Fighting the Legacy of gender inequality and the wage gap (Edited Content)

21 March 2018 marks exactly 70 years since the creation of the Universal Declaration of human rights.  Gender equality is one of the human rights that has been enacted in the South African Constitution but what is the significance of celebrating human rights day when our fellow women are still treated unfairly  especially in the work. Women are called Imbokodo which means “The Rock” because they are able to overcome many challenges but unfortunately when it comes to the work place they remain defeated. Gender imbalances continue to take place whether there is a human right that is being violated or not, fairness is far to come within the working environments.

South Africa is not the only country facing gender inequalities this was highlighted recently with the release of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) Global Gender Gap Report in 2017, which benchmarked the efforts of 144 countries to close the gender wage gap. The findings were a disgrace. The report referred to a “continued stalling of progress at global level” and, in fact, a reversal of ‘wins’ already made. Such is the depth of the wage gap that, noted the report, it would take 217 years to be defeated with the global gender gap taking close to 100 years to close.

For example, on 22 January 2018, at the ripe old age of 90 Minnie Mouse received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This was after her male counterpart, Mickey, received his star.  A stark reminder that, even in the world of make believe, women continue to get a raw deal. Issues such as the ‘wage gap’ and more serious concerns around the predatory behavior towards women in the workplace-as we are seeing highlighted in the likes of Hollywood and British theatre currently- are real world issues that many countries are fighting against.

The wage gap will flourish as long as the world keeps serving up a diet of stereotypes which continues to bill women as the weaker sex. Only a unified global army of strong, enlightened, bold, innovative and brave men and women, boys and girls can hope to exterminate this scourge. This is a battle to be fought on all fronts, in the real world, on the big screen, in boardrooms, in classrooms and, yes, even on the animator’s easel.

                                             

Economic crime a threat to South Africa’s organisations (Supplied Content)

According to the press release issued by PwC on 27 February 2018, economic crime in South Africa is now at the highest level over the past decade. It is also alarming to note that 6% of executives in South Africa (Africa 5% and global 7%) simply did not know whether they were being affected by economic crime or not. Although other South African organisations continue to report high levels of economic crime others are still not paying attention of the effect this type of crime can have on their finances until it happens to them.

Economic crime is often mistaken for corruption but these are two different terms.  Corruption is a criminal act by those in power, typically involving bribery while economic crime is not limited to both the public and private space. It can refer to acts such as money laundering, tax evasions, illicit capital heavens and banks etc. It is of significance that companies start to look for alternative solutions on they can avoid such malpractises within their organisations. Not only does economic crime result in the financial loss in an organisation, it can have dire effects on the staff morale, commercial relations and most importantly its reputation.

Trevor White PwC Partner, Forensic services and South Africa Survey Leader, says: “Economic crime continues to disrupt business with this year’s results showing a steep incline in reported instances of economic crime. At 77% South Africa’s rate of reported economic crime remains significantly higher than the average rate of 49%. However, this year saw an unprecedented growth in the global trend, with a 36% period-on-period increase since 2016.”

The reason why some companies are being attacked by economic crimes is due to the traditional way of doing things. The use of technology in companies to protect their interest is growing at a quicker rate therefore it is important that they ascend to the digital world. They can start by installing anti-corruption software such that will be able to detect any malpractices in their financial accounts, abuse of resources etc within the organisation. Over the years, the C-suite has been the one to be held accountable of these criminal activities but if organisations turn to technology, they can have better chances of preventing any fraudulent behavior within and have executives that are adamant to the progress of these organizations rather than milking them of every cent.

Artificial Intelligence: Top Six Trends To Look Out For in

 Edited content by Nhlanhla Skosana

In his 2017 forecast, Scott Zoldi, a top analyst for the world-leading big data analytics, artificial intelligence and cyber security company, FICO (Fair Isaac Corporation)*,suggested that we were “just at the beginning of the golden age of analytics, in which the value and contributions of AI [artificial intelligence], machine learning [ML] and deep learning will only grow as we accept and incorporate these tools into our businesses” .

According to Scott, the development and use of these technologies will continue to thrive at a dubious pace regardless of the hiccups experienced in 2017.

1.    Everything done by AI will be in the forefront to be able to fight back, as criminals have learnt to use malicious AL and ML to evade the system of companies.

2.    Answers will be provided by Explainable AI (XAI) should there be a need for explanations of the decisions based on scores including those produced by AI and ML systems. However, AI has previously dealt with challenge in fraud and credit risk decisions

3.     In 2018 however, AI will supplement the work place. Not just through better software, but through the facilitation of increasingly better versions of ourselves.

4.    I believe that in 2018, companies will focus on operationalising AI, particularly in the cloud, to more easily build, refine, deploy and enhance machine learning environments.

5.    It is becoming difficult to verify what is real versus fake. In 2018 chatbots will rapidly become more sophisticated, dramatically reducing costs of routine customer care activities while also improving the customer experience.

6.    Block chain technology will soon record “time chains of events,” where people and the items they interact with will have encrypted identities.

Follow on Twitter:@ScottZoldi - for more insights of this nature.

By Simeon Tassev, managing director and QSA at Galix Networking

Edited by: Nhlanhla Skosana

               :Editorial Intern 

The dissipating cybersecurity: What’s in store for organisations?

Cyber security is no longer providing organisations with security as ought to be. The continued rise in the emergence of Ransom ware as a Service makes the malware accessible to even those with fewer skills to tackle the encrypted data.

Cyber attacks are not only experienced by organisations in South Africa but are a global issue. As threats continue to develop and evolve, organisations are being put in risk and also this may cause severe reputational damage to the organisation. Gartner has recently revealed their IT predictions, many of which are global predictions:

ü  The increasing adoption of cloud services and looming promise of hyper scale cloud environments in South Africa will place a strong focus on cloud security.

ü  Key technology trends such as the Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, advanced biometrics and Chabot will feature more prominently in the development of cyber security tools and solutions.

ü  Gartner predicts that by 2020,IoT technology will be in 95% of electronics for new product designs.

ü  Data protection tools will be expensive.

However, there are ways in which these organisations could either prevent or recover from these cyber threats.

ü  It could work in the organisations’ favour if they can implement new ways of structuring their cloud environment for the security of these organisations.

ü  They should also learn not store their information on one cloud but rather back it up and keep some of the backed-up data offline.

Have restoring strategies

ANTI-DRUG SHOW


Alcohol and drugs are consumed by different people for different reasons but the youth of today use drugs and alcohol for fun purposes. Others are being pressurized by their peers. Anti-drug show was held at TUT North Campus with the aim of raising awareness about alcohol and substance abuse.

Today's generation are exposed to drugs and alcohol due to a low self-esteem or wanting to fit in with their peers. They end up going to places of entertainment each and every week in order to drink and smoke drugs. Some of them are blessed by old men called 'blesses' they sleep with them in exchange for drugs and alcohol.

ACA Joe Nkabinde who is the producer of drama society said their play is educational aiming at educating students about the dangers of drug substance abuse.

More abuse since June

   

Constable Zanele Mtsweni from soshanguve police chats to a resident during an awareness campaign

A high number of domstic violence-related cases have been reported since June, says Soshanguve police.This was revealed during an awareness campaign when the police and the CPF took to the streets to inform residents about gender-based violence.Pamphlets on how to deal with abuse were 

handed out in blocks M and K. Residents were also afforded an opportunity to raise their concerns with their local Councillor, police and the CPF.

Ward 35 Councillor Poppy Lettie Maseko said most women in her area came to her with the hope that she would solve their domestic issues. " As a Councillor, I sometimes fail to help them but with this campaign, they will hopefully open up and know where to get help when they encounter such problems," said Maseko.

Police spokesperson Zanele Mtsweni said the police wanted to rid the community of all violence. " As much as we want t protect victims of abuse, it is still important to educate and inform the about the dangers of domestic violence and how it can be resolved," said Mtsweni.

CPF member Sylvia Ndzima said they had worked hard to assist the police in dealing with crime in the area. " We will continue to work with the police. That is why it is important for us to be part of raising awareness with issues we face," said Ndzima.

Soshanguve resident Annah Phologane said: " its good to see the police being hands on with community matters it shows they care about our safety and this will hopefully scare off those abusers and let victims speak up so that they can get help."

CELEBRATING WOMEN'S MONTH WITH BONANG MATHEBA 

It is marked nationally that on the 9^th of August yearly we are celebrating all the women in our country. The holiday recalls the march that took place nationally on the 9^th of August 1956 against legislation that required African persons to carry “pass” which was an identification document then. It limited black South Africans to enter into white areas.

South Africa is indeed a beautiful country which has produced many successful women who are able to empower others to become like them and do better in society. Among all the women who have done well for themselves is the young and ambitious Bonang “Queen B” Matheba a Television personality, radio host, business woman and an endorser. She was born in the North-West Province of South Africa.

Bonang’s big break was in a kids show called the Manhattans Fantasy Challenge on SABC 2. This show opened many opportunities for her in the television industry. She hosted shows such as LIVE, South African Music awards, Top Billing, Clash of the Choirs and more. Her parents were not happy about this because it was not a real career and wouldn’t take her anywhere.

She has partnered up with a London-based designer to create a line of handbags called Baby Star. She also got a role in Mnzansi’s drama called intersexions where she played Nurse Seipati in 2013. The next year she was named the face of the lingerie line for a high end South African retail brand, Woolworths. Same year she was announced the new host of Metro FM’s mid-morning slot; her show was called the Front Row.

It wasn’t all smooth she had fallout with the radio station. Rumor had it she was fired by the broadcaster. Regardless of what happened at Metro FM, Queen B rose against all odds. Today she is listed among the top 10 women who have made it in South Africa. She is a brand ambassador for Revlon cosmetic product, she has her own TV show called “Being Bonang” and also her own book “FROM A TO B”. Her book has been criticized by the general public and her fans but this never stopped her from making the launch of this book a success.