NEWS IN BRIEF XXX
News snippets from around the world New Year shootings in Johannesburg left two people dead and 16 injured
Report. It reveals the growing e-crime economy, the increasing prevalence of attacks in the financial services, retail and government sectors, and in-depth analyses of adversarial tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) used against the different regions and industries. (Source: IT web)
Eskom wants another R27 billion from consumers in tariff hikes in 2020
Two people died and six were injured when the occupants of a car fired on Poppy’s Restaurant in Melville. Two hours later, 11 people were injured by gunshots that police believe were fired from a highway overpass into a crowd at a public celebration at Mary Fitzgerald Square in the city centre. While gun violence in South Africa’s biggest city is common, the location of the latest shootings has illustrated just how prevalent the problem is. South Africa has the continent’s highest murder rate with an average of more than 50 people killed each day. (Source: biznews.com)
E-crime economy to expand in 2020
Farm killings and land grabs: AfriForum reports Ramaphosa to the UN
This is on top of the R23 billion it wants the courts to grant it in its battle against energy regulator Nersa. Eskom is in court fighting to get R69 billion through its recovery processes – i.e. hiking tariffs – over the next three years. The amount was denied by Nersa because the power utility received a bailout of that amount from government. If Eskom succeeds, electricity prices could double in 2020, and increase by 50 per cent over the next three years. (Source: Daily Maverick / Business Tech)
Exposure to violent crime is taking its toll on SA’s mental health, say experts 2020 will likely continue to see targeted ransomware attacks against local governments and specific industries. This will potentially be driven by alternate motivations and orchestrated by organised cybercriminal gangs or event nation-statesponsored threat actors. That’s according to CyberInt, a provider of threat intelligenceled detection and response solutions, in its CiPulse 2020 Annual Threat Landscape
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Shelley Bernhardt, counselling psychologist at Witkoppen Clinic in Johannesburg, has warned of the long-term impact of trauma on South Africans. “Crime and its associated trauma occurs across the spectrum. Almost all areas and communities in South Africa are affected or potentially affected by crime, and all individuals across the socioeconomic spectrum are vulnerable to the psychological distress associated with this,” said Ms Bernhardt. (Source: Sowetan Live)
An increasing number of people have sought mental health services over the past year as a result of violent crime.
SECURITY FOCUS AFRICA JANUARY 2020
AfriForum has laid a formal complaint against President Cyril Ramaphosa and Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, in her capacity as former minister of international relations and cooperation, with the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders. AfriForum deputy CEO Ernst Roets said the complaint stemmed from a statement Ramaphosa made about farm murders and land grabs during a visit to the USA in September 2018. Roets said the charge was aimed at Ramaphosa’s reaction to US President Donald Trump’s tweet in August 2018 that he had instructed his secretary of state to investigate land grabs and farm murders in South Africa. (Source: News 24)
securityfocusafrica.com
