Inner City Gazette.co.za

y

e

Fre

Full &

p Co

everyday

lessons running

Grade R -11 Metropolitan College 170 Pritchard Street Tel – 011 402 9502

Est 2009 Issue 21 - 2021

Tel : 011 616 1523 Inner-City Gazette

Email : info@inner-city-gazette.co.za @ICG_Sales

26 August - 9 September 2021

Website : www.inner-city-gazette.co.za 072 824 3014

Inner City Gazette

Women entrepreneurs’ skills programme launched

Department of Communications acting director Nonkqubela Jordan-Dyani

Johannesburg - Over 100 women entrepreneurs have attended the first segment of a digital skills training programme, recently launched in partnership between the Department of Communications and Huawei SA. The programme, called the Women4Tech, aims to help women entrepreneurs with cloud computing, digital marketing and app development. Those attending are afforded a networking opportunity with other successful women entrepreneurs.

Huawei said the programme attracted women business owners from all over the country. “The programme is aimed at giving women owned businesses an opportunity to participate fully in the digital economy, in the

march toward the fourth industrial revolution.”

Department of Communications and Digital Technologies acting director Nonkqubela Jordan-Dyani said the programme provides skills needed to sustain the ICT sector.

“The department in rolling out its five-year Digital Skills Implementation Programme and has decided to launch an annual Digital Skills Colloquium to strengthen partnerships for the digital skills development, towards mobilisation and attraction of investment into the fourth industrial revolution learning areas. The main objective is to ensure that the mandate of the department on leading in digital transformation brings creation

of new opportunities for South Africans to participate in a digital economy,” Jordan-Dyani said.

The programme kicked off with an introduction to cloud computing by Huawei Cloud SA vice-president Michael Langeveld.

He said cloud computing is simply a big company taking care of servers in one location, and providing capacity.

“Traditional on-site servers are like making your own pizza at home, while Infrastructure as a Service is like buying a baked pizza that you heat in the oven at home. Conversely, Platform as a Service is like ordering takeout, and Software as a Service is like dining out, with the cloud provider taking care of everything.”

Day two was led by Huawei Cloud director for Southern Africa George Thomas, who spoke on the application of cloud services.

“Taking a cloud-first approach while leveraging the benefits of cloud brings numerous technical and business benefits compared to traditional infrastructure or local hosting. It is a different business model that meets your exact business needs and scales with your business,” he said.

Entrepreneur Karabo Mphelo said the programme is shaping the future.

“The session gave me an opportunity to look at how self-service automated systems are reshaping the world of business, as well as the impact of these systems on business,” she said.

2

Inner-city Gazette

News

26 August - 9 September 2021

FlyTrap targets Android users Today

Team

Dr Deonita Damons, Director, PhD graduate, Leader, player, Boss, Friend, Colleague, Project Manager, Compliance Director we salute

While progress has been made for women in corporates, we would not be winning any Olympic medals. In fact, progress is so slow it’s a little difficult to measure effectively! In school women and girls must be encouraged and SPONSORED to pursue the fields of STEM and innovation.

We need to call out conventional beliefs, societal pressures and inequality behaviours and attitudes.

Companies need to make bold moves. I am proud to be associated with the Boston Education Trust, which sponsors black females in the IT fields.

These are the steps we need to take: 1. Audit with integrity, and adjust salaries of female employees.

The gender pay gap is still a topical and trending issue – and it shouldn’t be! On average, women earn round 70 percent for the same work of their male counterparts, with the disparity widening when you consider race as a factor. A number of large corporations have tackled this challenge head-on.

International companies such as Adobe, along with Twitter, Mattel and other companies, joined the EqualPayCA pledge, with Adobe boasting pay parity since 2018.

2. Address gender disparity and role stereotypes One aspect of the pandemic was work from home revelations. Virtual meetings revealed the stresses, and financial hardships and more that many people experienced away from the workplace. A post Covid19 workplace must embrace the fourth IR skills we request from our employees: flexibility, emotional intelligence, adaptability and critical thinking and role diversification.

Workplaces do not have to make their employees, especially female employees, deal with the quandary of choos-

Dr Deonita Damons ing between managing a household or being a professional: they can help employees succeed in both roles.

3. Work with organisations such as Boston when hiring Look for institutions and invest in them to help nurture talent. Partner with universities and organisations that provide technical-training programs to diverse communities and open the door for people who have alternate career paths.

4. Leadership starts at the top For a workplace to be truly diverse and inclusive, leadership needs to uphold and emulate the values you espouse. Gender equality tends to be found in entry level positions in a company. Women may be held back from being promoted to managerial positions. I am proud to be associated with Boston, with 50% of our directors being female!

5. Elevate women employees Unfortunately reports show that the majority of women in business feel they have to work harder than their male co-

workers to prove their worth, and many also see gender bias as a barrier to promotion in 2021. Close the gender gap by building bridges, and help women get across. Senior leaders need to prioritise retaining and promoting women throughout their careers via strong advancement pathways discussed with mutual agreement in job evaluations, Opportunities for professional development and leadership training must be offered. And yes, go out of the way to fast-track female employees into managerial positions.

There may be some resistance against targeted programmes that pave the way for progress for women. Therefore leaders in business should demonstrate real effort in understanding the history of exclusion and make a conscientious and aggressive effort to dismantle identifiable barriers.

6. Listen and learn constantly There is no “once-of-quick-fix here”.

The old thinking is ingrained in the psyche of business and employees.

Change is a process, and one that must be constantly monitored and evaluated.

Reach out to those who feel marginalised, and create policies and change in consultation with them. An inclusive approach is more likely to succeed and get buy-in from all employees.

The resources are available to make these changes easy to implement.

Campuses such as Boston produce work ready graduates.

We challenge leaders, executives and hiring departments to make measurable and meaningful moves.

‘For Android devices it is highly recommend to download a mobile security app that scans the device and removes the malicious app’ time or cellphone charges you can’t new Trojan make sense of,” called FlyTrap she says. has affected over Collard says us10 000 Android ers can protect users in 144 counthemselves by tries, according to a only downloadreport from Zimpeing apps or uprium cybersecurity date apps via offirm. ficial app stores.

Researchers said “Do not ever since March the click on a WhatTrojan spreads sApp or SMS through hijacking link that tries to social media, thirdtrick you into party app stores and updating an app, side-loaded applidownloading an cations. app or installContent strating anything. Be egy evangelist at aware of mobile KnowBe4 Africa phishing, links Anna Collard says to sites that are FlyTrap is another trying to steal KnowBe4 evangelist Anna Collard example of threats your personal targeted against mobile devices. information, such as username and “They steal information such as passwords. Never root or jailbreak your social media usernames and your device as that breaks the builtpasswords, and can cause all sorts in security system. Consider installof havoc. Typically these malicious ing a reputable mobile anti-malware apps get onto your phone by tricking app. Keep your apps and software you to click on a link in a WhatsApp, updated and remove any apps you no SMS or social media message you longer need or use, less is more promay receive out of the blue, or even tection. Be very selective about what from a friend whose account has al- you download. If you think your deready been compromised,” Collard vice is infected the first thing is try says. and remove the suspicious app. You She warns users to look out for signs could go back in time and restore the that could indicate that the phone has device as a new device from a previbeen hacked or infected with mobile ous backup, or if it’s still persistent malware. you may need to do a full reset. Espe“Those are if your battery runs out cially for Android devices it is highly too quickly, if you have pop-ups recommend to download a mobile coming up or strange apps that you security or antivirus app that scans haven’t downloaded. If the perfor- the device and removes the malicious mance goes down, or there are air- app from the phone,” Collard says.

Tech Reporter

A

26 August - 9 September 2021

Inner-city Gazette

3

News

Experts raise concerns over child pregnancies

Some members of the Siyakhana food garden outreach project in Joburg

Partnership to improve food security Amy Musgrave

A

partnership between gardening equipment company Aquacraft and the Siyakhana NGO aims help reduce food insecurity and assist startups involved in urban food gardens.

The NGO has food garden outreach projects in Johannesburg, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape; with capacity to train schools and children’s homes on how to run food gardens.

The first project is an organic vegetable garden in the Joburg CBD which supplies fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs to vulnerable communities.

Aquacraft marketing manager Candice Knipe-Tlhotlhalemajoe says the partnership includes expanding the Johannesburg project and urban veg-

etable gardens across the country run

by Siyakhana.

“We looked for an established garden, and wanted to align ourselves with it, contributing to food security and also employment,” she said.

Knipe -Tlhotlhalemajoe said recent statistics indicate that over 11.5 million people in South Africa are critically hungry.

“The recent riots also highlighted the social challenges we face when it comes to poverty, hunger and unemployment. If we want this to change, we need to take action,” Knipe-Tlhotlhalemajoe said.

She added that the company has provided the Johannesburg food project with gardening tools and a six-meter container for storage and security;

and is also helping Siyakhana with skills development.

“People must garden for sustainability; instead of planting a tree to give you shade, plant one that gives shade and fruit. Instead of beautiful flowers, plant beautiful vegetables to be able to harvest and feed,” she said.

Siyakhana garden project coordinator Chantell Domingo said they offer courses to promote health and wellness skills; which include permaculture gardening, urban agriculture, nutrition and herbalism.

“We provide training to members of the public interested in urban permaculture gardening, food production, renewable technologies, nutrition, physical activity, and health promotion,” she said. Vutivi News

‘Over 23 000 girls were impregnated between April 2020 and March 202; and 934 babies were delivered by girls aged between 10 and 14’ Johannesburg - Experts have raised concerns that girls as young as 10 years are being impregnated.

The Gauteng Health department recently revealed that over 23 000 girls were impregnated between April 2020 and March 202; and 934 babies were delivered by girls aged between 10 and 14. No details on who impregnated the girls were provided.

Experts have said this is unlawful and must be thoroughly investigated.

University of Johannesburg researcher Lisa Vetten said the 934 pregnancies among girls reported to be between 10 and 14 are ex-

Dr Shaheda Omar of Teddy Bear Clinic

tremely concerning because it is a crime.

“My worry is whether the health department has sensitive policies to deal with girls who fall pregnant, while ensuring that their rights are protected. Don’t harm young women being investigated, but ensure that if there is a crime action follows,” Vetten said.

Dr Shaheda Omar of the Teddy Bear Clinic said in most cases the girls were pressured.

“This is manipulation, it is emotional ransom,” Dr Omar said.

4

News

Inner-city Gazette

26 August - 9 September 2021

Study exposes corporal punishment in schools

Research leader Pinky Mahlangu

Johannesburg - A survey recently published by the PLOS One organisation shows that corporal punishment is still used in schools, over 20 years after it was banned.

The study found that about 52% of pupils had experienced physical punishment in 24 selected public schools in Tshwane in the past six months, mostly affecting boys and pupils from poor families.

“Boys are perceived mischievous compared to girls, which explains why they are more likely to experience corporal punishment,” the report says.

The SA Medical Research Council gender and health unit research team, led by Pinky Mahlangu said corporal punishment at school is associated

with learner behaviour, home environment and school environment.

“Learners from households with low socio-economic status had an increased risk of corporal punishment.

Among boys, low family socioeconomic status is associated with a negative home environment and has a negative impact on a learner’s mental health, directly associated with misbehaviour,” it says.

The researchers say addressing learner behaviour is critical; and evidence-based interventions addressing home and school environment are needed to change the culture of using corporal punishment, and inculcate one that promotes positive discipline.

“Learners who perform poorly at

school are likely to be beaten by their teachers, parents and caregivers at home with the aim to encourage improved performance,” the researchers say.

They add that pupils who are subjected to corporal punishment are likely to be more aggressive than those who are not.

“There is an urgent need to break this cycle of violence, by holding those who use corporal punishment accountable, also supporting the children in their home environment, and parents to positively partner with their children. Evidence-based interventions are needed to support parents and teachers in managing learner behaviour. Use of positive disciplining strategies, developing

democratic relationships and consciousness about the image of a child can positively inform how parents and teachers relate with children, critical for raising responsible children, and to curb future perpetration of violence in society,” the report adds.

The Gauteng branch of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) said it is aware that corporal punishment is still being used.

Naptosa director Basil Manuel said: “Over the years we have cautioned our members and shared alternatives to corporal punishment and other ways. We can’t be re-enforcing a violent response. It is not acceptable to put our children through that.”

Life jail for man who killed his son Tshwane - The High Court in Pretoria recently sentenced a Soshanguve man to life in jail for killing his three-month-old baby boy.

The convict, Thabang Lephoi killed his son in November 2017 and buried the body in a shallow hole with rocks.

The state argued that Lephoi was in a position of trust and a duty to care, nurture and protect his baby; but instead killed him in a gruesome manner.

It was also found that Lephoi

killed the baby to spite the mother of the child.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) welcomed the sentence.

NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said: “The Pretoria High Court sentenced Lephoi to one life term and five years’ imprisonment for the murder of his three-monthold baby boy and for defeating the administration of justice. After he was arrested, he pleaded not guilty to charges levelled against him.”

Part of the scene where the taxi was crushed and the driver injured

Pic: Netcare 911

Driver injured as tree falls and crushes minibus taxi Johannesburg - A taxi driver was seriously injured after a tree fell and crushed his taxi in Bezuidenhout Valley during a recent storm.

Netcare 911 emergency services said the driver was heavily entrapped in the front cab. “When

medics arrived at the scene in Bezuidenhout Avenue they found a minibus taxi driver having sustained serious injuries heavily entrapped in the front cab. With assistance the Netcare 911 specialised rescue team used hydraulic tools to

free the man from the wreckage and Emergency Care practitioners treated the injured driver. He was then taken to hospital for further care.”

The scene was also attended by a team from the Johannesburg EMS, Fire and Urban Search and Rescue.

Company blacklists stolen computers Johannesburg - Technology company Dell Technologies has blacklisted all products stolen during the recent looting in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, and warned users to be

wary of buying through unlicenced channels.

The company issued a statement regarding the loss of products and systems during recent robberies.

“All stolen items have been blacklisted and will not be eligible for any support or services. We remain committed to tackling crime and are working closely with law enforcement to identify and bring to book all perpetrators and those found in possession of these stolen products. We aim to protect our customers from purchasing fraudulent or stolen products that have been obtained illegally. We would like to remind customers to be vigilant when buying Dell products and ensure they are bought at authorised distribution and retail outlets,” it said.

26 August - 9 September 2021

Inner-city Gazette

News

EPWP workers to improve service delivery Johannesburg - The City of Joburg says it is targeting 20 000 Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) jobs over the next financial year to help improve service delivery.

Joburg Mayor Jolidee Matongo says the City will hold weekly oversight visits to ensure work is done.

“The days of relaxing after the mayoral oversight are over; employees must do the work as we leave the site.

Every Monday the mayoral committee will get to affected areas to check on the progress of all identified problems a week before,” Matongo says.

On Wednesdays members of the mayoral committee (MMCs) will be deployed to check if services are delivered as expected.

All city entities and departments

will receive a list of all service delivery failures in all the 135 wards, and are expected to attend to them in 72 hours, Matongo says.

“The City is employing 10 people per ward on a full-time basis to help identify problems, report and escalate them, ensuring they are attended.

Pikitup is also employing 15 people per ward to help clean the streets.

The City is targeting about 20 000 EPWP jobs across the city in this new financial year, to help deal with unemployment, with the private sector on board to assist,” Matongo says.

In April the City announced a partnership with insurers Discovery and Dialdirect to manage pothole repairs.

The insurers said the initiative will reduce frequency and severity of

road accidents for insured and uninsured drivers, and help the city align with international road safety standards.

Discovery said it will use analytics data collected from users to identify potholes through extensive telematics. The business has collected over 14 billion kilometres of data, which the City will use to help prioritise which potholes to fix first.

Discovery Insure executive Anton Ossip says they will provide statistical insights about road conditions to the programme, collected through telematics data that measures how vehicles are driven and can infer the condition of the road.

‘Facebook Rapist’ jailed for eight life terms plus 223 years Johannesburg - The Gauteng High Court recently sentenced a serial rapist to eight life sentences and a further 223 years in jail for raping 10 women.

The man, 23-year-old Thokozani Jiyane, nicknamed the Facebook Rapist, committed a series of rapes in Boksburg between December 2019 and February 2020.

He was found guilty of 17 counts of rape, 10 of robbery with aggravating circumstances, two of kidnapping and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, and also three counts of fraud.

Police spokesperson Colonel Noxolo Kweza said Jiyane lured his victims on Facebook pretending to be in the film industry and offering jobs to women.

“He promised his victims work in the industry, while he promised that others would promote his clothing label,” Kweza said.

The women travelled from Soweto, Vosloorus, Westonaria, Middelburg in Mpumalanga, Hammanskraal and KwaMhlanga to meet him. “As soon as his targets gave in Jiyane would inbox

them on Facebook and WhatsApp and request their photos. He would later arrange to meet them and requested that they travel by taxi to Angelo informal settlement in Boksburg. That is where he would ambush them and later strangle them before raping and robbing them of their belongings,” Kweza said.

The court heard that Jiyane robbed the women of their cellphones and bank cards and later raped them. In some cases, he forced the women into oral sex.

Kweza said Jiyane was arrested at the Angelo informal settlement in March 2020, initially charged with three cases with the remainder added later. Evidence was gathered from Facebook and six of the women positively identified Jiyane at an identity parade, she said.

Admirall Solutions Garage Doors Motors Alarm Systems Electric Fencing Gate Motors TV Mounting Intercoms CCTV / DSTV New Installations, Repairs & Upgrades Contact 074 901 6329

admirallsystems@gmail.com Joburg Mayor Jolidee Matongo

5

6

Inner-city Gazette

26 August - 9 September 2021

26 August - 9 September 2021

Inner-city Gazette

7

The Arts

R1.4 million support for film industry The fund will finance fiction and non-fiction feature films, which will include documentaries and animation Busi Nyandeni

T A scene in Marikana -The Musical

Pic - Sanmari Marais

Cinemas announce screening procedures Thakgatso Setseta

F

ollowing the latest announcement by government to relax Covid-19 Lockdown restrictions on indoor gatherings, the South African State Theatre and Ster-Kinekor Theatres (SKT) have announced a revised schedule for theatre productions screening in selected SKT cinemas nationwide.

The updated schedule sees the resumption of the critically acclaimed Freedom-The Musical, having kickstarted the innovative meeting of theatre and cinema, after releasing on 18 June this year. Written and directed by prolific playwright and director Aubrey Sekhabi, starring Simphiwe Ndlovu and Kabelo Togoe, it offers a

topical account of students’ struggle to obtaining ‘free and decolonised education’ under the democratic dispensation.

On 27 August - 19 September will be That Night of Trance, written by Ntshieng Mokgoro and Billy Langa, directed by Ntshieng Mokgoro.

On 24 September - 17 October, will be Angola Camp 13, written and directed by Sello Maseko; 22 October - 14 November, Fela and the Kalakuta Queens, written and directed by Bolanle Austen Peters; 19 November - 12 December, Marikana-The Musical, written and directed by Aubrey Sekhabi; 21 January - 13 February 2022, METSI, written by Hannah N van Tonder and Paul Noko, directed

by Hannah N Van Tonder; 18 February - 13 March 2022, Hungry, written and directed by Aubrey Sekhabi.

The SKT cinema complexes screening these productions include Newtown, Rosebank Nouveau (Johannesburg), Musgrave (Durban), Sterland, Brooklyn Nouveau (Pretoria), Cavendish (Cape Town), and Baywest (Gqeberha). Bookings can be made at SKT cinemas and on www.sterkinekor.com.

SKT has introduced seat separation of 1.5 metres in each auditorium to allow patrons room to safely enjoy movies.

For more on the cinemas’ Covid-19 operating procedures visit the site https://www.sterkinekor.com/content/ general/operating-procedures.

he National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), in collaboration with the Netherlands Film Fund, have launched the Thuthuka Co-Development Fund, valued at R1.4 million per year.

In a statement the NFVF said four projects, consisting of two films from South Africa and the Netherlands respectively will be supported each year.

“Following a co-production agreement in December 2015, and subsequent collaborations, the Thuthuka Co-Development Fund will finance fiction and non-fiction feature films, which will include documentaries and animation. South Africa and the Netherlands will each contribute over R700 000 to the fund annually.”

The NFVF added that the co-development fund will be another opportunity to enable it to deliver on its mandate to promote the South African Film industry locally and internationally.

“The NFVF is constantly on the

CEO of NFVF Makhosazana Khanyile

lookout for opportunities that contribute to the growth of the film industry and create a sustainable environment for South African producers.”

The CEO of NFVF Makhosazana Khanyile said: “As an agency mandated to create equitable growth for the film industry, partnerships like these are another way in which we remain committed to ensuring we bring life to meaningful collaborations.”

NFVF encourages filmmakers, in accordance with the eligibility criteria, to apply when the call is open.

More information about the fund will be available on https://www. nfvf.co.za/home/ once the application process has been finalised.

Company Registrations Pty and NPC/NPO

Contact: 072 824 3014 schisale@gmail.com

Banyana in tricky COSAFA group Sports Reporter COSAFA Women’s Championship defending champions Banyana Banyana were recently drawn in a tricky group in the upcoming COSAFA Women’s Championship.

The tournament is set to take place at Nelson Mandela Bay between 15 and 26 September 2021. That will be a precursor to the 2022 African Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) qualifiers that kick off in October.

There are also three guest teams from East Africa; South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, who were an 11th hour entry after Comoros Islands withdrew from the tournament. The guest nations are believed to bring something different to the tournament ahead of the AWCON qualifiers; and it is expected to be highly competitive.

Banyana, who are in Group A with Malawi, Angola and Mozambique, have won the last four championships which were all staged in Gqeberha.

With only the top team guaranteed a place in the semi-finals, this promises to be an exciting group.

This year’s competition comes just

a month before the start of the 2022 AWCON qualifiers that are scheduled to begin in October, providing competing sides a chance to fine-tune their plans for their bid to reach the African showpiece.

Group B has last year’s runners-up Botswana, 2011 winners Zimbabwe and guests Tanzania and South Sudan. Seeded in Group C is Zambia, who recently participated in the Tokyo Olympics; to face Eswatini, Namibia and Uganda. The group winners plus the second-best placed team will advance to the semi-finals.

The AWCON will provide African representatives for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, so the journey for teams to the global showpiece starts with the COSAFA Women’s Championship.

The games will be played under strict Covid-19 protocols, which include a bio-secure bubble for all teams and officials involved.

Fans can follow the action with every game streamed live on www.cosafa. tv; and also get news and tournament information on www.cosafa.com until the final match on September 26.

Banyana Banyana players celebrate soon after winning the previous edition of the Cosafa Cup