Author: The Bulrushes

A car fitment firm has introduced a new way for its customers to renew their vehicle licences while avoiding long queues and touts at licencing centres by simply using a WhatsApp number while visiting any of its stores. Fitment centre group Supa Quick on Wednesday said it has partnered with Disky – an online platform – to make it “convenient and quick for motorists to renew their vehicle licenses using WhatsApp at any of the 190 Supa Quick stores across South Africa”. Adeshni Sewbaran, franchise director at Supa Quick said: “We are all pressed for time, and no one likes…

The African National Congress (ANC) has failed to meet its obligations in terms of making regular retirement fund contributions to the  Provident Fund, racking up arrears of R86 million, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) revealed Wednesday. Responding to queries on the matter, the FSCA said it was prudent and in the public interest to provide an update to the public. The FSCA said it was also acting in accordance with the Financial Sector Regulation Act, 2017, which requires it to inform the public of regulatory action or intervention it has taken in relation to regulated entities. “The ANC, which is a participating employer in…

Four serving prisoners have allegedly been caught scamming male users of a clandestine escort website from whom they extorted more than a million rand using threats of arrest for rape. Authorities alleged the enterprising inmates aged between the ages of 26 and 32 used cellphones to create fake profiles of policemen – complete with photos – and used the information they somehow got from an online escort agency to extort cash from users. Investigations revealed that fake police officers were extorting money from male victims who had sought the services of a clandestine online escort agency. The victims were contacted…

South African students applying to a higher education institution where the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is an admissions requirement can now enter the British Council’s annual IELTS Prize competition to potentially win £3 000 or R59261.00 towards their university tuition fees. The IELTS Prize is a global initiative created to help ambitious young people turn their academic dreams into reality by providing them with financial assistance and the opportunity to pursue their undergraduate or postgraduate course of choice in English-speaking universities around the world. This year’s competition is open to eligible IELTS test takers from nine countries around…

Cape Town-based non-profit group, Younglings, has teamed up with Empire Partner Foundation (EPF) to unearth a new group of young enterprising South African software developers. Founded by Alwyn Van Wyk, Younglings became the newest member of the EPFs growing ecosystem, joining a prestigious list that includes, SAtion, and Microsoft. The EPF has since 2016 been supporting young tech entrepreneurs seeking digital solutions to solve societal challenges and propel them to growth, while the Younglings provides internships and opportunities for youngsters to become software developers. The EPF and Younglings partnered to host EPF’s 21st hackathon, which brought 300 young digital innovators…

27four Investment Managers, a South Africa-based asset management and advisory firm, has implemented PE Front Office to enhance its Private Markets operations. PE Front Office, the end-to-end integrated solution for Alternative Investment Management, announced the engagement. 27four can now use the PE Front Office Platform to enhance its Private Markets operations. The software supports fund of funds operations in particular, which has been a key focus of 27four’s Private Markets team to date. It has numerous capabilities including; Deal Flow Management, Investment Management, Portfolio Monitoring, Investor Relations Management, and Fund Administration augmented by CRM, Document Management, Reports & Analytics, Outlook/Gmail Plugins…

Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) says it is ready to assist the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) with technical skills to tackle state capture. Last week BLSA signed a memorandum of understanding with the NPA to support the prosecution authority with the technical skills it needs to mount effective prosecutions. “I applaud the NPA’s willingness to take bold and innovative measures to ensure it has the resources it needs to deliver convictions,” said BLSA CEO Busi Mavuso in her weekly newsletter published Monday. “The NPA is ramping up its efforts to respond to the Zondo Commission and will need specialised skills to…

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday night announced a wide range of solutions to tackle persistent load-shedding including, re-hiring experts, adding renewables, encouraging households to install rooftop solar, and changing laws to allow municipalities to generate power. “While existing legislation may be sufficient in ordinary times, the current crisis requires that we act decisively and more speedily,” said Ramaphosa in his live broadcast. “We will therefore be tabling special legislation in Parliament on an expedited basis to address the legal and regulatory obstacles to new generation capacity for a limited period.” South Africa has installed capacity to produce approximately 46 000…

The City of Cape Town on Monday announced that it will now pay cash to small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) customers for the excess energy they produce and sell back to the City. Announcing the big step toward ending load-shedding, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said: “This morning, I met with over 50 members of Cape Town’s business community to announce two important steps in the City’s journey to ending load-shedding and becoming energy secure.” Hill-Lewis added: “The City of Cape Town will now pay cash to small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) customers for the excess energy they produce and sell back to the…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Madam Justice Mandisa Muriel Lindelwa Maya, current President of the Supreme Court of Appeal, as Deputy Chief Justice of the Republic of South Africa with effect from 1 September 2022. “President Ramaphosa made this appointment in accordance with Section 174(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa,” the Presidency said on Monday. Justice Maya brings more than two decades of a distinguished career as a judicial officer. She is the first woman to hold the positions of Deputy President and President of the Supreme Court of Appeal. “Justice Maya will contribute to the…

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s (JSE) Virtual Trading Game is growing in popularity as more people become aware of how it helps individuals to learn to invest. Director of Marketing and Corporate Affairs at the JSE, Vuyo Lee, says the JSE’s Virtual Trading Game, was launched to drive awareness about the stock market. Since its inception, the Virtual Trading Game has attracted increasing numbers of participants, says Lee. “The JSE Virtual Trading Game is a game that aims to teach South Africans about investing on the JSE and the larger role that such investment plays in the country’s economy,” explains Lee.…

In a bid to accelerate digital transformation in South Africa’s public sector, the University of Pretoria (UP) and the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Institute teamed up for the first time to host an executive education programme, for senior government officials and leaders of state-owned enterprises. The two-day executive programme was held on Thursday and Friday at UP’s Future Africa Institute. It featured various speakers, including international cybersecurity experts, national and provincial government officials from several departments, academics, and representatives from state-owned enterprises including Transnet Freight Rail, SENTECH, and power utility Eskom. Cyber security expert Prof Jan Eloff, the acting Dean…

The Gauteng Department of Health on Sunday revealed that Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH) has more than 2 600 people on its waiting list for surgeries. The department said the hospital was now using “various interventions to reduce long waiting times for surgical procedures”. The interventions include opening a second theatre on Tuesdays and Fridays for cardiothoracic (heart, lungs, chest organs) surgeries. “Patients who are due for smaller cases of plastic surgery, neurosurgery, cardiothoracic, paediatric and other general surgeries are referred to Bertha Gxowa District Hospital and those who are due for minor colorectal cases are referred to South…

KwaZulu-Natal Businessman Makhonzandile Lukhope and his daughter Naledi Lukhope were arrested by the Hawks and have appeared in court for PPE fraud of more than four million rand. “The Lukhopes were arrested on charges of fraud, forgery and uttering to the value of R4 365 868.88 related to a PPE tender awarded by the Eastern Cape Department of Education,” said the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) on Thursday. “The pair was arrested on Wednesday 20 July 2022 and appeared before the Zwelitsha Magistrates Court. “They were both subsequently released on bail of R4 000 and R2 000 each.” The SIU said…

The opportunity to participate in the more than four-decade-long financial literacy programme is fast becoming a factor when learners rate their overall satisfaction with their school learning environment. There is a growing appreciation by South African learners for the need to gain exposure to a broader knowledge base beyond the school curriculum, says Ralph Speirs, JSE CSI officer. Learners from Acudeo College Crystal Park agree with Speirs. “One thing that I personally love about my experience in this school is all the wonderful opportunities that it has exposed me to, like the JSE Investment Challenge,” says Onyinye Kennedy, matric learner…

Five former Department of Community Safety help desk officials accused of taking bribes to unlawfully erase massive outstanding licence fees owed by trucking companies have been arrested. The scam allegedly involved R60 million. The accused, 43-year-old Thembi Millicent Motlohi, 35-year-old Allman Thabani Masuku, 52-year-old Xoliswa Celia Ngcekwane, 44-year-old Nompulelo Winnie Nxumalo, 54-year-old Agnes Nosipho Ndzinisa, and 37-year-old Mbombela Registry Authority official Nkosinathi Samuel Gumede, were arrested on Monday. The accused were taken down by a team of law enforcers that included Nelspruit-based Hawks, officials from the Road Traffic Management Corporation, and others from the National Traffic Anti-Corruption Unit as well…

Theletsi Roger Nkhumise – the former municipal manager of Moretele Municipality in the North West – was arrested on Friday over a dodgy multi-million-rand IT tender and appeared at the Moretele Regional Court the same day. Nkhumise is accused of unlawfully appointing Flame IT Strategy to render ICT services to the Moretele Municipality, which is largely rural, to the tune of approximately R215 million. The municipality inherited the contract for ICT services from Madibeng Local Municipality. The arrest of Nkhumise follows an investigation conducted by the  Special Investigating Unit (SIU), which revealed that the municipality increased the scope of work with two…

The Chinese national, Lu Ke, who used village children to make videos mocking Africans has been extradited from Zambia to Malawi, where he allegedly committed appalling racist offences. “Members of the public will recall that Mr. Lu Ke fled Malawi after the publication of a BBC report on the dehumanising videos he produced by tricking Malawian children in Lilongwe and Mchinji district for profit,” said the Malawi government at the weekend. The videos in which the children repeated Chinese words that mocked them went viral, allegedly earning the accused significant amounts of money. The BBC Africa Eye documentary expose revealed how Lu Ke took the children…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has taken umbrage with United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader General Bantu Holomisa’s suggestions that he must provide evidence about his CR17 campaign funding to the ongoing National Assembly Section 194 inquiry. The Section 194 inquiry was constituted by Parliament to investigate grounds of misconduct and incompetence against suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane. General Holomisa suggested to the inquiry – probing Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office – that Ramaphosa should be called to testify because the Constitutional Court “may have” erred in its findings on the public protector’s CR17 report. Responding to the UDM leader’s comments, the Presidency on…

For SA businesses and institutions to remain competitive they have to adopt Artificial intelligence (AI) tech to match the global speed of innovation and efficiency, says Amritesh Anand, vice-president of tech multinational In2IT technologies. In that regard, AI has become such an important investment for businesses in SA. This, as larger AI budgets have become a sharp point of focus globally, as businesses across all industries are increasing their investment in artificial intelligence to create competitive advantage. The use of AI has been stepped up globally in recent months, driven by the United Nations tech agency International Telecommunication Union, which…

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe on Monday announced fuel price hikes amid fears that the cost of food and other goods will be affected. The minister said that based “on current local and international factors”, the fuel prices for July 2022 will be adjusted as follows: ❖ Petrol (both 93 ULP and LRP): two hundred and thirty seven cents per litre (R2.37 per/l) increase; ❖ Petrol (both 95 ULP and LRP): two hundred and fifty seven cents per litre (R2.57 per/l) increase; ❖ Diesel (0.05% sulphur): two hundred and thirty one cents per litre (R2.31 per/l) increase; ❖ Diesel (0.005% sulphur):…

A close-knit team comprising students from the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) has won the May monthly prize in the University category of the JSE Investment Challenge.  Team “Dancing In The Dark” shows that bringing together a diverse set of skills, opinions, and ideas can be a source of strength. Members of this team are students pursuing fields of study in different faculties including actuarial science, health sciences, and accountancy. Roberto Coelho, in his fourth year studying towards a Chartered Accountancy qualification, says a person’s field of study has nothing to do with being successful in this competition. “It is your…

Cryptocurrency dealers 57-year-old Zain Muhammed Valle and 25-year-old Michelle Bianca Bezuidenhout appeared in the Lenasia Regional Court Wednesday on fraud and money laundering charges involving R34 million. The pair were arrested yesterday by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team in Johannesburg. Valle and Bezuidenhout were arrested at their respective residences in Lenasia and Alberton, in Johannesburg. “Their arrest emanated from the alleged cryptocurrency establishment scam where the complainant was lured to invest in Siyakhula Logistics Pty (LTD) in February 2020, with potential lucrative dividends,” said Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu. “The complainant allegedly transferred approximately R34 million into the establishment and…

The Congress of the People (COPE) on Monday said it has reported former director general of State Security Agency (SSA), Arthur Fraser, to the police in Pretoria for alleged crimes – including graft. Dennis Bloem, COPE national spokesperson, said the party’s action was prompted by allegations contained in the report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture (Zondo Commission). He said the allegations were “very serious” and COPE can not wait for four months – the period President Cyril Ramaphosa will need to make his recommendatios to Parliament. Speaking to reporters outside the Broklyn Police Station…

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) on Monday said it has obtained a preservation order to freeze a luxury property owned by Vhuthanda Investment, whose sole director is Prof. Alfred Nevhutanda. “The property was allegedly bought for approximately R27 million with money from National Lotteries Commission,” said the SIU. The SIU said its probe revealed that the property was funded by NPOs with the money they have received, under the auspices of grant funding, from National Lotteries Commission. At the time of the purchase, Prof. Nevhuthanda was chairperson of the NLC board. Five NPOs applied for grant funding at NLC and…