Though we are already three months into the year 2019, school essentials, such as stationery, are still a great need for many children. It is never too early or too late to ensure that children are equipped with the necessary tools in order for them to thrive at school. It is for this reason that Wimpy donated a significant amount of stationery to Nokuphila School. The Wimpy team recently gathered SpongeBob stationery that was part of a promotion and hand-delivered it to the children and Early Childhood Development (ECD) teachers from Nokuphila School. The school is owned and run by the Love Trust and assists children from Tembisa and Ivory Park who are from poverty-stricken backgrounds. “When we heard about the wonderful work that is done by the Love Trust for the community of Tembisa through Nokuphila School, we wanted to contribute in a meaningful way – and what’s better than donating stationery that children will use as they get an education that will better their lives’, said Jacques Cronje, Wimpy Marketing Executive. “As a brand that is centred around family, we know that children are a very important component of the family unit, and we hope this donation of stationery will bring much-needed relief to families that aren’t able to provide it for their children.” The stationery that was donated will not only benefit Nokuphila School but also over 30 ECDs in Tembisa such as Ikamva Lethu, Kopano keMatla and Future Nation Day Care, only to name a few, that the teachers that are trained at Nokuphila School teach at. The quality education that is provided by the school filters beyond the premises of Nokuphila through the ECD teachers that teach in the community. Since the school is run by a Non-Government Organisation (NGO), the upkeep and operations are completely dependent on donations from businesses and independent donors. If you’d like to join Wimpy and make a difference in the lives of children from disadvantaged backgrounds, please visit: . . .
De Grendel Rubaiyat Adds Mundus Vini Gold to Its Creaking Trophy Cabinet
In the most recent Mundus Vini Spring Tasting, De Grendel’s signature red wine, Rubaiyat, scooped yet another prestigious gold medal to add to its long list of accolades. The award-winning 2015 vintage already bagged one platinum, 3 golds, 1 double gold as well as the Trophy for the South African Wine of the Year from China Wine & Spirits Awards. The Mundus Vini is regarded as a prestigious international competition for wines from all wine-growing regions around the world. The aim of the competition is to promote wine quality and to award wines of excellence. An international jury delivers an independent, neutral and expert verdict on the wines, thereby guaranteeing that the competition is both fair and professional. This bestows a high level of recognition upon the medals awarded at Mundus Vini, the prize-winning wines and their producers. For a wine to receive a gold medal, a minimum of 90 points should be awarded by the jury. A long-held dream by the late Sir David Graaff to produce a first-class Bordeaux-style red blend, was realised in the spring of 2009 when the maiden 2006 vintage was released. The current 2015 vintage is a thoughtful construction of only the finest grapes by Cellar Master Charles Hopkins and consists of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Petit Verdot, 4% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc. The Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards are situated in the Firgrove area, approximately 6 km from False Bay. The grapes are selected from specific sites focusing on lower yields, the age of the vines, and the soil types. The aver¬age berry weight of the selected vines is less than a gram, making them small and delivering excellent flavour concentration. The Cabernet Franc thrives in Cape coffee stone while the Merlot and Petit Verdot both perform well in weathered blue Durbanville shale. The name Rubaiyat is the Persian word for a quatrain: a verse comprising four lines reflecting the four varietal components of the blend. Inspiration came from the Graaff . . .
Fostering Healthier School Learners
The 4th to the 8th of March marks School Health Week! School Health Week was launched in 1995 by the World Health Organisation to improve the health of learners, school personnel, families and communities. The Adopt-a-School Foundation, a partner entity of the Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation, commemorates this special week by shining the spotlight on its Social Welfare projects, implemented to improve the health and wellness of learners and the link between social welfare and learning – because healthy kids are better prepared to learn. In continuing to strive for healthier learners, the Adopt-a-School Foundation together with Premier Optical, will be visiting Mosaledi Primary School and Sengana Primary School in Hammanskraal on the 8th of March 2019 to dispense spectacles to 58 deserving learners as part of its Social Welfare drive of this School Health Week. Social Welfare is an important pillar of Adopt-a-School Foundation’s Whole School Development model. Whole School Development is designed to address infrastructure, school leadership, curriculum and social welfare in disadvantaged schools. The Social Welfare project focuses on health and social issues faced by learners. Programmes include; Health, Sanitation and Sexual Education programme, vision and hearing support programmes, parental workshops, psychosocial support services for Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVCs), a moral regeneration programme and awareness campaigns. “The majority of South Africa’s children live in rural areas, and many live in households with incomes below the poverty line. As a result, these learners often lack access to the most basic healthcare and social services. This reduces attendance at schools and the learners’ ability to concentrate on school activities in the classroom, causing poor pass and retention rates. Over the years through multiple corporate partnerships, we have been working hard at ensuring we cover all health and social welfare issues that may hinder a . . .
Banking Reimagined: How Hello Paisa Is Driving Change Through Technology
In South Africa, over 60% of our residents live in informal settlements. This means that a substantial portion of our population cannot open a bank account, cannot deposit their hard-earned cash safely, cannot send or receive EFTs and cannot grow their businesses. It is with this in mind that Hello Paisa, in partnership with Sasfin Bank, has launched a new banking initiative that is set to revolutionise the banking experience in South Africa. They have a single vision: to improve the lives of all South African residents through easily accessible, tech-fuelled solutions. What is fundamentally unique about Hello Paisa’s tech is that everything - and we mean everything - is built in-house, from the ground up. In fact, the only technology that Hello Group has outsourced to date is from Sasfin, to develop their banking infrastructure. From governance, risk and compliance to user experience development, Hello Paisa is passionate about consistent innovation on the ground to keep ahead of the competition. After all, sustainable and profound change can only be achieved through exceptional software. According to Shaazim Khamissa, the Chief Technology Officer of Hello Group, it is these insights that set Hello Paisa’s banking solution apart from their competitors. “Because Hello Paisa takes a greenfields approach to technology and we build up all of our structures based on first principles, it makes us far more agile and responsive to our consumer’s needs. We have the rare opportunity to monitor user behaviour across a spectrum of services, we have unprecedented insight into what problems our consumers have, and how better we can serve them. Because we work so closely with this data and ultimately have a single view of the customer, we have the opportunity to be both proactive and reactive to execute quick iterations to satisfy their needs.” As the first company to be authorised as an Independent Money Transfer Operator in South Africa, Hello Paisa is no stranger to . . .
Hytec appointed Service Partner to ZOLLERN in Africa
Hytec South Africa has been appointed southern Africa Service Partner to the Drive Technology Unit of ZOLLERN*. The partnership allows Hytec South Africa to sell, execute inspections, and conduct maintenance, repairs and other services on ZOLLERN gearboxes and winches across southern Africa. The appointment came into effect on 30 November 2018, granting Hytec South Africa the full support to service the southern African region for five years. Over the period, ZOLLERN Drive Technology will provide full support in terms of technical manuals and drawings, as well as spare parts for the service, repair and maintenance of the equipment. Initial training on ZOLLERN equipment was conducted by the company’s Service personnel in Hytec South Africa’s Cape Town branch. The company’s Repairs Manager in Cape Town has continuous communication with ZOLLERN and receives information on repairs when necessary. Hytec South Africa now trains its own personnel on ZOLLERN equipment. Hytec South Africa supplies ZOLLERN gearboxes to end users for cranes, winches and drilling equipment as part of its gearbox range, and has been conducting any required repairs at its Cape Town and Johannesburg operations since 2007. “The difference now,” explains Iaan Du Toit, Regional Manager Hytec SA, Cape Region, “is that we can provide this service across the sub-continent and are not restricted to servicing only the ZOLLERN equipment that we installed.” Hytec South Africa’s history with ZOLLERN dates back to 2007, when the company provided spares and assistance for projects undertaken by ZOLLERN in South Africa. “In a little over a decade our customers’ installed base of ZOLLERN equipment reached a level that required us to enter into a service agreement with the OEM,” Du Toit explains. “We are exceptionally pleased that this agreement has come to fruition as it benefits both our companies and customers across southern Africa.” “The support we receive from ZOLLERN for its products and our . . .
Séché Environnement finalises Interwaste acquisition and takes a leading position
06 March 2019 - On March 4, 2019 Séché Environnement Group (via its wholly owned subsidiary Séché South Africa Proprietary Limited.) acquired 100% of all issued shares of Interwaste Holdings Limited which has been delisted from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). Through this acquisition, Séché Environnement is entering the South African markets to respond to local clients’ growing waste management needs and to support the development of this region’s waste market toward the circular economy. By combining the complementary expertise of these two family-owned businesses built on social and environmental values, this transaction accelerates Interwaste’s growth in its markets by offering innovative waste-management solutions to industrial and municipal clients - and creating a new international operator in the circular economy and waste management in South Africa. Building on nearly 40-years as an internationally recognised waste management expert, Séché Environnement uses the most advanced technology for waste recovery and treatment, particularly hazardous waste, and most advanced expertise in decontamination and site rehabilitation. Founded in 1989, with about 2000 employees, Interwaste is a major regional integrated waste management operator and relies on industrial and municipal waste treatment expertise that conforms to the highest environmental standards, efficient logistics, and a philosophy of innovation and continuous improvement. As an expert in the circular economy, Séché Environnement will reinforce Interwaste’s strategic approach to material and energy recovery to meet the region’s current regulatory challenges and imperatives. As an expert in industrial waste, Séché Environnement intends to provide its skills in the treatment of hazardous waste such as PCBs, mercury and pesticides, in particular for the mining, petrochemical and food processing industries, in keeping with the applicable regulatory requirements. Alan Willcocks, CEO of . . .
Investec South Africa launches Investec for Intermediaries in response to exponential change
Johannesburg, March 6th, 2019 - In a world where change is happening in an exponential way, businesses need to think differently if they are to deliver value for their clients – and this is particularly relevant in the financial intermediary space. This exponential change brings new levels of complexity and uncertainty but also creates an opportunity for Intermediaries to help their clients navigate this changing world. Equally, banks, asset managers and product providers need to adapt, in order to assist intermediaries to deliver a first-class service to their clients. With this imperative in mind, Investec for Intermediaries was launched, bringing dedicated relationships, an integrated digital platform and client-focused solutions together under a single Specialist Bank offering and enabling intermediaries to do what they do best: advise their clients and help them to deliver on their goals. Speaking at the launch of Investec for Intermediaries, a new dedicated business unit within Specialist Bank, guest speaker and technology expert, Willem van der Post, explained how exponential change is affecting our lives on every level. “Because new technologies can find better ways of doing things, change happens in an exponential way,” he says. “Unfortunately, humans understand change in an incremental, linear way. The challenge is for us to think exponentially about change.”??It’s a challenge Investec for Intermediaries is rising to. “At Investec, we have always prided ourselves on the level of service and expertise we provide to clients and these stay,” says René Grobler, head of Investec for Intermediaries. “As the business and our partnership with intermediaries has evolved so has the need to offer these in a holistic way that is integrated and seamless for our intermediary clients. This means we don’t compromise on the product solutions and trusted relationships that we have offered in the past but rather enhance our offering to deliver these in an efficient and . . .
JUST PROPERTY – How to protect your property investment
Owners who are looking to sell would be well advised to use the next 6 to 18 months to focus on improving their equity position, says Paul Stevens, CEO of Just Property “We expect the property market to pick up again after elections, but for the next six months the market is likely to be quiet,” says Stevens. “With a nominal-growth outlook, our advice to home-owners is to use this time to shore up equity in their properties.” “Equity is what your property is worth to you – in other words, its market value less your bond or mortgage,” Stevens explains. “In a normal market, the value of your property to you will increase as you pay off your bond. So that’s one of the things you should focus on now while the market is not encouraging for sellers.” Stevens recommends evaluating your equity by asking a reputable agent to give you an idea of what your home would sell for, based on other sales in the area. Then contact your bank or bond originator to get the outstanding balance on your home loan/s. Subtract the loans from the value of the property and you have the equity. “If you’ve recently bought your home, you might find you’re actually in a situation of negative equity,” Stevens warns. “Don’t panic – use this as motivation to pay down your bond.” What can home-owners do to improve their equity? Stevens says there is quite a lot. First of all, pay as much as you can into your bond. He says the trick to cutting back and saving in a sustainable way that can be maintained, is to put your savings away in a call account at the beginning of the month. If you have to wait up to 32 days to get your money, you will be less inclined to spend it. You’ll soon adjust to managing day-to-day with less and you’ll establish how much you can regularly redirect to paying off your bond quicker. Stevens gives a practical example: imagine you have a bond of R1 million and you are paying it off at a rate of R10, 000 a month at an interest rate of 10.25% over 25 years. If you pay . . .
Section 12J – Putting your capital to work to create meaningful jobs
“Small, medium and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs) are the engine room of our economy,” says Neill Hobbs, Director and co-founder, at Anuva Investments. “Rampant unemployment and lacklustre GDP growth will only be addressed through teamwork between government and the private sector, with the former implementing ‘business friendly’ policies and the latter ensuring there is enough capital ‘on tap’ to fund new and emerging business ventures”. South Africa’s 2019 general election will soon get underway with the electorate choosing one or other of the dozens of contesting political parties. As the queues ebb and flow around the various polling stations countrywide the conversation will undoubtedly turn to solving the country’s economic woes, not least the unemployment timebomb. Jobs and the ‘promise of jobs’ have featured prominently in both the media and party manifestoes in recent months because there is consensus that solving the jobs problem will make burning issues such as inequality and poverty easier to address. One of the ways in which taxpayers can contribute to meaningful jobs creation and growth is to invest in section 12J compliant venture capital companies (VCCs). Section 12J, introduced by the South African Revenue Services (SARS) in July 2009, seeks to stimulate the local economy and create jobs by offering participating taxpayers a 100% tax allowance on their investments into VCCs, which in turn acquire and manage a portfolio of qualifying SMMEs. Since its 2014 incorporation Anuva Investments Ltd (Anuva) has created or saved more than 350 jobs through the wise application of up to R235 million in shareholder capital. The section 12J VCC investment allows individual taxpayers to invest their capital ‘with conscience’ and to participate meaningfully in job creation and economic growth. “Our section12J structure allows taxpayers to repurpose some of their tax dues to capital forming activities in the private sector,” says Hobbs. “We focus on . . .
Why climbing a tree is better than watching a screen…
It is all over the news! How much screen time is too much for young children? What is it about this age of technology and the need to understand the dynamics of our changing world? Are we bringing up a generation of children who are comfortably able to live in a world of humans and computers? Are we allowing little bodies to develop fine and gross motor skills, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, imagination and creativity? Or are we choosing to remain blind to the negative effects that screen time is having on the physical and cognitive development of our children? Or is it just easier to give in and ignore the very real possibility that too much time on electronic devices is stifling our children’s ability to learn effectively?” According to Cindy Glass, Founder and Owner of Step Up Education Centres these are critical questions and, unfortunately, the answers are not particularly favourable. She offers the following important points for consideration: 1. Children learn by doing, not by having things done for them. Building puzzles, creating imaginative games, playing in the sand or climbing a tree require active involvement from children. They need to think, solve problems and use their innate creativity to enjoy these activities. Furthermore, they develop important motor skills. In a nutshell, children learn how to use their bodies and minds effectively. Sitting for hours in front of a screen involves mindless pressing of ‘buttons’ and instant gratification. This is clearly not ideal for growing and developing children. 2. We live in a world of other human beings. Playing games with other children, be it siblings or friends, involves learning essential emotional intelligence skills. Self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills are learned to a great extent, through interactive play. Parents who spend time playing games or making things with their children enjoy positive relationships and wonderful connections that . . .
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