ETHEKWINI Municipality has scooped five Diamond Arrow Awards at the prestigious annual PMR.africa KwaZulu-Natal Province Business Excellence Awards Ceremony. The event took place at the Southern Sun Elangeni Hotel on 17 July. EThekwini was nominated as being the highest rated Municipality in all five categories based on a survey in KwaZulu-Natal conducted during March and April 2024. The City and Invest Durban received the following awards: Municipalities doing the most for social upliftment in KwaZulu-Natal, Municipalities doing the most for job creation in KwaZulu-Natal, Municipalities doing the most to attract tourism to KwaZulu-Natal, Institutions doing the most to attract foreign/international investment to KwaZulu-Natal, and Institutions doing the most to attract local investment to KwaZulu-Natal. EThekwini Mayor Councillor Cyril Xaba received the awards on behalf of the City. He is encouraged and pleased that the City’s renewed efforts to improve in key performance areas are being recognised. PMR.africa , a division of CJ Hattingh Sons, is a leading South African consultancy and research company. The annual awards is designed to augment competitiveness, enhance excellence, and set benchmarks in the industry. Deputy Head of Invest Durban Russell Curtis said: “We are grateful to the business leadership across our region for their vote of confidence in us via these awards. We are happy to have Mayor Xaba and the Deputy City Manager of Economic Development Lihle Phewa grace the ceremony and lead the collection of accolades. Halala eThekwini!”

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KwaZulu-Natal’s businesspeople have risen to the challenges posed by South Africa’s demanding economic environment and ensured that the province has maintained its position as a key player in the country, contributing about 16% to the national GDP.   KwaZulu-Natal may be the third-smallest province by land size in the country, but its entrepreneurs ensure that the province competes above its weight and is second only to Gauteng in contributing to the economy, said Kuben Chetty, Head of Commercial Banking, Client Coverage KZN at Standard Bank when congratulating Award winners at the KZN Top Business Awards gala dinner at Umhlanga Rocks.   Standard Bank is proud to be associated with what has become KZN’s premier business award. Since its inception 18 years ago, the event has grown with the province, reflecting the events that have changed and shaped business. Our congratulations go the winners in each of the fourteen categories which recognise achievements in business that range from contributions to their own sector, employee wellness, community upliftment and green energy.”   Grant Adlam, CEO of KZN Top Business, said business success relies on strong leaders who are ready to act.  In the process of realising their ambitions, they not only created opportunities for others but also contributed to society and made the world a better place. “As Nelson Mandela said, everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and enthusiastic about what they do,” he said.   “The winner of the Standard Bank KZN Top Business Leader of the Year Award 2024, Brian Howarth, the managing director of Magnet, a leading industrial and commercial electrical and energy solutions provider in KZN for 32 years, mirrors all the characteristics of an exemplary business leader.”   In her closing comments, Simone Cooper, Head of Business and Commercial Banking South Africa at Standard Bank Group Ltd, said: “It is gratifying tonight to see the leaders of many KZN businesses including some that Standard Bank has partnered with over the years, listed among the award winners tonight and present in the audience.   We believe strongly in the future of KZN and will, as we have over the decades, continue supporting and helping local businesses grow.”   The complete list of winners in the various categories were: Standard Bank Client of the Year – SME Category: Less than R100 million annual turnover. • Steelco           Standard Bank Client of the Year – Larger Enterprise: More than R100 million annual turnover. •           Natal Joint Municipal Pension Fund Manufacturing Sector •           Sumitomo Rubber South Africa Transport/Logistics Sector •           Grindrod Limited Franchising Sector •           RE/MAX Coast and Country Family Owned/ Managed Business •           Royal Tyres Agriculture and Agri-Processing Sector •           Agrikool Business, Finance and Education •           Inspired Financial Management Solutions Community Upliftment and Improvement   •           SA Home Loans Renewable Efficiency – Green initiatives •           SAMAC Engineering Solutions Employee Wellness •           Beekman Group Partnership •           Do More Foundation Top Brand      Mi7 National Group                                        …” The evening’s proceedings will be available on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/c/KZNTopBusiness from 19 July, with the premiere starting at 6 p.m. All the winners and finalists will be featured in a special supplement published in The Mercury on 23 July. #PartneringForGrowth

The CFO Centre’s part-time Finance Directors/Chief Financial Officers use a proven framework known as the ’12 Boxes’ to identify where the problems are within any business. They use it to review every aspect of your company’s finance function and identify every problem area. The idea of hiring even a part-time FD may seem to some SMEs a bit over the top. But for companies whose ambition it is to get into and survive the coveted scale-up phase, hiring a part-time FD makes perfect sense. They know that they’re getting a finance veteran, someone with big business experience, who can provide the guidance they need to grow rapidly and help them to avoid the costly mistakes that so many ambitious SMEs make as they attempt to move into the Big League. As Colin Mills, Founder and Chairman of The CFO Centre Group, said in his book about scale-ups , “The reality is that there is great value in having someone from the next level if you’re aspiring to get there.” Businesses who hire part-time FDs understand that today’s FDs are capable of delivering far more than bookkeeping or accounting services. They provide advice and analysis and implement practices and processes. They can work with your board of directors and external stakeholders such as your bank or investors. They can also advise you on mergers and acquisitions. Besides strategic analysis, they can provide advisory support on everything finance-related in your business. Read full article

David Warmback shares his journey from childhood to becoming an equity partner at Shepstone & Wylie Attorneys. He highlights his transition from teaching aspirations to pursuing law, his first job as a cashier, and his current role providing corporate and commercial legal services. David reflects on his proudest accomplishment of receiving an MBE for assisting British nationals in South Africa. He emphasizes the importance of continuous learning in his profession and managing time as a significant challenge. David's vision for the business in the next five years in KZN is to overcome challenges and create a more positive environment for growth and job creation. His motto to achieve goals is to take small steps every day and persevere towards realizing dreams. KZN Top Business Leaders powered by

Belinda Putterill is an absolute powerhouse! From her humble beginnings in a small town, she has risen to the prestigious role of managing director at USE- IT, a leading non-profit in the waste industry. Her unwavering passion for making a difference in the environment and engaging with communities is truly inspiring! Balancing the demands of motherhood with a thriving career, Belinda is a shining example of strength and determination. She has faced and conquered self-doubt head-on, proving that nothing can stand in her way. Belinda cherishes her team like family, tackling challenges together and fostering a supportive work environment. Her faith fuels her every day, guiding her towards greatness. Looking to the future, Belinda envisions boundless opportunities for growth in Durban's green economy and job market. Her motto, "Don't break out-of-the-box. There is no box," encapsulates her innovative spirit and limitless potential. With Belinda leading the way, the sky's the limit! KZN Top Business Leaders powered by

In a recorded conversation, Lubin Ozoux discusses his background, career journey, and vision for Sumitomo in South Africa. He talks about the importance of creating joy and well-being for all, focusing on people and culture within the company. Ozoux emphasizes the need to turn challenges into opportunities and maintain a teenager mindset for growth and adaptability. He values trust, ambition, and impact as guiding principles for the company's future. Ozoux draws inspiration from the resilience and journeys of the people he works with, highlighting the importance of continuous learning and improvement. KZN Top Business Leaders powered by

Bashini Mahomed recounts her professional journey from entering the finance sector to ultimately assuming the role of owner and CEO at Dynamic Shipping Services. She underscores the significance of personal development, team support, and economic contribution through a focus on export markets. Bashini elucidates the hurdles she encountered, such as launching her business amidst the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and how resilience and mindset were instrumental in surmounting these obstacles. She places a high value on her team's drive, transparent communication, and mutual care. Drawing inspiration from her parents and other influential women, Bashini envisions a future that entails driving exports, generating employment opportunities, and nurturing a constructive mindset. Her guiding principle revolves around the notion that the effort one invests directly correlates with the outcomes achieved, underscoring the potency of optimism and diligent effort. KZN Top Business Leaders powered by

Social media is abuzz with much excitement as the announcement of the winners of the Standard Bank KZN Top Business Awards 2024 draws near. Annually, the awards pay tribute to the many outstanding businesses and organisations that are contributing to the economy and improving the lives of the people in KwaZulu-Natal. “Businesses are the backbone of our province, as they play a crucial role in job creation and community upliftment. We recognise and salute the women and men who drive our vibrant economy.  At Standard Bank, we understand that SME’s banking needs and behaviour have evolved, with some becoming more complex, largely due to digital technologies. However, having access to personal advice and banking relationships is still highly valued. SMEs require convenient, secure, cost-effective relationship banking, based on a deep understanding of their specific needs and of the industry and on the ability to provide advice, practical solutions and access to world-class digital services and suitable products. These awards are another opportunity for us to demonstrate how we partner with current and potential clients as they start, manage and grow their businesses,” said Hameed Noormahomed, Head of Coverage for Business Banking for KwaZulu-Natal.   The 2024 category finalists are: Standard Bank Client of the year – SME Category: Less than R100 million turnover per annum. Black City Records Steelco Construction for Africa   Standard Bank Client of the year – Larger Enterprise: More than R100 million turnover per annum. Sumitomo Rubber South Africa Royal Tyres Natal Joint Municipal Pension Fund   Manufacturing Sector LHL Engineering Joekels Tea Packers Sumitomo Rubber South Africa SA Adhesives   Transport/Logistics Sector Grindrod Limited Dynamic Shipping Services AML Distributions   Franchising Sector ActionCOACH Marlene Powell Pedros Flamed Grilled Chicken RE/MAX Coast and Country   Family Owned/ Managed Business Royal Tyres Steelco and MBM Roofing Dromex   Agriculture and Agri-Processing Sector Heartland Foods Agrikool GreenHills Laboratory   Business, Finance and Education Inspired Financial Management Solutions Arvind Magan and Associates The Busy Bookkeeper & Partners   Community Upliftment and Improvement   Innovate Durban Phoenix Group SA Home Loans SmartXchange   Renewable Efficiency – Green initiatives Triplo4 Sustainable Solutions Circular Energy SAMAC Engineering Solutions   Employee Wellness Beekman Group SRF Flexipak SA Powerpoint Lifestyles   Partnership Tidy Towns Shelley Beach to Margate Do More Foundation Phakamani Empowerment Gagasi FM   Grant Adlam, CEO of the KZN Top Business said, “The achievements of the companies that are operating in the province of KwaZulu-Natal really impressed the judges.  Their drive to build sustainable businesses that ensure not only profit, but also that employees and communities benefit from these endeavours is impressive. We congratulate all the finalists on their selection, this year’s task was once again extremely difficult as all entrants are winners in our view.” All the winners of the Standard Bank KZN Top Business Awards gala dinner will be announced on the 17 July at the gala dinner. These announcements include that of the Standard Bank KZN Top Business Leader of the Year. This honorary award is given to someone who has demonstrated exemplary business achievement, industry influence and is a true inspiration to others. In addition, the winner of the title of KZN Top brand, which is by public SMS vote only, will be revealed. This accolade is much coveted with many thousands of votes cast by employees, clients, family and friends for their favourite brand. The evening’s proceedings will be available on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/KZNTopBusiness from 19 July with the premiere starting at 6 p.m. #PartneringForGrowth

Sanibonani, Good day, Molweni! I stand before you today with immense gratitude and a deep sense of responsibility, as I take the oath of loyalty to Constitution and all other law. This honor you have bestowed on me is not one I take lightly. It is a responsibility I humbly accept, knowing very well the expectation that comes with the job. Thus, I pledge not to fail the residents of this beautiful City. Honourable Speaker, please, allow me to thank my predecessor, Former Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda who had been in this position since 2019 and I want to wish him well as he assumes his new responsibilities. My predecessors laid a solid foundation. We will continue working closely with community leaders, business and all our stakeholders to create solutions that reflect our collective aspirations.  Our city has a vibrant and dynamic community, rich in diversity and full of potential. It is a place where different cultures, ideas and dreams come together like bright rainbow colours to create a thriving environment.  Working as a collective, I commit to nurture this diversity and harness our collective strengths to build a more inclusive future, that no one must feel left out.  Working collectively, we will review areas that have not performed well and implement new approaches, in the process enhance transparency and improve accountability, to ensure effective and efficient service delivery.  To that end, we will also ensure that those entrusted with the responsibilities are responsive and more accountable.  Our priorities are clear. To name but a few, we will focus on: Improving water and sanitation infrastructure as well as ensuring uninterrupted water supply; A safe and clean city; Inner-city rejuvenation; Strengthening good governance and fighting corruption; Attracting investment and promoting an inclusive economy that creates jobs. We want to appeal to the employees of the municipality to recommit themselves to serve the public with integrity, honour, and humility in line with the Batho Pele Principle. We must state unequivocally that we will not tolerate people who do not want to work and those who pursue their self-interests at the expense of the people of eThekwini. We will monitor performance of senior management to ensure that it is aligned to the objectives and key performance indicators that underpin our IDP.  Early this month, I received reports that some parts of Hillcrest & Clermont Extension, in the Pinetown area were without water for an extended period. I found it utterly unacceptable. It degrades the quality of life of those affected and undermines their basic human right. I shall write to the City Manager to ask for a detailed report as why the residents of Clermont and Hillcrest were without water. Whether such could have been prevented or at least mitigated. Whether there was negligence on the part of our officials. And the proposed course of action. I shall be following up on other areas that have been without water for a considerable period, and I will treat this as urgent. In our effort to promote clean and accountable administration, we commit to continue to work with all institutions that are charged with a responsibility of enforcing good governance such as the Auditor-General, Treasury and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA). Honourable Speaker, the Constitution enjoins all spheres of government and organs of state to “cooperate with one another in mutual trust and good faith by assisting and supporting one another.” S41(1)(h). Consistent with that there have been several initiatives aimed at supporting and assisting the municipality. Honourable Speaker, we welcome the support that we are currently receiving from the provincial and national government through Section 154. We want to assure you that we will cooperate with all support teams to ensure that the city improves in all identified areas of intervention. It is important to state that the city has been supported on an ongoing basis in the following areas: City Support Programme by National Treasury which helped the city in the development of the water and sanitation turnaround strategy        Water and sanitation team turnaround strategy implementation team. Water and sanitation support for operations by the Department of Water and Sanitation Umngeni/Uthukela Water on maintenance and operation of ten Wastewater Treatment Works National Department of COGTA on various service delivery support Wastewater Treatment Works The Presidential Working Group which provides support on seven workstreams which include, among others, disaster management and governance KZN COGTA support on issues of service delivery, consequence management and grants expenditure National Treasury support on collection of government debt Ongoing oversight on financial management in line with the MFMA Next week, we will be engaging with all support teams with an intention of strengthening relations and ensuring that our work is aligned to adequately respond to the service delivery needs. Fellow residents, we are acutely aware that building a functional and sustainable city requires a collective effort. In this regard, we want to commit to bolstering our working relations with the business sector to build a vibrant and resilient economy. We must continue to facilitate the ease of doing business in eThekwini by creating efficient systems that improve turnaround time and remove the red tape – making it easier for investors to do business in the city. Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to continue to actively participate in multilateral fora to ensure that our city plays a meaningful role and occupies its rightful place among the cities of the world.   We must strengthen our collaborative efforts on issues of climate change by building an environmentally sustainable and resilient city. This is crucial considering that we are a coastal city that is prone to catastrophic weather events. The frequency of flood disasters in the city calls on us to review our strategies to adapt and mitigate the impact of climate change. It is critical that we have a functioning and effective early warning system that can help us to prevent the loss of life. Equally, our stakeholders in the built environment must collaborate with us to ensure that we build better and smarter. On our part as a city, we are going to insist that people desist from building in flood prone areas as we continue to avail suitable land for human settlement. Ladies and Gentlemen, we wish to emphasize that we will double our effort to create a safe and clean environment for the people of eThekwini. We are determined to improve collaboration with all law enforcement agencies including the South African Police Services to curb crime. We must also endeavour to adequately resource our Metro Police so that their presence is felt throughout the city. Over and above increasing the number of Metro Police Personnel, we must invest in smart policing, using technology such as CCTV cameras to prevent crime. We want to remind our residents that fighting crime is a collective responsibility. Therefore, we pledge to collaborate with all legitimate community crime fighting structures within the city. Honourable Speaker, we will need the same collaborative effort to get our city clean so that we can attract investment and grow our tourism. We urge residents and businesses to play their role by disposing of waste in designated areas. In the next few days, we will be meeting with all service delivery units to streamline our plans to clean the city, rehabilitate our roads, fix streetlights, maintain our sport facilities and parks, build houses, and deal with water and sewer leakages. From these engagements, we will be able to develop new approaches to accelerate service delivery. At the same time, we will be engaging Amakhosi, political parties, business community, organised labour, civil society, religious sector, and academia to solicit their input on how we can take the city forward. I assure you of my total commitment to collaborate with all political parties and stakeholders to make this city work for its residents. Once again, I extend my sincere thanks to the ANC, the leadership of this beautiful City and the staff in my office. I wish to extend my appreciation to my wife and children for support. Ladies and Gentlemen, working together we can do more to grow this city and ensure that we leave no one behind. We must respond to the call made by His Excellency, President Cyril Ramaphosa that, and I quote: “As leaders, as political parties we are called upon to work in partnership towards a growing economy, better jobs, safer communities and a government that works for its people.”   I thank you.

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Through the efforts of the UKZN Foundation , six UKZN postgraduate students have been awarded Tata Africa Bursaries during a ceremony held on the Howard College campus. The bursaries are awarded to top performing, disadvantaged postgraduate students from different fields.   In his official welcome, UKZN Foundation acting Executive Director, Mr Steve Camp, congratulated the students and thanked Tata for their assistance and support to students over the years. ‘The Tata bursaries are significant because they make a difference in the lives of students,’ he said.   Attending the awards ceremony, Tata’s Executive Director, Mr Harneet Luther, spoke about the partnership with UKZN and the philosophy of the company. ‘We are grateful to have partnered with UKZN to assist students. Partnerships exists when there are common values, excellence and trust. Young people deserve better education and economic opportunities in order to ensure a better South Africa is developed and maintained for future generations. Tata’s focus is to continue improving the quality of creating equal opportunities in education.’   Luther thanked the students, encouraging them to give back and contribute to their communities and society.   Finance, Banking and Investment Management student, Mr Wandile Majozi, is grateful to Tata. ‘This bursary means everything to me. It will help me pay off my university debt and complete my studies.’   Honours student in Finance, Ms Cassidy Lee Moodley, said receiving the bursary allowed her to focus on her studies and not have to worry about fees. ‘This is a huge financial weight off my shoulders and my parents. I can now look forward to a career in investment banking. I am also thankful to the UKZN Foundation for assisting with funding from donors and partners.’   Mr Mohummed Khan was also grateful to Tata for their financial support. ‘The bursary I received after completing my Postgraduate Diploma in Finance, Banking and Investment Management was a wonderful surprise, and a great motivator. It recognised my hard work and alleviated some of the financial pressure, allowing me to focus on my future goals. I am forever grateful for the investment in my future and the trust placed in me.’