International Press Release Submissions

South Africa bidding for 2026 FIH Hockey World Cups!

Lausanne, Switzerland: After completion of the bidding process for hosting the 2026 FIH Hockey Men’s and Women’s World Cups, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) is glad to announce that bids from four continents (Africa, the Americas, Europe and Oceania), to host either one or both World Cups, have been received. The bids are as follows: 2026 FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup: Australia (host city: Melbourne/Geelong, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane/Gold Coast – to be confirmed) South Africa (host city: Potchefstroom) Uruguay (host city: to be confirmed) 2026 FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup: England, in partnership with Wales (host cities: to be confirmed) Germany (host city: to be confirmed) South Africa (host city: Potchefstroom) 2026 FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup and 2026 FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup combined (= being played at the same time): Belgium/Netherlands (host cities: Wavre and Amstelveen) South Africa (host city: Potchefstroom) The hosts will be decided at the Executive Board meeting on 3 November and announced at the FIH Congress which will be held virtually on 4-5 November this year. FIH CEO Thierry Weil said: “On behalf of FIH, I’d like to thank all National Associations who are bidding for our flagship events. We’re looking at really strong, and also diverse, bids here. We will now conduct a thorough analysis of each dossier so that the Event Bidding Task Force is fully informed of all aspects when making their recommendation to the Executive Board.” The FIH Hockey World Cup, for Women like for Men, is the pinnacle of FIH events. Being played every 4 years, both the Men’s and the Women’s World Cup involve sixteen teams amongst the best ones in the world. It will be the sixteenth edition of the World Cups in 2026. The next FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup will be played next month (from 1 to 17 July) in Terrassa, Spain and Amsterdam, Netherlands, whilst the next FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup will take place in January 2023 in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, …


Source: MyPR International

FNB Life pays out over R500 million in pre-emptive life insurance claims

15 June 2022: FNB Life has paid out over R500 million in pre-emptive life insurance claims since 2018. To date, the highest identified individual pre-emptive claim was R6 million. The life insurance provider initiates this process on behalf of customers by proactively accessing and analysing data from the Department of Home Affairs' Population Registry to proactively pay beneficiaries when a policy holder or an insured life passes on. Raj Makanjee, CEO of FNB Retail and Private Banking, says, "Our industry-leading proactive pay-out demonstrates our commitment to always putting our customers' needs first. We are also pleased that an increasing number of our Retail customers are choosing FNB Life as their preferred life insurance provider. In keeping with our focus on being an integrated financial services provider, we are committed to providing our customers with integrated advice across their transactional, credit, savings, investments, and insurance needs. This is essential in enabling more of our customers to better manage their money and protect themselves and their families." Lee Bromfield, CEO of FNB Life says, "Our proactive approach to claims differs markedly from that of traditional insurance providers. Our commitment to providing innovative solutions, supported by our platform-led ecosystem, has been a game changer for the insurance industry and will continue to generate market-leading benefits for customers. We remain the only life insurer in the country that initiates claim payments on behalf of beneficiaries when the policyholder dies. This not only demonstrates our commitment to paying out valid claims, but also our unwavering focus on being a trusted life insurance company." FNB Life has been recognised for customer satisfaction in the annual SACsi survey on multiple occasions due to its customer-centric approach to life insurance. Earlier this year, FNB also announced that it had expanded its insurance offering to assist customers with their home and …


Source: MyPR International

From platform to player: how the telco needs to evolve

The digital telco is more than just a telecommunications service provider, it’s a world-class player across several digital frontiers. The shape of the telecommunications company (telco) is changing. Today, it should be defined by digital – by the network and organisational DNA and how it leverages digital to interact with external stakeholders and customers. This digital telco is powered by connectivity and capability that extends beyond the limitations of the past toward more inclusive and dynamic service provision across multiple touchpoints. As Keoikantse Marungwana, Senior Research, and Consulting Manager, Telco & IoT Lead Sub-Saharan Africa, IDC, says, the network infrastructure of the digital telco is focused on a service-based architecture that caters to the increasingly sophisticated requirements of customer, technology and use case alike. “The modern telco has to be capable of catering to simple voice and data delivery while equally meeting the demands of bandwidth-hungry services such as 4K streaming, augmented reality and virtual reality,” he adds. “It also has to provide customers with a network that can handle the demands of automation, the Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI).” In addition to seamless delivery of evolving services, telcos need to fully digitise network operations with AI-enabled functionality. This ensures that they can deliver real-time network visibility, predictive maintenance, self-optimisation and zero-touch provisioning alongside the rapid and dynamic allocation of resources. With this level of granular control, telcos can gather insights from customers and fundamentally transform their experiences across the network while using the insights to launch new and innovative services that are both relevant and timeous. “The innovation lifecycle isn’t the typical one to two years, not anymore,” says Marungwana. “Digital telcos can launch products and innovations in a matter of months, if not weeks. Billing …


Source: MyPR International

Employees: What Happens When An Employer Is Sequestrated In His/Her Personal Capacity Or A Company Is Liquidated And Where Do The Claims Of Employees Rank

When an employer is sequestrated in his/her personal capacity or a Company is liquidated, the question usually arises as to what will happen to the employees and if they lodge claims against the estate of the employer, where do their claims rank? Preferent or concurrent? Section 38 of the Insolvency Act deals with the effect of sequestration/liquidation on a contract of service of an employee. In terms of the aforementioned section, the contract of service of the employees, in the case where an employer is sequestrated in his/her personal capacity or a Company is liquidated, is suspended from the date of the granting of a sequestration or liquidation order, i.e. the provisional sequestration or liquidation order. During this suspension, the employee does not have to render any services to the employer and is also not entitled to any remuneration but is entitled to unemployment benefits as provided for in the Unemployment Insurance Act from the date of suspension, being the date of the provisional sequestration or liquidation order. The trustee or liquidator is entitled to enter into short-term employment contracts with the employees and proceed to pay them salaries or wages. This will usually be the case where the trustee or liquidator continues to trade in the estate. If there is no agreement between the trustee or liquidator and the employee(s) regarding continued employment, all suspended contracts will terminate 45 days after the appointment of the final trustee or liquidator. The Basic Conditions of Employment Act provides for a preferent claim for severance benefits for an employee whose contract of service has been terminated while the Insolvency Act also provides in terms of Section 38 for an unliquidated concurrent claim by the employee against the estate for damages suffered due to the suspension of the contract or the termination thereof before its expiration. Employees have the following preferential claims against an estate, which means it ranks …


Source: MyPR International

Win Big With Nescafe Gold: Prizes from David Tlale, Nungu Diamonds, The Test Kitchen & Lumiere

NESCAFÉ GOLD partners with Local Creatives The ‘Crafted Beyond Compare’ 2022 Winter campaign will be brought to life by four leading SA creatives NESCAFÉ GOLD, the premium quality coffee artfully crafted with the finest coffee beans for a rich, yet smooth and rounded taste, launched its 2022 winter campaign, Crafted Beyond Compare and announced its partnership with four local creatives, bespoke Nungu Diamonds, fashion designer David Tlale, Chef extraordinaire Luke-Dale Roberts and designer Casey Jeanne giving consumers a golden opportunity to win limited edition luxury crafted prizes this winter. Celebrating the best of South African originality and inspirational creativity, the four creatives will each craft pieces and sensorial experiences that celebrate the four senses of; taste, touch, sight and smell using NESCAFÉ GOLD to inspire their creations of custom designed prizes for the winter campaign. “NESCAFÉ GOLD’s‘Crafted Beyond Compare’ winter campaign, now in its fourth year, is a celebration of these proudly South African creatives who are masters of their craft. As apremium quality coffee artfully crafted with coffee beans, we respect the craftsmanship of local talent that goes into making premium quality products much like our coffee beans which are carefully golden roasted to give the rich, smooth, and rounded taste, " says Nivasha Pather, Marketing Manager, NESCAFÉ, Nestlé South Africa Ursula Pule, creative director at Nungu Diamonds explained that the inspiration for the 2022 campaign came from the silk-like finish of the NESCAFÉ GOLD branding. “For the sense of touch, the jewellery is designed such that it is gender neutral. A combination of white and cognac diamonds is used to represent the natural colors of the coffee bean and oval shaped diamonds to imitate the silhouette of the coffee bean. We have selected the best diamonds to handcraft the necklace, earrings, unisex bracelet, and ring for the exclusive campaign prizes. Our jewelry is manufactured …


Source: MyPR International

FNB Connect named best Digital MVNO in the world

13 June 2022: FNB Connect's digital platform disruption in telecommunications has earned it joint first place as the Digital MVNO of the Year at the global MVNO Awards, revealed at the MVNOs World Congress 2022. The award is a glowing endorsement of FNB Connect's impact, which has seen it harness FNB's digital platform to bring cost-effective world-class telecommunication to the bank's Retail and Commercial customers. Over 80 countries are represented at the MVNOs World Congress, with over 500 MVNOs and over 1000 representatives. The occasion puts a spotlight on innovators, most recent technologies, trends and relevant developments in the MVNO sector. "We're extremely proud to see FNB Connect recognised on a global platform for its positive impact on the lives of our customers," says Jacques Celliers, CEO of FNB. "This global recognition reflects the strides we continue to make as a business in providing access to customer-centric lifestyle offerings via Connect, eBucks and nav» on our trusted digital platform. With over 6 million digitally active customers and billions of digital interactions, we believe our platform provides considerable scale with an ecosystem that caters to every customer context," explains Celliers. According to Bradwin Roper, CEO of FNB Connect, "FNB Connect was the first MVNO in SA to use the capabilities of a financial services platform to integrate telecommunications and other lifestyle services. Since then, we've greatly increased our digital offering to democratise access to affordable smart devices, data and airtime packages, thereby narrowing the digital divide. More recently, we launched our Hero Deals on the FNB App, allowing customers to save big on the latest laptops, tablets, and smartphones from major brands like Apple, Samsung, and Lenovo. The 24-month plans are more affordable than purchasing the specified devices in retail stores for cash and specific plans include monthly data, airtime and SMSes on our FNB Connect SIM. …


Source: MyPR International

Alfa Romeo inaugurates its new brand identity in Milan

On the occasion of the commercial launch of the Tonale in the main European markets, Alfa Romeo is inaugurating a new flagship store in Milan at the Stellantis &You Sales & Services dealership. The first showroom in the world to feature the new Brand Identity, it will provide an immersive sensorial experience and put the brand’s core values and vision of the future on display. Inspired by materials with unique tactile effects, it is a minimal yet technological space which makes use of the distinctive “Alfa red” to recall the visceral emotions connected to the brand. This new brand identity creates a premium customer experience. The star of the showroom is the Tonale, the model which marks the brand’s metamorphosis. It is thrusting Alfa Romeo into a new era of connectivity and electrification, whilst the brand remains loyal to the Italian sporty driving which has made it global icon since 1910. In celebration of the commercial launch of the Tonale in the main European markets, the inauguration of the new Alfa Romeo flagship store at the Stellantis & You Sales & Services took place yesterday in Milan. Located in the city where the world-renowned brand was founded in 1910, it is the first showroom in the world to feature its new Brand Identity: a reinterpretation of the brand’s classic style in a contemporary key. Symbolically located in the same places where one could find the Portello in 1910, Alfa Romeo’s first production site, today we witnessed the beginnings of an important, new chapter in the brand’s history. It also further consolidated the inseparable link Alfa Romeo has with the world capital of fashion, design and Italian creativity. Indeed, they are both symbols of Italian excellence and feed off of one another, making use of their glorious pasts as inspiration for a more sustainable, technological and bolder future. The focus, however, remains on people, their passions and inspirations. That’s why Alfa Romeo is providing an …


Source: MyPR International

Match officials selected for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 in South Africa

World Rugby has announced the selection of match officials for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022, which takes place in Cape Town, South Africa, from 9-11 September. Eighteen match officials representing 13 countries have been selected for the showpiece event, 10 for the men’s competition at Cape Town Stadium and eight for the women’s. Men’s panel Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy) Adam Leal (England) Jérémy Rozier (France) Morné Ferreira (South Africa) Reuben Keane (Australia) Jordan Way (Australia) Nick Hogan (New Zealand) AJ Jacobs (South Africa) Tevita Rokovereni (Fiji) Francisco González (Uruguay) Women’s panel Ben Breakspear (Wales) Hollie Davidson (Scotland) Eki Fanlo (Spain) Lauren Jenner (New Zealand) Cisco Lopez (USA) Tyler Miller (Australia) Selica Winiata (New Zealand) Julianne Zussman (Canada) France’s Jérémy Rozier and Scotland’s Hollie Davidson are the only officials to have refereed at a previous Rugby World Cup Sevens, having been involved at the 2018 edition in San Francisco. However, Selica Winiata has played on the RWC Sevens stage for New Zealand, collecting a silver medal from the inaugural women’s tournament in Dubai in 2009 and a gold four years later in Moscow. Eight of the match officials were on the panels for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Jordan Way, Tevita Rokovereni, Francisco González, Davidson, Lauren Jenner, Tyler Miller, Winiata and Julianne Zussman. Ben Breakspear and Cisco Lopez are members of the men’s panel for the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series but have been selected for the women’s competition in South Africa. World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: “I would like to congratulate the panel on their selection for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 in Cape Town. The fact that 13 nations are represented speaks volumes about the global appeal of the sport. “Cape Town promises to be an exceptional spectacle, a showcase of rugby sevens at its best and a celebration of friendship and togetherness following the pandemic.” World Rugby High …


Source: MyPR International

HAVAL Motors South Africa announce Conrad Groenewald as Chief Operation Officer

HAVAL Motors South Africa is transforming its business operations in Southern Africa. With the company’s current success in the local market and its continued sales growth, it is inevitable to add more resources to the operations. As a start, we are pleased to announce the appointment of Conrad Groenewald into the newly created position of Chief Operations Officer. To mark this transformation, Conrad Groenewald will step into this role of COO on 1 July 2022 and brings with him over 25 years of progressive experience in the motor industry. He will have responsibility for all the company's operating functions. This appointment fits into our investment strategy to grow our presence in the Southern African market, increasing our market share, becoming more effective in our marketing strategies, and adding more exciting new models to our product portfolio for the next 18 months. Conrad served as the Director of Sales Operations at Ford South Africa for just under 5 years and held various Manager positions in the automotive industry bringing a wealth of knowledge to the local business. He also spent 3 years on an international assignment based in China, bringing with him an understanding of Chinese and South African automotive relationships. According to Conrad: “It is not often you are presented with an opportunity to join a young and upcoming brand in the automotive sector. I look forward to the challenge and trust I can add to the tremendous growth Haval is experiencing in Southern Africa. They are currently the fastest-growing automotive brand YOY. From what I was privileged to so far all I can say, is I am joining the team at a very exciting time”. Haval is reaching its 5th birthday in South Africa and GWM is about to celebrate 15 years of doing business in South Africa making them the oldest standing Chinese brand. CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za International/. HAVAL Motors South Africa announce Conrad Groenewald as …


Source: MyPR International

Over 50,000 sport enthusiasts want 50-year-jubilee Nike to stop using cruel wool

FOUR PAWS welcomes strong consumer signal and urges market leader to switch to certified wool to help prevent the mutilation of lambs Here is a selection of photos from last night's action (Copyright FOUR PAWS): https://four-paws.canto.global/b/JCM5P Cape Town, 8 June 2022 – FOUR PAWS, the global animal welfare organisation, has recently launched a successful campaign for an end to the mutilation of merino lambs, which has so far received over 50,000 signatures. Yet, Nike, biggest sportswear manufacturer keeps ignoring the calls for a change to exclude the brutal procedure called mulesing from their supply chain even after new footage showing a multitude of mutilation done to little lambs, which has caused international public outrage. While this practice has been banned in South Africa for a number of years, Australia, the number one producer of merino wool, continues this mutilation of lambs. FOUR PAWS organised an action last night at Nike´s main European Logistic Campus in Laakdal, Belgium, which is the biggest distribution hub in Europe of the US brand. During the night the animal welfare activists projected the 50,000 demands onto the façade of the facility. It is Nike's 50th year anniversary this year. Rebecca Picallo Gil, Head of the wool campaign at FOUR PAWS, stated: “Nike is recognised around the world for being a leader in sportswear, but unfortunately, not in animal welfare. While many brands have already made public commitments to exclude the cruel and outdated method from their supply chain by switching to only certified mulesing-free wool, Nike still fails to act and do the right thing. “Even more than that, Nike keeps ignoring, not only FOUR PAWS, but also over 50,000 sport enthusiasts and Nike fans around the world who are in support of our campaign and think that the brand can do better than this. Now it is time for Nike to act and to show kindness to the millions of sheep that must suffer from mulesing.” Notes to the Editor: Merino wool is used …


Source: MyPR International