Week 15 : 8 April 2024

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Wipe Your Personal Data from the Web

Is your phone blowing up with potential spam calls? Manually blocking the phone number each time, only to receive the same call on another number?

The provisions of the PoPI Act do not apply to non-SA spammers and it is your responsibility to guide against such unwanted spam

Avoid the risk.

Spam starts with your data being sold. Data brokers are mining your data and selling it to the highest bidder, including your home address, phone number, ID and email address.

It is strongly suggested that you scrub your info from the web using a third-party expert, stopping the spam immediately and keeping you in charge of your data.

WhatsApp Deadline - 11 April

New T&Cs go live on 11 April and we have to accept or delete our account. This is to bring it in line with the provisions of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in operation in the EU.

The terms allow third-party chats on the app and reduce the minimum age of users to only 13.

Its current level of security will reduce as soon as you message one of the third-party app users.

This might be a risk to keep in mind, but for most users, it will potentially not be of relevance.

Motionless Wind Turbines for the home

Many homeowners have to weigh the cost of a solar-panelled approach against alternative options, of which there are not many.

A vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) option is generally the most well-known. The solar PV option depends on sunlight, while the VAWT option depends on the availability of wind.

PV is widely accepted in SA and several reputable installers are available. Finance houses will allow homeowners to rent the complete installation.

The VAWT option is less well-known and several manufacturers produce different designs. Most of the manufacturers maintain that it generates up to 50% more energy at the same cost as rooftop-mounted PV.

VAWT options will mostly have to be imported and installed and finance may also be a problem.

View the different VAWT options here >

Homeowners can integrate the VAWT option with currently available inverter and battery packs, potentially reducing the risk of load-shedding.

The right to disconnect....

Nadeem Mahomed of CDH writes that in today’s modern workplace – driven by technology and the increasing prevalence of remote work – employees frequently find themselves entangled in work-related responsibilities outside of working hours.

Employers ought to recognise recent international developments regarding the right to disconnect. The concept grants workers the freedom to disengage from work-related communications, such as emails or messages, outside of working hours.

While South Africa’s BCEA and LRA do not provide for the right to disconnect, it is evident that international trends and developments may soon necessitate its integration into South Africa’s legal framework.

South African employers can take proactive steps to implement policies that delineate expectations regarding communication outside of working hours, including contact with third parties such as customers.

Read the article here >

Employers can lay the groundwork for effectively integrating the right to disconnect into their organisational practices.

Fraud perpetrated by owners vs employees

Simon Cambell Young highlights on his website digimune.com that losses from fraud committed by owners/executives were more than seven times greater than that committed by employees.

Quoting from "Occupational Fraud 2024: A Report to the Nations" issued by the Association of Fraud Examiners, the infographic shown below highlights the difficulties faced by business worldwide.

The ACFE continues its pivotal role in shedding light on the pervasive issue of occupational fraud, offering unparalleled insights into the mechanics of fraud within organizations worldwide.?

The specter of occupational fraud looms large, casting a shadow over both burgeoning startups and established companies.??

The Companies Act 2023 as amended

At Talk2Us Advisory, our consulting arm, a decision was taken some time ago to produce the Companies Act 2023 once the Amendment Act becomes law.

Anticipating that the Companies Amendment Bill 2023 will be signed into law shortly, we published an article on LinkedIn in February 2024, referring to it as "The Companies Act 2023 as amended".

The Companies Act and its Regulations play a central role in the private sector in general and specifically in our consulting practice.

"We intend to make it available online in electronic format only to our many LinkedIn and Twitter followers, and to others via word of mouth".

Get a copy here >

We do not intend to produce it as a bound hard copy or even as a paper-back, but rather offer the Act in A4 PDF format only, to keep the cost to our followers as low as possible.

SA’s mounting consumer debt trap

Seth Thorne writes in BusinessTech that more and more South Africans are feeling the pressures of credit, with escalating fiscal pressure making it difficult for many to keep on top of payments.

This is seen by debt for South Africans currently sitting at R2.31 trillion, with R142.26 billion of new credit added from July to September 2023, according to the National Credit Regulator.

This excludes the funds borrowed by the Government, where gross loan debt increased from R2.5tn in 2017-18 to R4.3tn in 2021-22. This is being financed through the issuance of domestic short- and long-term loans, foreign currency long-term loans, and cash balances. Debt-servicing costs will be close to R500bn per annum from 2022-23. (Read more about this here.)

Importantly, about 10m out of the 27m South Africans with credit are three months or more behind in debt repayments or facing legal action and adverse listings.

This is a staggering number of families struggling to make ends meet.

Read the full article here >.

Many more consumers had access to credit compared to say 15 years ago. Interest rates were low and financial institutions were eager to lend. We must all guard against easy credit. Interest rates go down and eventually rise again.

6-month shutdown of critical water supply

Appearing in BusinessTech, it is noted that the main water supply to South Africa’s economic hub, greater Johannesburg in the Gauteng province, and the country’s breadbasket in the Free State, is scheduled to be cut off for six months.

Maintenance work on the 37km Lesotho Highlands Water Project tunnel is?due to begin in October 2024.

The tunnels need?essential and critical maintenance and repairs. The work will be?conducted in phases, with specific attention to the repair of the steel walls that were found to be in?urgent need of attention?during the last maintenance shutdown in 2019.

Read the full article here >

Overall, the impact of the tunnel closure on households will be determined by three key factors:

• government’s strategy to alleviate the water shortage - this is a catastrophic risk as water shortages are already occurring and it is not October yet.
• individuals’ efforts to save water.
• the availability of alternative water sources - another major risk as few households have access to potable water from boreholes.

Government’s answer to the water crisis

Seth Thorne reports in BusinessTech that Deputy President Paul Mashatile is reportedly looking to court farmers, the Solidarity trade union and its affiliate AfriForum to help local governments repair and maintain hundreds of stricken water-treatment plants across the country.

South Africa’s water systems have been facing a deterioration over the past several years. While the water crisis in Gauteng and its economic hub Johannesburg has grabbed headlines of late, it is but one of many examples of water supply authorities across the country struggling to fulfil their mandates.

The Department of Water and Sanitation’s (DWS) own reports show that at a countrywide average:

• 46% of drinking water systems did not meet microbiological standards;
• 67.6% of wastewater treatments failed to adequately process sewage and other wastes;
• 47.4% of water was lost due to leaks or was unaccounted for.

Read the full article here >

A projected water supply deficit of 17% by 2030 is highlighted by DWS. This is a risk of catastrophic proportions for all households in SA.

Talk to Us

We specialise in the provision of focused GRC consulting input on an informed basis, and in a manner that adds value to the enterprise.

Put succinctly: we can help; we know what has to be done.

Call us.

‘Navigating GRC’ is published as a weekly newsletter on LinkedIn.