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PWC report shows that senior management is main perpetrator of economic crimes

South Africa’s rating of 44 out of 100 in the 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International has raised serious and valid concerns about the country’s standing, with some key South African institutions already showing characteristics of endemic corruption, which means that little can be done to turn around the rot.

It’s a situation which demands a response from the insurance industry to safeguard corporate reputation, financial stability and business continuity, according to risk advisors and insurance brokerage, Aon South Africa.

South Africa scored 44 out of 100 in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index, where 0 indicates a perception that a country is highly corrupt. Of the 175 countries scored, South Africa ranked 67th. Moreover, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) Global Economic Crime Survey of 2014, 69% of South African respondents indicated that they had experienced economic crime, which is nine percentage points higher than in 2011. The PWC report also shows that senior management is now the main perpetrator of economic crimes committed by insiders. The typical perpetrator of insider fraud in South Africa is male, aged between 31 and 40, has obtained a university degree and has been with his employer for more than 10 years.

The PWC survey also goes on to report that South African organisations suffer significantly more procurement fraud, human resources fraud, bribery and financial statement fraud than organisations globally. Furthermore, competition law infringement is poorly understood by South African organisations with a significant percentage of respondents unsure whether their organisations had experienced such a contravention and did not know what the potential consequences of an infringement would be. Formal fraud risk management programmes have become the most effective fraud detection method and despite this, a significant portion of South African organisations do not carry out fraud risk assessments.

”All business is at risk, regardless of organisation size, industry sector or risk controls and significant losses can lead to complete business failure, or at the very least, serious impact on the bottom line. Yet surprisingly, it is conservatively estimated that about 40% of all SA businesses do not have adequate insurance in place” says Alicia Goosen, Business Unit Head: Financial Services Group at Aon South Africa.

“Although white-collar crimes do not receive the focus accorded to other crimes for various reasons, these crimes are believed to be costing the country billions and they are on the increase as the PWC report clearly shows,” she adds.

“In the current tough economic environment, fraudsters are becoming ever more creative and syndicates are also at play, which means companies are facing ever increasing risk from white collar crimes in areas such as credit payments, EFT transfers, debtors, petty cash abuse, cash theft, international transfers, payroll fraud (ghost employees) and stock theft,” says Alicia.

There have been various responses to the situation and various controls have been implemented to combat crime, but reliance on these controls alone is not sufficient. Companies should facilitate the correct culture which encourages employees to do the right thing and thorough risk assessments and ongoing audits need to be in place.

“Under Section 34 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act of 2004, it’s obligatory to report crimes related to fraud and corruption, thereby placing the onus squarely on those not only in a position of authority in business but on anybody who may have knowledge of a crime. The Act defines fraud as theft, extortion, forgery or uttering, involving amounts greater than R100 000. It even spells out who may be reasonably deemed to have known or suspected that corrupt transactions are taking place, so apart from the direct loss suffered, legislation could rub salt into the wound in no uncertain terms.

“Moreover, fraud can cripple an organization and therein lies the challenge for the broker community in that broad based, but correctly scoped, well communicated fraud covers and risk management needs to be provided for South African business.

“This is true whether or not an organisation has an effective fraud risk control and minimisation process in place, for the reality is that the majority of corporate fraudsters are not held criminally liable and even when they are prosecuted, the ability to recover the financial loss is unlikely.

“The fundamental solution is a commercial crime framework, incorporating indemnity for losses resulting from employee dishonesty, forgery or alternation, fraudulent transfer instructions and third party computer crime. Brokers have to assess each client’s needs and tailor covers accordingly. This includes structuring primary and if necessary excess of loss layers of cover providing limits of indemnity varied enough to appeal to businesses.

“Significantly, the PWC survey also shows that putting more anti-fraud controls in place pays off and in our view, an audit of these risk control aspects as insisted upon by underwriters must form the basis of an initial risk control process, followed by on-going monitoring of weak areas of the business.

“A rising claims experience can also see the increase in self-insurance retention, a degree of Alternative Risk Transfer (ART) could be called for in the case of larger companies with well-established risk transfer programmes.

Results from FinScope Consumer Survey Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) 2014  

Embargoed until 10h00 26 March 2015    

Johannesburg, 26 March 2015:
FinMark Trust released the results of its first FinScope Consumer DRC survey results today. The FinScope Survey, developed by FinMark Trust, is a research tool to assess financial access in a country and to identify the constraints that prevent financial service providers from reaching the financially under- and unserved people.

The FinScope Survey is a nationally representative survey of how individuals source their incomes and how they manage their financial lives. It also provides insight into attitudes and perceptions regarding financial products and services. FinScope DRC involved a range of stakeholders engaging in a comprehensive consultation process, thereby enriching the survey. To date, FinScope Consumer Surveys have been conducted in 20 countries including the DRC.

The study was based on a sample of 5000 adults who are 15 years or older and is representative of the overall level of the Central Bank of Congo’s areas of economic activity and therefore all the figures quoted here are indicative of the areas covered.  

Overview
The study revealed that 70% of the targeted population have access to a water source in the form of piped water, electricity (25%) and latrines/flush toilet (31%). The overall financial inclusion level is 48% with 12% of the population banked, 32% using formal non-bank products and services and 26% using informal services.

1 in 5 adults in surveyed areas are dependent on someone else for money. About 1 in 3 adults of the population rely on farming and have a median income of less than US$1 per day with limited knowledge and resources. The majority of households involved in farming (82%) sell at least some of their produce. The major farming problems experienced relate to lack of agricultural tools,  inputs and the lack of knowledge on the types of crops and vegetables  to grow.

The main reasons for financial exclusion are development and infrastructure constraints, limited income and pressing livelihood priorities. Further, main contributors to exclusion relate to lack of awareness of financial products particularly insurance and mobile money. Affordability of financial products and services and limited user base for financial services providers to justify roll-out of point-of-sale infrastructure also contribute to financial exclusion.

Financial inclusion
The DRC has an overall financial inclusion level of 48%. Remittance transfers are the main drivers of financial inclusion via formal local and international agencies at 53%. 52% of the targeted population do not use financial products and services to manage their finances. They save by keeping their money at home, and rely on family and friends for borrowing.

A combination of products and services are used to meet financial needs, for example an individual could have a bank account and belong to a burial society. Only 3% of the targeted adult population rely exclusively on banking services while another 3% use as a combination of bank and non-bank and informal mechanisms to manage their financial needs.

This suggests that their needs are not fully met by one sector alone. While 18% of the adult population rely on formal mechanisms such as remittance transfers, 12% rely on informal mechanisms, for example savings with Likelemba. The study shows that the level of financial inclusion is higher among males (52%) than females (44%) and among formal sector employees (77%) compared to those without money (18% and who mainly rely on farming (35%).

Banking is largely driven by transactional and savings products with the banked population for the surveyed areas at 12%. Those who opened a bank account mainly do so to keep money safe from theft (73%), they have trust in banks (60%) and they deposit salaries in to bank accounts (55%). Majority of the population are not banked (88%).

The main reasons for the high level of unbanked population is the lack of awareness of banks (48%), not having enough money for a bank account (30%) and irregular income (23%). 8% of the targeted population  indicated that banks are too far away.

Savings
Congolese are more likely to save (55%) than to borrow money (8%) despite low levels of income.  Of those who save, 81% do so to have money when needed, 41% save for medical expenses while 41% save for other emergencies.  Of those who save, 28% keep all their savings at home and do not use formal and informal savings products and mechanisms. Some use informal mechanisms to save (17%) such as Likelemba and might also save at home but do not have any formal savings products. Only 7% of those surveyed do so using products from a commercial bank.45% of adults do not save, of which 57% have no money left after living expenses, while 54% have no income in order to save.

Credit and borrowing
92% of the adults in the surveyed areas claimed that they did not borrow or take goods on credit in the past 12 months prior to the survey.  Of those who do not borrow, 31% do not want to incur debt, while 10% claimed that they do not need it.  The percentage of those who rely on family and friends to borrow is at 4.5% while 3% rely on informal mechanisms such as Banque Lambert.  Of those who borrow (8%), 31% do so for medical expenses while 26% borrow for housing purposes.        

Insurance
99% of the adults do not have any kind of financial products covering risk.  Insurance cover is low with reliance on savings or family when difficulties take place. Significant household risks cited by adult Congolese are death, illness and cutting back on medical spending feature highly as a response to financial difficulties. The main barriers to the uptake of insurance are that value of assets are too low to insure, lack of affordability and not understanding how insurance works.  

Remittances
34% of Congolese remit (send or receive money) to or from family members, parents and children on a monthly basis and 25% remit via formal channels.  

Mobile money
57% of the adults use cellphones.  Although 35% of the targeted population know about mobile money, only 4% use it. 96% of the targeted population do not use mobile money services as they are not aware of mobile money and do not have enough information and interest in it.    

FinScope
FinScope was launched in 2002 by the FinMark Trust (www.finmark.org.za). Its purpose is to establish credible benchmarks on the use of, and access to, financial services in South Africa.  It is designed to highlight opportunities for innovation in products and delivery. The FinScope survey is a comprehensive and national representative study on financial inclusion, looking at how people source their income and manage their financial lives. It has been implemented in 20 countries (12 in SADC, 5 non-SADC Africa and 3 in Asia).  

Editorial contact:  FinMark Trust, Nitha Ramnath (Ms),  Communication Manager

Tel:  011 315-9197 / 0829214769
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

About FinMark Trust
FinMark Trust, an independent trust based in Johannesburg, South Africa, was established in 2002, and is funded primarily by UKaid from the Department for International Development (DFID) through its Southern Africa office.  FinMark Trust’s purpose is ‘Making financial markets work for the poor, by promoting financial inclusion and regional financial integration’. FinMark Trust does this by conducting research to identify the systemic constraints that prevent financial markets from reaching out to these consumers and by advocating for change on the basis of research findings. Please visit www.finmark.org.za

Specialist bank, Investec, has implemented Entersekt’s multi-factor authentication product, Transakt, to boost the security of its private client mobile application. Entersekt, an innovative pioneer in transaction authentication, helped Investec reinforce the bond of trust it shares with its clients through use of the Transakt Software Development Kit (SDK).

In early 2014, Investec deployed Entersekt technology to provide its South African clients with user-friendly protection of mobile and online banking. This mobile-based, out-of-band, two-factor authentication solution disencumbered users of the one-time passwords they had previously retyped, instead allowing them to authorize transactions with a simple tap on their mobile devices. (Investec also implemented Transakt to secure employee access to internal networks.)

Now, a year later, Investec has extended its investment in Entersekt’s state-of-the-art technology: it has simultaneously rolled out a significant upgrade to its mobile banking offering in South Africa while providing the service to its client base in the United Kingdom for the first time. The upgrade, which is largely transparent to existing users, introduces a range of powerful security capabilities while streamlining the user interaction.

“With Entersekt, we saw an opportunity to improve the user experience dramatically, while at the same time enhancing security on the mobile channel,” said Lyndon Subroyen, global head of digital channels at Investec. “The Transakt SDK allows us to offer the same level of functionality our existing mobile users have come to expect from us, and take it to our UK-based clients with enhanced security features in place. Entersekt has a strong security roadmap, so we are confident that, working together, we will stay ahead of fraudsters.”

Using the Transakt SDK, banks are able to prove the authenticity of transactions originating from any electronic channel by converting their customers’ mobile phones and tablets into cryptographically unique tokens. There’s no reliance on the security protocols of any third party, such as mobile operators, manufacturers, or developers. The process is completely transparent to users, requiring no one-time passwords or challenge questions.

“Entersekt has taken the one piece of technology consumers are never without and transformed it into a powerful tool for protecting their accounts from fraud,” said Christiaan Brand, chief technology officer at Entersekt. “What’s exciting is that, with Transakt in their pockets, Investec’s clients can enjoy the benefits of their bank’s mobile innovation without increasing their exposure to the sophisticated schemes of cybercriminals.”

Schalk Nolte, Entersekt’s chief executive officer, added: “The European financial services industry has long been alert to the benefits of multi-factor authentication. What Entersekt has found as it gains momentum in this market is that banks now want alternatives to stale, increasingly compromised approaches to MFA, like one-time passwords. Their spirit of innovation – broadly evident in their enthusiastic, creative embrace of the mobile banking channel – motivates us to improve on what we do every day.”

- See more at: http://paymentsafrika.com/payment-news/mobile/investec-enhances-mobile-banking-security-in-south-africa/#sthash.iHgqjElV.dpuf

SA banks have achieved slightly higher customer satisfaction scores than last year, although expectations seem to be rising, according the South African Customer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi) released. The overall score was 76.3 out of 100 (2013: 75.6).

The banks measured were FNB, Absa, Nedbank, Standard Bank and Capitec. They were selected on the basis of market share. The massive sample size of over 16 000 customers benchmarked Capitec and FNB as leaders, with scores of 82.2 and 79.3 respectively, both significantly higher than the average SAcsi score of 76.3 out of 100. The only real change in this year’s banking industry benchmark is the turn-around success of Absa. The bank showed an improvement of 2.4 points (from 72.4 to 74.8). Nedbank’s overall score was 74.8 whilst Standard Bank this year has fallen to the bottom of the log with an overall SAcsi score of 73.7 out of 100.

SAcsi is an independent measure of customer satisfaction with various industries which is released at regular intervals throughout the year by Consulta Research. The research into retail banking was conducted in the last quarter of 2014 and excludes the views of South African banks’ business clients.

Prof. Adré Schreuder, founder of SAcsi and CEO of Consulta Research, says that Absa’s performance has improved across all of the contributors to the SA customer satisfaction index. In addition, Absa’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) has improved from 8% to 15%.

There is a correlation between SAcsi scores and business performance, which has been proven over a number of years through the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). “Based on the improvement in the SAcsi score and NPS, Absa is likely to report greater customer acquisition and loyalty, as well as a larger share of wallet and ultimately even better financial performance. But competition will be tough and Absa still has a long way to go to catch up with Capitec and FNB,” says Prof. Schreuder.

The move away from the traditional banking environment to a greater reliance on electronic channels has an effect on satisfaction, as digital banking creates less room for human error. “It is important to remember that customer expectation is influenced by each customer’s individual experiences of consistency in service delivery as well as the promises made by competitors,” explains Prof. Schreuder.

Banking channels
The SAcsi also measured satisfaction with specific retail banking channels. In terms of ATMs, the five banks maintained similar scores to last year at 79.7 out of 100. Nedbank and Absa have shown an upward movement. “This particular score has a lot to do with ATM footprint,” explains Prof. Schreuder.

When it comes to branches, Capitec is seen as the leader in customer satisfaction, although Nedbank’s scored improved by 3.6% on last year.

The area of banking apps has shown the greatest upward movement, with all banks increasing their satisfaction scores for banking apps bar Nedbank, which maintained its position from last year. FNB and Standard Bank both recorded higher scores than last year, with FNB named as the leader in this segment.

FNB is still the leader in satisfaction with cell phone banking, although the gap seems to be closing. FNB was also the only bank to score above the industry average for online banking. Absa and Capitec improved on last year’s satisfaction scores. “FNB has maintained their leadership position in all of the electronic channels – banking apps, mobile banking and online banking,” says Prof. Schreuder.

Specific measures
The SAcsi examines a number of areas to obtain an overall score, including customer expectation, customer loyalty, perceived value and complaints. “Expectations in retail banking amongst FNB customers have started to reach a stable level. On the contrary, all the other banks’ customer expectations are slightly higher this year, “says Prof. Schreuder.

Capitec and FNB were the best performers in the field of perceived quality and exceeded their customers’ expectations. In this SAcsi measure ABSA was again the only bank that showed progress in their score, improving by two index points.

Capitec is a clear leader in the area of perceived value according to the SAcsi, beating the average by 12 points. “Capitec is giving their customers what they expect (value-for-money banking), which means they understand their target customer segment very well,” explains Prof. Schreuder. FNB’s perceived value is higher than the industry average. Absa has improved perceived value amongst customers by a significant margin.

Customers of South African banks still have high levels of complaints, with the industry average at 22 percent of customers. “This means that almost one fifth of banking customers complain on various forums,” says Prof. Schreuder. “It follows that effective problem handling is an important element of customer satisfaction. This year, we see that Capitec has the lowest level of complaints and the highest level of problem resolution, while the other four banks are on a par.”

Capitec and FNB recorded lower customer loyalty scores although they maintained their leadership position in this metric. Absa, however, has recorded an improved customer loyalty score.

In addition to the loyalty component of the benchmark, SAcsi also tracks the well known Net Promoter Score (NPS), which describes the likelihood of customers recommending a particular bank. The NPS has remained stable for the industry at large. “Capitec has the highest NPS of its peers, but Absa’s NPS has almost doubled,” says Prof. Schreuder.

“Customers have a higher propensity to switch if they are not satisfied with the products and services offered by their bank. This is evident in some recent popular advertising campaigns which appealed to customers to switch banks if they were unhappy. This behaviour makes customer retention a challenge, one that banks should not take lightly,” he concludes.

International comparison for banking industry
SAcsi is the only South African company to hold a license with the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) which allows the SAcsi to benchmark South African companies against international equivalents.

SA scored below the US (78), but higher than the UK (74) and South Korea (73). South African banks came in 3rd among the ACSI License-partner countries, with Kuwait setting the international benchmark for banking customer satisfaction at 79 out of 100. “Yet again the South African banking industry has demonstrated that it competes favourably with the traditional financial power houses such as the United States and the United Kingdom in terms of customer satisfaction. Both the South African and US industries appear to be in a reconciliatory phase, whilst the UK has managed to improve on satisfaction levels since the 2013 measure” explains Prof. Schreuder.

The fact that banks are choosing to subscribe to SAcsi to receive statistically sound information speaks volumes about the credibility of the index. “This is not research that is commissioned for marketing purposes, it is used as the basis for strategic management decisions,” says Prof. Schreuder.

The publication of SAcsi results also translates into good news for consumers. “Banks want to ensure that their customers are satisfied and that their performance improves over time. Now that customer satisfaction is being published, they will be under pressure to improve customer satisfaction,” he explains.

The SAcsi delivers detailed industry benchmark reports to subscribing member companies to provide strategic guidance and insights for improving overall customer satisfaction. Executive summaries of the SAcsi scores for all measured companies are available on www.sacsi.co.za

- See more at: http://paymentsafrika.com/payment-news/banking/customer-satisfaction-stagnates-for-banking-leaders-while-nedbank-absa-narrow-the-gap/#sthash.4xuemkN5.dpuf

PRESS RELEASE BY PAARDEBERG SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVE ON THE AUTHORISATION BY THE CITY OF CAPE TOWN OF A WASTE MANAGEMENT FACILITY UNDER THE GUISE OF AN AGRICULTURAL OPERATION It is with utmost regret that the entire community along Slent Road, Klipheuwel, Western Cape has learned that the City of Cape Town’s Council under leadership of Mrs Patricia de Lille, will rubber stamp a recommendation by officials to authorise a waste management facility, in an area where, until recently, the focus was on sustainable farm operations. Notwithstanding various submissions and please to the DA-lead council and finally submission of almost 300 individual petitions, the majority from xhosa-speaking farm workers, it all fell on deaf ears and was turned into nothing more than the dust generated on Slent Road by the monster trucks from Reliance Compost. And the plea to Council was simple, only a request to properly investigate the matter taking all factors into an account and to not arbitrarily decide on a matter that involves one of the City’s very own service providers. A service provider who was allowed by the City to operate illegally without any action taken.

A resident of the area had the following to say: “The Reliance composting plant is situated along the edge of the Winelands border, more specifically on the notorious Slent Road in Agter-Paardeberg, close to Paarl.  Notorious, because  the poor state of the road has caused many accidents, a situation worsened by about at least 2000 trips per month of between 15 and  30 Ton Reliance trucks and other vehicles generated by this site. But let’s look at the cost of the Reliance “greening” exercise:  According to their own reports, Reliance trucks do 96 trips PER DAY:  Should they adhere to their prescribed operating hours and days of operations, then one can (conservatively) estimate that about 2 000 trips per month is made, so about 23 000 per annum.  (Traffic volumes were measured a few years ago, in the meantime this operation has almost doubled the amount of heavy vehicles they have on the road).

Let’s take it a step further.  I call it “so-called” green waste because it also brings in much more than green waste. Pieces of plastic from waste have landed up in adjacent farmers’ lands, been ingested by cattle, and according to these farmers led to the loss of livestock and their lands unsuitable for grazing. This so-called “green waste” is carted in from far flung drop-off sites:   Mostly Wynberg, Ladies Mile (Constantia), Woodstock, Athlone and a few trips from Gordon’s Bay, Kraaifontein and Tygerdal.  When one conservatively calculate the distances these trucks travel on a daily basis one can safely assume that they do about 9 000 km’s on a DAILY basis, approx. 45 000km’s on a WEEKLY basis and about 180 000km’s on a MONTHLY basis - to take away waste from the City of Cape Town and dumping it in the Agter-Paardeberg on the border of the Winelands.. And THIS is what they call “carbon neutral”.

One cannot help but wonder WHY, when the farm on which this plant operates and which once proudly exported organic grapes to overseas markets, has been converted into a massive composting plant with monster trucks, massive industrial turners, screening machines and front end loaders blasting, revving, smoking, belching and polluting the air for most hours of the day (and often nights as well), Why is it permitted   HERE on the edge of the Winelands? Surely there are many alternative sites, closer to source on less valuable land and far away from anyone’s back yards? We know there are other more suitable ways of disposing of green waste, such as delivering it as mulch to many farms, who would use the mulch to improve their soils. Or biodgesting it for electricity production? Or both?

But then it becomes clear why, when you are made aware that Reliance in 2009 was awarded a sole contract to the value of R208, 412, 782.00 – to transport/remove waste from various drop-off sites and AWAY from the City of Cape Town. So, no – it will not make any sense for this operation to actually GO GREEN in the true sense of the word.  In first world countries, green waste is converted on waste/land fill sites or at least as close as possible to source.  In 2012 the contract was renewed.

Let’s look at the cost to people in this area:  Lives have been lost on the Slent Road (including Reliance employees), and numerous accidents, fatalities, injuries may be attributed to the presence of this plant and the impact their trucks have on the Slent Road. Seldom will you find public transport on this road – the taxis are unwilling to use this road - the only form of public transport is the local school bus service, which transports children who live outside of a 4km radius.  For the remainder of the small, primary school children walking unsupervised up to 4 km’s to school and back every day,  it is a perilous exercise while huge trucks and other traffic simply covers them in a thick layer of dust and makes them invisible – the school is situated about 1km from this plant and the road has no safe sidewalk.  

In an informal survey conducted by a student for the community, the response was overwhelmingly negative towards this operation –this included farm workers, school-children and their parents. Specialist studies and comments received which formed part of the report of the Environmental Impact Assessment practitioners for their client – Reliance - raised concerns regarding this operation at this specific site and the impact on immediate neighbours, including workers, farm workers and their children on this property. Conveniently, only certain aspects of these reports were addressed in the subsequent EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) report, in which specialist reports give a completely different picture of the operation: 

 An air quality assessment showed clearly that neighbours, site workers, farm workers and their children living permanently on this site is and will be susceptible to  upper respiratory complications due to pathogens being released during the composting process of 100’s of thousands of tons of waste. Pathogens generated by the composting process were found a few kilometres away. (A chicken farm over the orad closed its operations long before the chicken industry woes, due to unacceptable levels of Infectious Bronchitis in its broilers. This led to retrenchemtns and redeployment of workers The counter-argument from Reliance  was: “Only on-site workers will be affected”.  Families of farm workers (including their children) live less than 30m’s from this site and are not mentioned in Reliance’s counter argument.

And the Western Cape Government, in the form of Minister Anton Bredell,  was satisfied with- and echoed this response.  Now they have rewarded this operation with rights to further expand on this site.  Min. Bredell finds it just fine that this operation brings in a further 8000 t/month of green waste, 3000 t/month of pig, chicken and cattle manure, 40 000 t of grape waste (over a 3-month period annually) and a further 2000 t/m of rotting fruit and vegetables. The concern that the farm children may in all probability help themselves to rotting fruit – as kids sometimes do – is conveniently ignored.

Could it be that the Western Cape Government still holds the rights of big, white business in higher regard than that of marginalised farm workers, who are not in a position nor have the means to fight for their Constitutional rights? I wonder whether the onsite and Reliance farm workers and their children have been informed about the health hazards of working and living on this site?  But even so – will they complain? Unlikely, as their jobs depend on keeping their mouths shut. A further irony then is that neither the owner nor any of his managers’ lives on this site ... could it be due to fears they may have for their own families’ health, safety and sanity? Do we as neighbours to this operation support the CoCT’s endeavours to minimise waste and landfill – yes, absolutely -  but when people’s lives are put in danger, when their health as well as their psychological wellbeing are placed in a secondary position because of “big money” and the true cost to the environment is this high, we say NO!  According to Reliance management alternate sites, far away from people’s backyards and actually closer to source, is just not financially viable. And yet we have been told  of fully financed alternatives, with payback varying  from 4-8  years, dependent on the technology employed, that have been put to the City?? And whilst workers, children, neighbours and farmers on the Slent Road have to endure constant noise, nuisance and choke on pathogen laden dust, the owner sits far away in his Paarl mansion and occasionally ventures with his Porsche onto the Slent Road and to the Reliance site.

After 100’s of complaints of non-compliances by Reliance over many years, illegal commencements, notices served against this operation, dust, noise pollution, uncontrolled fires, etc - it seems that the Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town have made concerted efforts to protect this operation and to turn a blind eye to their many transgressions.  In this process the City of Cape Town has not only shown dismal disrespect for Land Owners’ and farm worker’s Constitutional Rights, but also made it clear that the “small people” still don’t count!” 

Residents truly believed that the City of Cape Town will also work for them, it now appears that they were wrong.

FNB’s market-leading Banking App is now active on more than 1 million smart devices. The Banking App, which launched in July 2011, was the first of its kind in South Africa when it launched a little over 3 years ago, the same year the bank made smartphones available to its customers.

“This milestone is testament to the progressive nature of South Africans and their choice to bank digitally, which adds value to their lives via convenience and simplicity,” says Giuseppe Virgillito, FNB Digital Banking.

Usage trends over the last three years show that the most popular transactions on the FNB Banking App are payments, account transfers and prepaid products. Other interesting transactions that show popularity are Send Money, LOTTO & Powerball, Geo Payments, iTunes gift codes, and card services such as cancellations, upgrades and ordering of new cards.

“With payments, transfers and prepaid purchases being the top three transactions on the App it indicates that our digital banking customers prefer the option of on-the-go banking that allows them immediate access to their everyday banking transactions,” explains Virgillito.

On average the Banking App customer base logs in to the App 15 times per month, with a significant portion of customers logging in over 40 times a month.

An analysis of the App customer base shows interesting trends:

• 59% are Millennials (aged 14-34)
• 36% are Generation X (aged 35-53)
• 5% are Baby Boomers (aged 54-71)
• Millennials account for approximately 60% of transactions on the App
• Generation X, accounts for approximately 50% of the rand value spent on the App
• Millennials transact more frequently but spend smaller amounts, while Generation X spend higher amounts in lower volumes
• eBucks are used even more by Millennials to pay for purchases at 76%, than Generation X at 21%

“The App has grown phenomenally fast in the last three years to reach 1 million active devices. The biggest growth spurt was during the past year growing at 65% from October last year till this year,” says Virgillito.

“It has also achieved a lot in its three years, from winning the title of My Broadband 2014 App of the year award and the MTN App of the Year 2012, to winning the Minister of Science and Technology’s award for overall excellence at the Technology Top 100 awards in 2012. This proves that we are on the right track,” continues Virgillito.

Mobile banking apps are the future of digital banking and the results speak for themselves. According to the Mobility 2014 survey, sponsored by FNB, the use of a Banking App as the primary bank channel usage increased from 1% in 2012 to 9% in 2013, and this is expected to increase significantly in the coming years as more people gain access to smart devices.

“Users of the App have reduced their reliance on branches, ATMs, and call centres to almost zero transactions per month. With continuous development and growth of this channel, we will be able to offer more value, convenience and cost savings to our customers, building on our digital ecosystem and reducing the dependency on cash and physical banking infrastructure,” concludes Virgillito.

- See more at: http://paymentsafrika.com/payment-news/banking/fnb-hits-the-1-million-mark/#sthash.KyRIRqXv.dpuf

Focus on Water-Energy-Food Nexus to address sustainable development

“A slow dripping tap can waste 20 litres or more a day”, says Nicolette Pombo-van Zyl, African Utility Week’s programme director’s programme. “The aim of having a week dedicated to water issues helps each of us become aware of the challenges and change our habits and decisions we make today as they will impact on our water cycle tomorrow.” South Africa’s National Water Week this year is well planned to fall in line with World Water Day on 22 March – showing that South Africa is part of the greater water resource cycle.

Pombo-van Zyl says South Africa can be very proud of its Blue Drop certification system that motivates municipalities to strive for high quality of drinking water and service delivery. She adds: “however, they can’t do it alone and it is everyone’s responsibility to report problems with water quality, burst pipes and to fix household leaks. During Water Week take part in an exercise to note the reading on your water meter. Then for a period of two hours don’t use any water. Take another reading after the two hours and if there is any change you can now know there is a slow leak or pipe leak somewhere on your property.”

Water-Energy-Food Nexus debate for Africa
During African Utility Week’s focused two-day water conference track in May, there is a high-level panel dialogue on the Water-Energy-Food Nexus and realising Africa’s development agenda - the nexus is a visionary method of achieving sustainability by integrated solutions which address the interconnections within the water, energy and food security nexus.  

The Water-Energy-Food Nexus panel moderator will be Paul T. Yillia of SE4All, the UN Secretary General’s initiative on sustainable energy for all: “the nexus debate at African Utility Week will be specifically about Africa and for Africa. The discussion will be tailored specifically to respond to the requirements within the African context. We shall cover such topics as investment opportunities for developing Africa’s water and energy infrastructure, i.e. innovative private sector participation, private public partnerships, etc. and the water and energy linkages with food production systems and improvement of livelihoods.”

City of Cape Town
The City of Cape Town’s Director Water & Sanitation Peter Flower will be part of the panel dialogue:  
“The impact of climate change is predicted to have significant influence on water supply, energy provision and agriculture. There is the debate around water use for urban areas and to allow people to live dignified and comfortable lives versus agriculture and the need to produce food. While in Cape Town we have been able to minimise the reliance on electricity for operating our water supply infrastructure (due to our topography and design of our water supply system), many of the possible future water supply schemes have high energy requirements.”

Other topics on the water programme include:  cherry-picked case studies in water infrastructure and resource development solutions and a debate for and against pre-paid water metering.

Says African Utility Week’s programme director Nicolette Pombo-van Zyl: “South Africa is a water stressed country and the flooding we have recently experienced causes more damage than good – dams can’t operate effectively when over capacity and sewerage gets into the system causing water borne disease to spread. Furthermore, water utilities face challenges with future global water consumption increasing at least 20% by 2050 in the agricultural sector alone, raising the pressure on water resources.”

Water technology and innovation
At African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa, utilities, municipalities and commercial users from all over Africa will meet leading industry suppliers, peers and experts that offer innovative solutions in pumps, valves, water meters, leak detection, waste water treatment, GIS mapping, monitoring and control, water demand management and sanitation. On the expo floor, free energy & water efficiency workshops are presented by the South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre (SARETEC) and the Southern Africa Association for Energy Efficiency.

There is a focus day for specifically addressing water losses and during the site visit, the City of Cape Town will demonstrate its facilities at the Fisantekraal Wastewater and Faure Water Treatment Plant. It features an enhanced control centre system, use of ultraviolet light disinfection technology and the most innovative and up-to-date electrical control and instrumentation technology.   

About African Utility Week
The award winning 14th African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa conference and expo is taking place at the CTICC in Cape Town from 13-14 May 2014. It is attended by more than 5000 power and water professionals from more than 30 African countries and 70 worldwide, at what is the largest utility gathering of its kind on the continent. Discussions, workshops, exhibits and site visits will focus on the industry disciplines of metering, clean power, water, large power users, investment and finance, transmission & distribution, smart grids and generation.

Event dates and location:
Conference and Exhibition (including workshops):  13-14 May 2014
Focus day:  12 May 2014
Site visits:  15 May 2014
Location:  CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa
Website:  www.african-utility-week.com ; www.clean-power-africa.com  

Contact:
Communications manager:  Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone :  +27 21 700 3558
Mobile:  +27 82 562 7844
Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Notes for Editor
Spintelligent (Pty) Ltd is an African media business, specialising in Exhibitions, Conferences and Publishing. Head-quartered in Cape Town with a team of 90 experienced professionals, Spintelligent is a dynamic and recognised organiser across multiple industry sectors and geographies. A specialist organiser with the ability to deliver key growth projects in the early emerging markets of the African continent. Spintelligent is the African partner office of Clarion Events Ltd, the UK based organiser operating in 36 countries worldwide with 9 subsidiary offices delivering over 500 exhibitions and conferences annually.

Spintelligent delivers projects in African growth industry sectors; Power & Utilities; Energy; Mining; Education & Careers; Agriculture; Infrastructure; Military & Defence.

Spintelligent delivers projects in the emerging African markets; South Africa; Nigeria; Ghana; Kenya; Tanzania; DRC; Angola; Mozambique; Zambia.

Spintelligent is recognised for its print and electronic publications, with market-leading brands including Metering International, ESI Africa and Mining Review Africa.

Its regular global events and exhibitions, as well as its critical business intelligence and integrated marketing services make it a leader in its field. The company’s highly skilled resources in management, marketing, research and production allow for unique products bridging the developed and developing markets.
www.spintelligent.com

EES, an ISO 9001:2008 certified company, which provides management, engineering and technical auditing solutions, has embarked on a contract in the renewable energy sector, applying its engineering project management techniques to two solar Photovoltaic plants in the Northern Cape.  These plants form a significant part of the extensive solar energy developments currently being undertaken in South Africa.

In continually adapting to industry requirements, EES is using its project management capabilities to move into the burgeoning field of renewable energy.  The company strongly believes that the current move to alternative energy resources in South Africa is crucial in a country desperately needing to balance energy supply and demand through a progressive new supply policy drive.

"South Africa, a country beset by dire power capacity challenges, is increasingly turning towards renewable energy, and this new era of renewable energy generation, while still in its early stages, is nevertheless fast gaining momentum," states Bradley Hemphill, Managing Director of EES.  

"It is also vital that the country moves away from its reliance on coal-fired power and reduces its carbon footprint.  The use of alternative clean energy sources is a natural step in the right direction," Hemphill continues.

PV utilises panels with semiconductor material to convert solar radiation into electricity.  It is an integral part of the renewable energy generation mix and will help in the sustainability objective of future supply in our country and the SADC region.

The projects are an outcome of the first round of the Department of Energy's (DoE) Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Programme (REIPPP), which reached financial close in late 2012. 

African Education Week and Career Indaba to gather more than 5000 people in Johannesburg in June

With free learning content increasingly becoming available through open access digital platforms, there is growing pressure on the lecturer at higher education institutions to re-think the way they present learning opportunities.

“The world is changing and there are different ways of gaining knowledge.  Information is immediately available through the internet that can be accessed through iPads, smartphones and laptops”, says Prof Johannes Cronjé, Dean of Informatics and Design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT).  He is part of an impressive line-up of speakers at the 7th African Education Week Annual Convention and Learning Expo to be held at the Sandton Convention Centre from 20 – 22 June.  This year’s theme is “Building future leaders in education”.  Agang SA leader Dr Mamphela Ramphele will deliver the keynote session.

Teach learners how to find information
Cronjé who is also part of the opening session will also participate in a panel discussion on ‘E-learning in action’, says “we need to discard the old idea that the professor is the fount of all knowledge.  The challenge now is for academics to make an effort to teach learners how to find information and how to design knowledge and learning packages that are relevant to them.”

However, although there is an increasing reliance on content that can be accessed online, Adele Botha, principal researcher at CSIR Meraka believes that the classroom of the future will look the same but it will act differently.

“The fundamentals of teaching will never change. Younger people want to learn from older people and those they identify as role models.  But they want to learn differently. The lecturer has to become the person who pulls together the different forms of social media as tools of acquiring knowledge. The lecturer will also increasingly encourage students to create media that is suitable to their needs.”

Botha will be a panellist during the session on ‘The challenges of change: Is social media disruptive in education?’ during African Education Week.

Lecturers’ skills sets need to change
Banning technology in the lecture hall or the classroom is short sighted says Botha who recently attended a conference where cell phones, iPads, PCs and other digital media were not allowed in the rooms.

“These are all tools that can enhance the learning experience. The lecturer can no longer depend on using only one tool like for example a whiteboard.”

In an age where knowledge is shared through social media like Facebook and Twitter, banning technology is indeed not the way to win over a new generation of knowledge seekers.

Says Botha:  “young people are technology experts, but they are not education experts. They do not know what they need in order to gain proficiency in their chosen fields.  The lecturer should be like the conductor of an orchestra.  He does not necessarily need to know how to play all of the instruments, but he knows how to point towards the experts who play specific instruments to create beautiful music.  The different ways of accessing information and knowledge are the instruments.  Students have to find their own digital residency – the technology that they are most comfortable with using in the quest for knowledge.”  

Botha emphasises that lecturers’ skills sets need to change.  

“It does not mean teachers and lecturers have to retrain, but they do need to upscale their technological skills base. If they do not interact with young people in a way that is relevant to them, you will find lecture halls with up to 300 disengaged students. Young people are visual creatures who want to be taught through visual media. They do not want to be spoken down to and they want to be part of an interactive learning process. Social media has made it easy to interact with the professional.  But there will always be some people who are more adept at adapting than others and who are more willing to embrace the new challenges.”

What about the argument that the easy availability of knowledge makes for superficial gathering of knowledge?  

“There is indeed a danger that students do not develop into critical thinkers. This is especially true if they are seen and treated as mere consumers of knowledge. But when students are taught to be creators of their own learning content by developing, amongst others, videos, music and films, they are becoming contributors to the process of knowledge creation. The institutional control of knowledge is a thing of the past.”

Current mode of exams to become outdated
Prof Johannes Cronjé of CPUT believes that the current mode of assessment and exams will become outdated.  He believes that learning can be maximised if the student is given tasks to perform.

“If the task is performed in such a way that al the goals are achieved, it should be clear that the student has applied the necessary knowledge to succeed in this task.  A basic example is when a student is given a task to prepare a spread sheet and he does so successfully.  Students must still get tasks to perform but there must be greater freedom for the student to fulfil the task in the way that is best for him – in this way critical thinking is encouraged. ”

He does, however, believe that much can be done to motivate students to fully optimise online learning. “We need to teach students skills in how to access relevant information, where to find it, how to verify it and how to create new information.”

The African Education Week is the meeting and trading platform for everyone who is passionate about improving the standard of education in Africa.  Now in its 7th year, it remains the continent’s leading educational resources and training event, attracting more education professionals than any other event.

The co-located Career Indaba attracted more than 4000 learners last year.  The expo aims to bridge the gap for students between studying and entering the world of work.

Event dates:
Wednesday, 19 June 2013:  Pre-conference workshops
Thursday, 20 June 2013:  Opening keynote session, Learning Expo opens
Friday, 21 June 2013:  Conference sessions, Learning Expo open
Saturday, 22 June 2013:  Learning Expo open, Post conference workshops

Location:  Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa

Websites:  www.educationweek.co.za  ; www.careerindaba.co.za 

Contact:
Communications manager:  Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone:  +27 21 700 3558
Mobile:  +27 82 562 7844
Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Hamburg resident Dr Carol Hofmeyer was amongst those who were recently honoured by Rhodes University at its annual graduation ceremony. She received an honorary doctorate from the Grahamstown-based institution to acknowledge her significant contribution towards upgrading the quality of life of many citizens of the Eastern Cape.

In 2000 Hofmeyer, a qualified medical doctor, founded the Keiskamma Trust, a community-based organization centred in Hamburg, a rural area of the Eastern Cape. The Trust, which works with and offers support to vulnerable people in Hamburg and surrounds, aims to instil self –esteem and self-reliance through a number of initiatives in this rural and impoverished community.  

The art element of the Trust, known as Keiskamma Art Project, has been providing artistic training and employment to over 100 Xhosa women and young men from the Hamburg region.  This initiative focuses primarily on embroidery, but is also integrating several other media such as wire and bead work, felt making, doll making, print making, painting, mosaics and ceramics. Its artistic creations currently trade nationally and internationally - some of the works are represented in Government buildings, in corporate headquarters and on History books.

“Creative expression plays such a huge role in the general wellbeing of an individual. Our Art Project does not just bring an income to participants, but a sense of pride and ownership,” explains Dr Hofmeyer.

Although the project is famous for its large tapestries such as the Keiskamma Tapestry (2004), the Keiskamma Altarpiece (2005), the Creation Altarpiece (2007) and African Guernica (2010), as well as the Rhodes University Tapestry (2011), it also makes and sells smaller craft items such as cushion covers and bags to a range of shops and private individuals.

 The Keiskamma Trust as a whole consists of three complementary programmes – Health, Education and Art and Music. These programmes aim to create healthy communities in all respects, addressing widespread poverty and other challenges through practical, holistic and creative programmes and partnerships.

The Trust’s Art Project and its founder have been the recipient of various accolades including:

·         The Keiskamma Tapestry, which was bought by Standard Bank and placed on permanent display in parliament, also won a Brett Kebble merit award.

·         Finalist at the 12th Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) awards 2009

·         Shoprite/ Checkers Woman of the Year in the Arts Category – Dr Carol Hofmeyer

·         Selected as one of only 75 organisations nationally to be a part of the Legends business development programme, supported by Old Mutual

·         The project also won the Gold Award at the FNB Vita Craft Now Exhibition in 2004, and the Chairman's Premier Award from Business and Arts South Africa in 2011.

Amongst others who were honoured alongside Hofmeyer is popular musician Vusi Mahlasela, who received a Doctor of Laws honoris. He was honoured for the role he played in helping to unify and build the South African nation as a social commentator and through the medium of popular African music.

Hofmeyer’s work has not only impacted her community in terms of artistic and creative arenas, but also in areas that involve generating income, as well as enhancing the health and general wellbeing of the community of Hamburg.

To learn more about The Keiskamma Trust and the pioneering work they do in the region, please visit www.keiskamma.org

Abram Molelemane is a journalism graduate from the Tshwane University of Technology. He has written for various publications such as Wealthwise magazine and Reckord newspaper. In 2011 he was nominated for the Reckord print journalist of the year award. He is currently employed as the media officer at Fetola ( www.fetola.co.za )

By Abram Molelemane