energy to fight this epidemic. Supermarket employees are at the forefront of serving and safeguarding customers by implementing the group’s strict hygiene measures while distribution centre employees are…

ISPA calls on South African ISPs and other ICT service providers to take steps to support internet users engaged in online education during the COVID-19 National Disaster period. These steps may include zero-rating educational traffic, temporarily increasing bandwidth caps for some customers, or even providing limited free “lifeline” data packages to customers. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) play an important role in keeping South Africans connected, especially during a time of crisis. Given the ongoing disruptions to schools and universities, all ISPs should zero-rate traffic to national educational learning resources, including learning management systems, institutional repositories, library services and student support…