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1 - 8 October 2020

Website : www.inner-city-gazette.com Inner City Gazette

Phase 3 Covid -19 vaccine trial starts Dr Bha Ndungane-Tlakula

“The rise in infections has been attributed to among other factors to non-adherence to non-pharmaceutical interventions by some members of the public. Areas of concern include Johannesburg inner-city, Soweto, Sedibeng and Tshwane. The fight against Covid-19 is far from over. We caution communities that we need to continue adhering to nonpharmaceutical interventions.”

Johannesburg - Medical companies Pfizer and BioNTech have announced the enrolment of South Africa for their Phase 3 Covid-19 vaccine trial. The recently expanded study will include about 44 000 global participants, allowing a further increase in trial population diversity, and include people with chronic, stable HIV, Hepatitis C, or Hepatitis B infection. The study will also provide additional safety and efficacy data. Pfizer said the selection of South Africa as one of the global hosts of the study was based on the local scientific expertise and capabilities, the epidemiology of the disease, and South Africa’s prior experience in running clinical trials. The study will include about 800 participants, and conducted in four sites across Gauteng, Limpopo and the Western Cape. The trials have received approval from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA). Dr Essack Mitha, who has over 16 years’ experience in research and development, clinical trials, in the medical and pharmaceutical sectors; will be the study’s national

principal investigator in the programme. “South African patients will play a critical role in the fight against Covid-19. We are confident that the South African sites will contribute high-quality data to this groundbreaking study, and that medical science will prevail in this pandemic,” Dr Mitha said. Having secured regulatory approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to proceed with the Phase 3 clinical trials of the vaccine trial, Pfizer and BioNtech have recruited more than 35 000 participants globally. Pfizer’s medical director for South Africa Dr Bha Ndungane-Tlakula said: “We are proud to bring this important study to the country, and to the African continent, to add to the growing knowledge of this virus, so we can find a lasting and sustainable solution to end this pandemic.” The Gauteng Health department is concerned about the 6% increase in the number of Covid-19 active cases since the country moved to lockdown Level 1. “The rise in infections has been attributed to among other factors to non-adherence to

non-pharmaceutical interventions by some members of the public,” the department said. The areas of concern include Johannesburg’s inner-city, Soweto, Sedibeng and Tshwane. Acting Gauteng Health MEC Jacob Mamabolo said: “It is important that we emphasise to the public that the fight against Covid-19 is far from over. We want to caution communities that we need to continue adhering to non-pharmaceutical interventions.” Mamabolo called on everyone to play their part by wearing facemasks, social distancing, sanitising and washing hands. According to the department, 1 200 people are currently hospitalised in public and private health facilities. Meanwhile, recoveries stand at 90%. The data is based on the 4 164 491 tests conducted of which 12 011 were performed since the last report. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that globally, there have been 33 249 563 confirmed Covid-19 cases, while the death toll has surpassed one million.

Inner-city Gazette

1 - 8 October 2020

A Broad Based BCom

gives you the edge in business

“Opportunities don’t happen. You create them,” says Chris Grosser. I believe this quote to be 100% authentic as it truly illustrates my personal journey with Boston. So, says Oriellah Davis, BCom of graduate of Boston City Campus. “After school there are so many opportunities staring students straight in the face, however, there always is that daunting question about “What it is you really want to do after school?” How many of us really have the answer to that question? I’m guessing not many. It is because of that daunting question that I found myself enrolling at Boston to begin my tertiary schooling career, and although having no clue as to what it was I wanted I was able to find it through my educational journey at Boston.” Oriellah continues that no matter where you stand on the academic scale, “I found that by doing my BCom degree in Management Marketing that it was an outstanding way for me to secure my future endeavours, whatever they were to be. I think when it comes to getting a job, it’s all about your interpretation of how you can make all those years of theoretical studying into something practical. I really felt that Boston gave me that chance. They very much encouraged me to work hard and follow my passion. As I began to study more and more, I realised that there was so much room to implement the theories and concepts I had learnt in my textbooks into real life situations.” Oriellah continues saying that she is so grateful to Boston as “I had the opportunity to work for 3.5 years and study my BCom simultaneously. In October 2019 I was offered my first Marketing Internship

Oriellah Davis at a Digital Marketing Agency called CBR Marketing. It’s truly been an unbelievably fulfilling experience for me and I hope that all those other hard-working graduates get to experience the same feelings that I was able to experience.” Nonhlanhla Dube, counsellor at Boston, says that “B.Com. Graduates are preferred in the H.R. Department in all areas of Corporate Sector, Tourism, Hospitals and Hotel Industry —because they have the fundamental knowledge of finance, marketing, operations and systems, budgeting and business planning.” Commerce graduates having studied marketing and marketing management can also look at positions in management, consultation, product management, market research, and public relations — in

the Promotional and Advertising Sectors. Banking is an option for graduates of the BCom Management Marketing and the Bachelor of Accounting. Bankers are now involved in customer services, investments, advice and more. Do you enjoy dealing with numbers daily? Can you take pressure? Consider stock broking. There are a whole lot of people involved in the field including the dealing room, the operations, compliance, research, and sales. The Insurance Sector is an area with almost unlimited potential. The Insurance Industry is emerging as one of the largest employers in the country today. Commerce graduates will also find profitable openings in this field as agents or in other capacities. Start generating ideas and let your mind be open to all possibilities. Entrepreneurship is about initiative, imagination, flexibility, creativity and the capacity to see change as an opportunity. Commerce graduates are well suited to entrepreneurial opportunities as they will need the ability to plan and act with a financial background. Nonhlanhla concludes that commerce graduates gain good employment prospects. “The choice is yours, look at all the opportunities, ask questions and seek advice. There is almost no area of business today where your analytical, accounting, marketing, and H.R. skills cannot be used. No other degree has the advantage you have in the job market. You will learn a variety of subjects and develop skills best suited for today’s globalised business requirements”. Call 011 551 2000 www.boston.co.za

Forgetting an email password may cause great frustration

Abandoned web accounts pose serious security risk Tech Reporter

esearch by cyber security provider NordPass indicates that more than half of Internet users create accounts only to forget them. A massive 64% of those surveyed do not remember all the accounts they have created; and 52% of users have accounts they cannot access because they have lost or forgotten the passwords. This is not only an inconvenience for users, as they cannot remember the passwords when they actually need them, but is also a serious cybersecurity issue that alarms security experts. Security expert at NordPass Chad Hammond says forgotten accounts do not disappear. “They are still online; some of them could even be in unsecured databases. Our recent research confirms that more than 10 billion credentials are

available in exposed online databases. No matter whether the database containing your password is secured or unsecured, the password could be breached at any time. The only difference is that when credentials are sitting in unsecured databases, the hacker doesn’t even need to hack to obtain them,” Hammond says. He notes that data leaks and breaches happen every day. Chances are if a platform for which a user has forgotten their logins gets breached, they won’t even know it. “This is especially dangerous to those who reuse their passwords. For example, if the breached password secures both your email and social media accounts, they will all be jeopardised,” Hammond says. Password reuse is still a major cyber security issue. The same NordPass survey reveals that 63% of respondents reuse their passwords.

1 - 8 October 2020

Inner-city Gazette

Landlords issue eviction notices “Some 2.2 million jobs have been lost in the second quarter of this year, so there is sure to be some tenants who cannot pay, so it is going to be a bit of a bumpy road”

News

Placement of Grade 1 and 8 learners for next year begins “Parents have seven days to accept the offers; and offers that are not accepted will be forfeited after seven days of receipt” Paragon Lending Solutions CEO Gary Palmer

Johannesburg -Since Lockdown Level 1 more tenants are receiving eviction notices from their landlords. Commenting on the rights of both landlords and tenants; Paragon Lending Solutions CEO Gary Palmer said landlords have come to the party in terms of rent holidays, but landlords are also running their own businesses, so tenants need to start paying. “Some 2.2 million jobs have been lost in the second quarter of this year, so there is sure to be some tenants who cannot pay, so it is going to be a bit of a bumpy

road. The courts are starting to allow for the eviction process to start, in terms of sending out letters of demand and more,” he said. Palmer added that he thinks what the courts are looking at now, in terms of eviction notices, is the behaviour of the landlord to their tenants. “This is because some landlords are going to take advantage of the situation and say, ‘I didn’t want the tenant there in the first place and use this Covid-19 process to evict the tenant’ and the courts will to look out for that,” he said.

Johannesburg - The Gauteng Education department has announced that placement of Grade 1 and 8 learners for the 2021 academic year is expected to start on 1 October. Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said the process is set to get under way after the applications for admission started on 25 June this year. The placement and admissions processes are scheduled to end on 30 November. Lesufi said the application phase, where parents applied for admission to schools, started on 25 June and ended on 25 July; the second phase involved verifying applications and submitted documents; and the third involving placement of learners, who will receive offers

of placement from 1 October. “Parents have seven days to accept the offers; and offers that are not accepted will be forfeited after seven days of receipt,” Lesufi said. When the online admissions process opened on 25 June, 157 770 applications were made for 70 073 learners. By the end of the process, 566 591 applications were registered in the Admission Application System for 255 735 learners. Each learner is allowed to apply to five different schools. “These applicants must be placed in 2 034 schools that offer Grade 1 and Grade 8 as entry grades,” Lesufi said. He added that the total number of

Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi

early applications is low, compared to previous years. “There could be some reasons for the low numbers, and the Covid-19 pandemic could be one of them. Given the low application numbers, we are projecting high numbers of late applications,” Lesufi said.

Inner-city Gazette

News

1 - 8 October 2020

City launches inner-city cleaning drive Takalani Sioga

Part of the Jewel City redevelopment precinct

Jewel City construction resumes Johannesburg - Construction of the R1.8 billion Joburg inner-city redevelopment, Jewel City, located at the Maboneng precinct BD has resumed. The launch of the redevelopment project, which covers six city

Business robbery suspects arrested

blocks, took place on Heritage Day. Developed by Divercity Urban Property Fund, the project is set to provide services that will include rental accommodation, retail space, business offices, schools, medical and recreational facilities.

Divercity Urban Property chairperson Tebogo Mogashoa said community reaction to the project has been phenomenal. “We are thrilled that we were able to see its potential and redevelop this gem to make it a safe place for

Johannesburg - Police recently arrested three suspects between the ages of 20 to 23 for alleged business robberies that took place at corner Mooi and Rahima Moosa streets in the Joburg CBD. Police spokesperson Captain Xoli Mbele said five suspects allegedly robbed a shop at corner Plein and Wanderers Street on 25 September this year. “They entered a shop pretending to be customers where one of

them showed the cashier a firearm. They took an undisclosed amount of money and two cellphones from the cashier before they fled the scene. Community members alerted the police and three of them were apprehended. The cellphone was recovered from one of the suspects, and two suspects are still at large,” Mbele said. He added that the suspects are linked to two other businesses robberies that took place twice in one

families, with amenities and job opportunities,” Mogashoa said. Divercity Urban Property has also redeveloped the iconic Absa Towers which is situated in Main Street, and is in the same Joburg inner-city redevelopment precinct. shop at corner Lilian Ngoyi and Smal streets on 19 and 24 September this year, and investigation is under way. Johannesburg Central station commander Brigadier Perumal commended the good working relationship between the police and the community. He also encouraged community members to keep on giving police information about crime that may be happening in their precinct.

he City of Joburg Region F has embarked on a two-week cleaning campaign, aimed at the inner- city streets, public parks and educating the public about illegal dumping and littering. The City and stakeholders who include Joburg Roads Agency, City Power, Pikitup, JMPD, City Parks and Home Affairs, will also profile homeless individuals and refer them to relevant departments and facilities for assistance. During the launch of the campaign at Queen Elizabeth Park, opposite Bree Street taxi rank on Monday, Region F Director Irene Mafune encouraged residents to take care of the environment and reduce, re-use and recycle waste, to ensure that Joburg becomes one of the cleanest cities in Africa. “Joburg inner-city is the gateway to any part of the City. It’s very important that when people arrive in Joburg they get impressed by how clean it is. As the municipality, we can’t do it alone, that’s why we educate the public about the importance of re-using and recycling, in order to keep this beautiful city clean,” Mafune said. Areas of focus include Doornfontein, Bertrams, Newtown, City Deep, Hillbrow and Yeoville. Deputy Director of Communication and Stakeholder Relations in the office of MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services, Stan Itshegetseng said they will also address issues of illegal connection of water and electricity. “Illegal connection of water and electricity is an on-going problem. It’s very important that we deal with it once and for all. Residents and businesses should pay for water and electricity so that the municipality can be able to provide services,” Itshegetseng said. The campaign runs till 9 October.

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1 - 8 October 2020

Inner-city Gazette

News

Social media considered a key reputational risk Own Correspondent

Phelophepha healthcare personnel attend to a resident

Phelophepa train delivers free health care services Johannesburg - The Transnet Phelophepa healthcare train started services for Soweto residents for the first time in 26 years on Monday this week. That followed weeks of planning among Gauteng Province, City of Joburg, Transnet, SAPS, SANDF and local community leadership. Joburg’s Health and Social Development MMC Eunice Mgcina said this is a historic achievement for the City of Joburg. “We are honoured to host the Phelophepa healthcare train, which will deliver much-needed services to

our residents,” Mgcina said. The Dube train station in Soweto was a hive of activity as residents from Chiawelo, Phiri, Zola and neighbouring suburbs waited for their turn to access services onboard the train. Primary healthcare services will be offered up to 9 October 2020 from 07:30am to 4pm Monday to Friday. The services include comprehensive screening and testing; dental fillings and cleaning; HIV/Aids and TB screening and testing; Covid-19 screening and testing; diabetic screenings and cancer education;

pap smears, prostate and breast screenings; eye clinic and counselling. Counselling on substance abuse and gender-based violence will also be offered free of charge at the Phelophepha train. Although some screening and testing services will be offered for free; prescribed medicines will cost R5; dental clinic procedures will cost R10 and spectacles will cost R30. The services are on a first come first served basis, and are open to all City of Joburg residents within a 30km radius of the Dube Station.

Gunman shoots people in CBD street The man was holding a beer bottle in one hand while opening fire at random in the street Johannesburg - Last Friday a man opened fire in Lilian Ngoyi Street in the Joburg CBD and shot four victims, according to police. Police spokesperson Captain Xoli Mbele said three men were shot in the lower body, while a female victim was injured in the upper and lower body. “The suspect was holding a beer bottle in his hand when he started shooting at random. The victims were taken to hospital, where two were treated and discharged on the same day. Through the help of the community, police arrested the 40-year-old man for attempted murder at the Amsterdam building at corner Lilian Ngoyi and Quartz

streets. The motive for the shooting is not yet known,” Mbele said. He added that the man has been charged with attempted murder, and the gun used in committing the crime and live ammunition were recovered. “It will be sent to ballistic testing to ascertain if it was used in committing other serious and violent crimes,” he added. Johannesburg Central station commander Brigadier Perumal lauded the good working relationship between the community and the police that led to the arrest of the suspect. He encouraged the community to work together with the police to subdue the escalation of crime in the Joburg CBD.

ocial media are a key communications channel, but they pose some risks for organisations, especially their directors, according the Institute of Directors in South Africa (IoDSA) CEO Parmi Natesan. She says directors have to accept that once they take up a board position, they will be seen as representing the organisation in the world of social media. “The social media world has its own rules and culture, and there is no distinction between public, professional and private roles. Directors’ duties to act in the best interests of the organisation, with due care, skill and diligence are paramount, and it should never be forgotten that they can be held personally liable for not fulfilling these duties,” she says. She adds that those using social media need to gain the necessary skills to communicate in an environment in which context is absent. “Observations that might be unexceptionable in the real world can be perceived quite differently in the online world; and perception is everything in the virtual world. Board members cannot afford not to be proficient in social media themselves, and must give careful thought to their role in the organisation more generally.” Because mishaps can cause grave reputational damage in the blink of an eye, social media should be considered in the risk management process with a corresponding policy to manage them, just as is the case with traditional media, Natesan says. Social media policy and official activity are often relegated to the marketing department, and seen as the preserve of younger, more junior staff members. The board must ensure that a social media policy is in place and has been approved by the board and that all

IoDSA CEO Parmi Natesan

staff members and directors understand what it means for them, Natesan says. A key challenge is that social media often requires swift action, so policies must be crafted to provide a framework within which everybody associated with the organisation can work, with provision made for the rapid vetting of potentially damaging Tweets. Natesan recommends that directors should restrict their social media comments to business and financial matters of a general nature; and that if they feel there is a specific issue that needs addressing, they should take it to the social and ethics committee, the board or the official spokesperson. “Directors need to be careful that they do not break the bonds of collegiality and confidentiality that are fundamental to an effective board by speaking out on a controversial issue unilaterally,” she says. Many social media policies also fail to provide any framework in terms of which transgressors will be disciplined. It is therefore recommended that social media policies are linked to the IT use policy and the disciplinary code.

Inner-city Gazette

1 - 8 October 2020

Inner-city Gazette

Partnership brings hope to musicians

New play for young audiences The play draws upon the seSotho legend of the water snake Kganyapa which is believed to have supernatural powers

Ntombi Mashaba

Akhona Jolingana

partnership has been entered between WatchaTV and Joburg Theatre to stage a series of concerts and special showcases involving some of the top artists and bands in South Africa. WatchaTV Virtual Stage has been hosting and broadcasting shows to music fans at their homes before and during lockdown. Director and partner at WatchaTV Dr Sipho Sithole said: “I have been a regular at Joburg Theatre since the mid-90s and this partnership is a continuation of my love for the arts. Through this partnership we promise to bring quality shows by some of the most admired musicians and artists in this country. We are humbled by Joburg Theatre’s acceptance of our proposal when we approached them for what we think is going to be an amazing artistic journey.” A hybrid concept that brings limited audiences to the theatre, under Covid-19 restrictions, as well as virtual audiences via WatchaTV Virtual Stage, the partnership promises to be exciting for music fans.

The Arts

Theatres CEO Xoliswa Nduneni-Ngema

Dr Sithole also said WatchaTV is proud to bring the Best Female of the Year at SAMA 2020, Ami Faku, on 2 October who will be celebrating her top charting debut album, Imali, to her fans. Joburg City Theatres CEO Xoliswa Nduneni-Ngema said: “I have been following the work of WatchaTV since they hosted the International Jazz Day on 30 April and various shows since then, including Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Sibongile Khumalo, Nduduzo Makhathini, Mandisi Dyantyis, Tutu Puoane, Bokani Dyer and many others. WatchaTV fits into our vision, ensuring that the show must go on even under these difficult circumstances.”

ASSITEJ South Africa has announced that they will soon produce a new play by Modisana Mabale called Lehe Le Kganyapa. The play will debut at their Biennial International Festival of Theatre for Young Audiences, Cradle of Creativity, in 2021. Mabale’s work was selected from nine new plays for young audiences, developed through the ASSITEJ SA in The Works programme, 2020. In the search for new African voices in theatre for young audiences, nearly 40 plays were submitted from all over the continent, including, Kenya, Botswana, Nigeria, Malawi, and South Africa. Mabale was one of nine African playwrights shortlisted to participate in the incubation programme. Over several months the playwrights were paired with international mentors through the Write Local Play Global network. Through this process ASSITEJ SA nurtured new plays by South African and African writers that resonate with audiences aged six

to 16 years. These plays were then presented at the In the Works Festival, which was a component of the 12th Annual Drama for Life Conference and Festival, Masidlale! Exploring Connection, which ran from 20-24 August 2020. Lehe Le Kganyapa draws upon the seSotho legend of the water snake Kganyapa which is believed to have supernatural powers. The snake is said to bring about natural disasters whenever it goes in search of its missing hatchlings. Mabale’s script is an imaginative exploration of this story told through the eyes of seven-year-old Motlalepula. When Kganyapa’s egg goes missing, Kganyapa takes Thabiso with her under the sea. It is up to Motlalepula to find the egg and her brother. Written for 10-13-year olds, Mabale says he wrote this play for children to make sense of this mythical creature, and to find imagination within the story. The script is dynamic in its use of language, deftly mixing seSotho and English, and its mythical elements provide rich material for a stage production that can bring to

uotable

uotes

By Prophet Philip Banda

Playwright Modisana Mabale

life both the beauty and grandeur within the script. During the writing process Mabale was mentored by Jenny Millinger, the Associate Artistic Director of Arizona based theatre company Childsplay, and the artistic director of the Write Now new plays festival. Millinger said: “Modisana has the heart of a poet, the passion of a change-maker, and centred as one who is deeply rooted in his community. He truly believes in what his story wants to accomplish.”

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Dube Birds skipper looks forward to top flight action Sports Reporter

aving led his team to win the 2019/20 National First Division (NFD) title, and promoted to the Premier Soccer League (PSL); Swallows captain Lebohang Mokoena says he has a point to prove. Mokoena, nicknamed Cheeseboy, was one of the best strikers in the PSL with Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns. He spent the last two seasons in the NFD and is looking forward to playing in the PSL again. “Having spent so much time in the second division, this is time to remind people of what I can do in the game, I am a more experienced player now and offer much more to the team,” he said. Mokoena joined NFD side Mac-

cabi FC after leaving Ajax Cape Town at the end of the 2017/18 season when the side was relegated from the PSL. Maccabi’s NFD status was bought by then ABC Motsepe League club Swallows ahead of the 2019/20 soccer season, and was renamed Swallows FC. “I have the people around me who convinced me to keep playing, and that I still have a lot to offer in the game,” he said. Mokoena, also a former Bafana Bafana international, hopes to become a coach after retiring from professional soccer, and said he is already working on his coaching qualifications. “I am attending some coaching clinics and have projects in which I work with young players,” he said.

Swallows players celebrate soon after winning the NFD championship