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The vOICe vision Africa (Pty) Ltd launched a revolutionary audio vision solution for the blind in Umhlanga, South Africa in January 2020. The device called vOICe vision, which comprises goggles and an installed camera and bone conduction earphones is able to make a significant difference to a blind person’s way of life. With the help of a vOICe vision device any blind person can learn to perceive space through sound, move around without assistance, and be socially active and independent. vOICe vision Africa, Managing Director Musa Makhunga, explains, “vOICe vision is where blind people are able to see with sound.” The device was developed by Dutch engineer, Peter Meijer, a former staff member of the Philips Corporation research department. He developed an algorithm of the sensory substitution of vision through sound. The device gives a sound image with up to several thousand pixels resolution, without dependence on the eye ailment’s condition and without any need for surgery. The blind person can perceive space and objects through the sound signal received by the device as a result of encoding images from the camera. An app transforms the image into sound, which is perceived by the brain identically to the monochrome picture. The device can also vocalise text on signs and numbers of buildings, automatically or by manual control. It has features to identify and announce: objects’ colours, barcodes, and is able to name common objects in front of the camera. According to the users’ reports the sounds of the device do not interrupt listening to sounds in the environment. You can control the volume of the device, and due to the bone-conduction earphones as ear canals are not blocked and natural echolocation continues taking place. Training vOICe vision Africa offers training to blind people on the seeing with sound technique. Through training of an hour, three times a week, and practicing in between, it will take about three months for one to be competent and proficient with the technique. Musa Makhunga said, “I am hoping that as South Africans we will be able to get our people to use this device. Through taking advantage of the vOICe Vision technology, we will be able to empower blind people. I am hoping that blind people will be able to participate more freely in a range of occupations and activities including sport through this device, that they were not able to do before.” For more information contact Tel: +27 (0)31 566 1651 Email: eyes@voicevision.co.za Website: www.voicevision.co.za

Every business Leader’s first responsibility is to create a work environment conducive to meeting organisational and stakeholder objectives. These business leadership expectations are deeply etched in standard governance and ethics responsibilities. Effective leadership is essential in ensuring the organisation’s intention, its mission, its vision and objectives are planned and organised in such a way that success and sustainability are likely to be achieved. Of course, this is easier said than done. Where does one begin? To be successful, the organisation’s intention needs to align closely with customer and stakeholder satisfaction. From this anticipated outcome the Leader works backwards, recognising that the business foundation, its quality assurance processes, staffing and culture, and measurements and milestones are the defining means to achieve the desired outcome. The desired outcome needs to be clearly defined by the Leader, and staff employed into the organisation must understand and support this mission and vision. They must align their individual purpose to supporting these intentions. Without alignment of the Leader’s vision and of staff members’ purpose, there is little hope of creating the heightened energy an organisation needs to reach and exceed its goals and intentions. Energy is the catalyst in ensuring momentum to overcome operational challenges, to engage proactively and caringly with customers, and to tap into inspirational ideas and solutions. The Leader too needs to be part of the organisation’s momentum, but also needs to be able to overcome inertia, drive new ideas, and involve staff and customers in the organisation’s journey towards meeting goals and objectives. In our research and experience, we identified important perspectives Leaders should consider in their role of creating “highly engaged work environments”. Consider, that most companies in the world today are on average only 40% productive, and that only 20% to 25% of staff are excited to get up and go to work each day. These statistics are alarming, and impact considerably on organisational effectiveness. We have worked in many different industries and in big and small organisations, and note that the principles of engagement are common in all organisations, and are somewhat straight forward and simple to implement. There of course needs to be a willingness on the part of the Leader, who must want to encourage staff and teams to have meaningful roles in the organisation, and for them to have a sense of purpose, contribution and belonging. There is no one specific formula that creates the perfect outcome, as there are many unique variables such as maturity of the organisation, its existing culture and leadership norms, and situational staff and customer expectations. However, all highly engaged organisations have many things in common, and if we apply similar engagement principles in our own organisations, we can certainly anticipate a positive outcome. It is important upfront to mention, that creating a highly engaged organisation is a journey a Leader goes on with staff and stakeholders, and is not created by a single tap on the shoulder by a mystical magic wand… and voilà … overnight, a fully engaged organisation where staff take self-inspired action… for results, suddenly appears. The journey needs to be intentional and should contain aspects of the four areas that are highlighted in the points summarised below. Knowing outcome intentions A Leader must have a clearly defined vision which details the intended outcome and reason for the organisation’s existence. This vision (purpose) needs to meet governance, sustainability, and stakeholder expectations. In other words, it needs to meet ethical standards, complement or add value to globally defined sustainability measures, and provide value to customers, staff, and stakeholders. A Leader needs to be confident in his or her pursuit in meeting these defined organisational outcome intentions. This confidence needs to come through a knowing of how anticipated organisational goals and desires can be reached. This often comes through experience, intuition, and recognising contribution requirements needed from staff and resources within the organisation. Very often the Leader is the source of inspiration for the creation of the organisation, and although this role may be transferred or shared as the organisation evolves, it is necessary for the Leader himself or herself (and staff members) to recognise the importance of a founder’s role in guiding innovation, building customer, supplier and funder loyalty, and ensuring an engaged and productive employment culture. Creating a solid business foundation The vision as defined by the Leader of the organisation, and the business foundation are quite different. Business foundations include the functional activities that support the organisation meeting its mission and vision, and are in most circumstances common to all organisations. These include: · Clearly defined operational and quality assurance processes · Systems to map processes and provide structure and controls · Licensing, accreditations and customer and supplier service agreements · Financial models that ensure the organisation is able to manage margins, cashflow requirements and meet stakeholder reporting and earning requirements · A holistic understanding of consumer behaviour and ensuring focused and effective communications with the organisation’s specific target market · An HR foundation that meets cultural norms, administration and compliance standards – as well as providing role clarity, outcome expectation and promotion of equity and fairness in the workplace. Without a solid business and functional area foundation, it is not possible to build a highly engaged and productive organisation culture. The functional area activities need to be designed specifically to meet outcome requirements of the organisation. Clearly defined intentions and measurements Stakeholder expectations help to define the measurements needed in the organisation. It is essential that the Leader and staff members recognise the importance of all stakeholders in the organisation, and that the success of the business is directly proportionate to it meeting all stakeholder expectations. Stakeholders include customers, shareholders, staff, affected communities, funders, the environment, receivers of revenue, department of labour, etc. Each stakeholder measure is critical in defining the organisation outcome objectives, and it is essential the Leader ensures that all staff members and the organisation’s culture directs activities and supports the intention of meeting these outcome measures. As the organisation evolves, there will be different stakeholder focus areas. Certainly a newly founded organisation may be more focused on generating income through sales, and meeting supplier and staffing commitments, but a Leader should never forget, the responsibility they have in meeting the expectations and measurements of all stakeholders. In defining stakeholder measures, the organisation must identify the impact their actions have on each stakeholder. Staffing and Teams Business success derives from the day-to-day activities that produce the desired organisational outcome, and these activities are managed by people. People, as such are the essential component to ensure the success and sustainability of every organisation. In an organisation, “people” are referred to as staff, and it is for good reason that we consider their contribution to the organisation’s success so highly. Staff need to support the purpose and vision of the organisation as defined by the Leader, and these ideals must resonate comfortably with their own life’s goals and ideals. Staff also need to understand clearly how the organisation’s business processes unfold to ensure quality outcomes, and how they personally contribute towards meeting goals, objectives, and measurements. We often find that although staff may be highly trained and experienced in specific areas of the work they do, they lack understanding of that which makes the organisation attractive to customers, how it generates income and ensures its profitability and sustainable. A Leader’s role in the organisation is to ensure the sustainability of the organisation, and that stakeholder measures are met. The Leader does this effectively through creating an engaging work environment, with people (staff) as the central core of the organisation who ensure administrative, quality assurance, and desired outcomes are reached. It is essential that Leaders consider seriously their responsibility in articulating clearly the organisation’s intention, and ensure staff employed into the organisation align their motivation and actions with this purpose. This includes focusing on stakeholder measurements and ensuring ongoing maintenance and improvements of the organisation’s quality assured functional area foundation. For more information contact: David White T: +27 (0)31 767 0625 E: david@businessfit.co.za W: www.businessfit.co.za

REGENT Business School is proud to announce that the institution has achieved first place in the Eduniveral 2 Palmes of Excellence Award. The Eduniversal rating system known as the Palmes of Excellence is a way for institutions and their programmes all over the world to be rated. This system takes into account factors such as accreditation, school rankings and membership within various national and international academic associations. distance learning facility. There are a selection of the 1000 best Business Schools throughout 154 countries that are chosen to partake in this ranking. The institution has received first place for being the best business school with strong regional influence.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a number of changes and difficulties to the business world, to the extent that many businesses are in distress or even on the brink of business rescue. The SAICA Business Emergency Room will offer businesses support through access to a panel of business advisory experts. This service is purely an advisory service and not an implementation service. The primary target market is business, including members in business and members in practice that service business. If you or your business need help, kindly register at the link below to get in touch with an expert who will give you advice, free of charge. How the Business Emergency Room programme will work: After registering, business owners will be able to set up virtual or telephonic appointments with the experts, to have a consultation / advisory session at no cost. Sessions will be limited to one (1) our each. SAICA will facilitate these meetings between 18 January 2021 and 29 January 2021 . The specialist areas of advisory are: 1. Cash flow Management 2. Funding / Grants / Incentives Applications 3. Business Strategy 4. Business Continuity Processes 5. Business Rescue Please follow the link to register. Kindly email Bronwyn Branders for more information and enquiries. Note: This service will not be dealing with issues of tax measures related to the Disaster Management Act and UIF related matters. For SAICA’s content in this regard, visit the SAICA COVID-19 website .

KZN Oils was conceptualised in 1994 by Rajen Reddy who is presently the Executive Chairman of the RR Group of Companies. Rajen Reddy’s career spans over thirty-six years in business and counting. In 1996 Rajen Reddy made the decision to sell his Shell service station of 9 years and focus entirely on KZN Oils. Fast forward to today, KZN Oils is a 100% Black Economic Empowerment company that resells petroleum related products to public and private companies. KZN Oils strives for continuous improvement in the critical business areas for the benefit of all customers and stakeholders through innovation, quality products and empowered employees. Since KZN Oils, The RR Group has conceptualised and founded other companies, which are: Kolay – The Home of Chicken, JD Telecom, focused on Satellite Connectivity and Telecommunication and Champion Health Care, which manufactures surgical dressings. In the next five years, the group sees themselves as a commercially successful company in South Africa with a strong footprint in Africa, inspiring and supporting black entrepreneurship. Go to https://morar.co.za/webinars/ to register. See you online.

Much insight into the importance of effective leadership in adapting to current challenges in the business environment. Significantly, Covid-19 has not only created challenges but provided opportunities. How we manage these and other dynamics in our businesses will certainly impact on their sustainability, especially in an environment of uncertainty. Hosted by Roshan Morar , David White and Grant Adlam

“This year the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) celebrates 80 years of existence in its role as a Development Funding Institution (DFI), providing funding for manufacturing. We have come a long way in aiding the development of the South African economy during this time and have also assisted many companies in expanding and trading into the African continent,” says IDC’s KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Regional Manager, Pat Moodley. The IDC’s key sectors in the province include the textiles, clothing, and footwear industry, which Moodley says is a key driver in the KZN economy, especially because of easy access to the Durban port for exports. Other economic sectors supported in this region include agro-processing; chemicals; plastics and medical products; wood and furniture products; automotive and transportation; machinery and equipment; electronics; basic metals; tourism; infrastructure; as well as energy. “With industrialisation comes development, which includes job creation and localisation. An additional element which we actively focus on is the growth and empowerment of black industrialists, and youth and women owned businesses,” explained Moodley.

2018 DCC Business Accelerator Programme winner Portio Dlamini shares her top tips for business growth You can’t build a disruptive business model or change the world if you don’t understand your vision and know what you want to achieve. This is the advice that Portio Dlamini has for aspiring entrepreneurs. The Founder and Managing Director of Emakheni Cleaning and Industrial Solutions, Portio has been on a steep learning curve since she was announced as the winner of the 2018 DCC Business Accelerator Programme. Not only has the Programme helped her to grow her business, Portio is in the process of launching a strategic plan to unlock the nationwide growth she has always envisioned. “Winning the Business Accelerator Programme has completely changed my perspective on business. I always believed that if I had access to additional funding, my business would expand but working intensely with a mentor for 12 months transformed my understanding of success,” Portio explains. Born and raised in Impendle, Portio is a qualified process engineer and after 10 years in the corporate world, she started her own business in 2013. “Five years later, I had 12 people working for me but I was stuck. I had the passion and ideas, but I couldn’t get the business to the next level. I entered the Business Accelerator Programme hoping for a breakthrough, but I did not realise how much I needed to learn,” Portio says. Based on her experience over the past two years, here are Portio’s top tips for entrepreneurs: 1. Your Vision is your foundation Your vision should be BIG and extend many years into the future. It is the foundation of your business and it will keep you going no matter the circumstances. Be proud of it and tell the world what you are going to accomplish. If your vision is real and you know what you want to achieve, it provides the direction you need and a strong foundation for growth. 2. Work with a Business Mentor Every small business owner has a particular skillset but running a company requires additional expertise in operations, finance, marketing and human resources. Working with a mentor really helps as you can leverage their knowledge and experience to build a roadmap for success. This allows you to be more strategic by identifying your immediate priorities with a holistic, long-term approach. As a winner of the Business Accelerator Programme, I had 12-months of intensive mentoring which helped me with all aspects of my business. This unlocked a preferential loan from the Programme and I was able to use it effectively as I had a plan and knew exactly what was needed to drive my business forward. 3. Market Access One of my biggest challenges in building my business proved to be market access. This is where the Business Accelerator Programme made a massive difference as it helped me understand the opportunities in the marketplace and provided a platform to build relationships with key players in the Durban Chemical Cluster. As a result, I now have business strategies that are aligned with customer needs. And by integrating into the corporate procurement processes, I have had the opportunity to penetrate industry at multiple levels. 4. Take your Employees on the Journey Your business may begin with you, but you need a company of people to help you fulfill your vision. Share your vision with them and celebrate the small wins. They are at the coalface and responsible for customer service. If they understand the end-goal and the importance of their roles in the business, they will deliver for you and stay with you. Portio concludes: “The DCC Business Accelerator Programme has changed my business and my life. I would highly recommend it to any entrepreneur. It’s not about the prize money, it’s about getting the support that you need to shape your vision so that you can build the right infrastructure to enable business growth.” Entries to the 2020 DCC Business Accelerator Programme are now open! To enter go to: https://durbanchemicalscluster.org.za/business-accelerator/ . Entries close on Friday, 4 December 2020. About DCC Business Accelerator Programme The Durban Chemicals Cluster launched its Business Accelerator Programme in 2018. The programme was developed to support firms to use their B-BBEE SED and ESD spend meaningfully and on projects that speak to their company core values and brands. Small and developing businesses require access to finance to grow and achieve their potential. The programme aims to support Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs achieve their potential by providing them with access to finance that they would normally not have available to them through traditional financing institutions. Following the success of the previous two Business Accelerator programmes and the meaningful difference these have made to small enterprises, the two main sponsors, Ferro Polymers and NCS Resins, remain strongly committed to driving more impact, transformation, and going above and beyond to ensure a partnership for development with these small enterprises. Press release disseminated on Behalf of: Meghan King Executive: DCC Business Accelerator Programme Disseminated by: Tayla Gibson Account Manager Say Watt

Well it certainly seems likely, at the last discussion at the World Economic Forum in January 2020 it was felt so. Because: FACT – Internet users are ever increasing, with even children having access to the digital world from an early age, the challenges of disinformation and cyberattacks are even rifer, and this will only be exacerbated the more cyber-advanced a country becomes. FACT – It is a vicious cycle – the more data is created, the more it is collected: and there is more data being created and collected than ever before, unfortunately, it is not always collected within the guidelines of the Protection of Personal Information Act, which is why making policy attempts to protect this data needs to be swift, and it needs to be drastic. FACT – It will fall upon our business leaders to create a strong cybersecurity culture – which needs to become second nature. It’s 2020 and believe it or not, we are living through the Fourth Industrial Revolution – think artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, voice activated assistants, facial or eye recognition and digital healthcare sensors. (Did you ever watch Back to the Future?!). The race towards global connectivity and digitalisation goes forth, which means, the race to create new connections and technologies to support this cyber growth from cyberattacks and risks to these innovations will also increase in urgency and frequency. For Morar Incorporated as business leaders in this digital age, we understand that cybersecurity is a key responsibility of the executive management team and of course, its board members who need to be held accountable and live up to the expectations and responsibilities placed on them. In the business environment, a company’s reputation is everything, and this increasingly depends on how well it manages customer, client and partner information, it makes it even more crucial for these customers to know and trust that the boards of directors can make these informed decisions about cybersecurity, after all, it is now vital for long-term business resilience. So ... What is it that board members can actually do to enhance their company’s cybersecurity maturity? 1. Educate themselves about cyber risks Board members don’t need to be cybersecurity experts, but they do need to become more knowledgeable about cyber risk. Boards also need to hear from internal and external cyber experts. Every major company would be wise to have an executive responsible for assessing and managing their cyber risk. They should, on a defined regular basis, report to the board and be able to do so rankly, with integrity. 2. Never assume your industry is safe Traditionally the financial services industry which has been the target of historic cyberattacks has long known that ensuring maximum cybersecurity vigilance is a vital corporate goal. Other industries are also recognising that their reliance on devices and the internet has vastly increased their likelihood of being the target of cyberattacks and as such have changed their risk profile. 3. Include cybersecurity from the start It is no longer possible for companies to innovate first and provide for security and privacy second. When a company is considering adopting or, even more importantly, creating new technologies, boards must demand that these technologies conform to their cyber risk determinations and that cybersecurity be included by design from the outset. 4. Familiarise yourself with cyber ratings and assessments Many corporate leaders believed that by adding yet another cybersecurity tool or service, their company would automatically become more secure. FALSE – That in itself is not enough in today’s world. With greater experience and sophistication, analysts can move from inputs (what tools do they use) to outcomes (what do the tools achieve) to effectively and accurately assess how well a company is ensuring its cyber resilience. 5. Embrace cooperation Cyberattacks used to primarily be the work of isolated individuals, such as criminals or hacktivists, but today they are increasingly caused by networked adversaries, such as organised crime groups and nation-state-backed actors, making individual defence consistently more challenging. As a matter of demonstrating the current effect of corporate cyberattacks, above is a table with a few statistics showing the increase of cyberattacks exploits within global business. Most cyber-experts believe that the increase in the cyberattacks are compounded by socio-lockdowns wherein some of the unsavoury elements within the global community use their time to develop, test and launch an increasing number of cyberattacks. It is therefore critical that corporate leadership take digital protection seriously and make it a focal point during these testing times. Cyber defence champions in all forms of business should escalate their efforts in ensuring the sanctity of the corporate landscape. To get a comprehensive cyber defence strategy, it is advised that businesses consult with experts within the digital forensic and cybersecurity environments. Cyber defence in all forms of digital forensic and cyber security is an ongoing battle. If you have any inquiries, please don’t hesitate to contact: Mr Roshan Morar, Managing Director, Morar Incorporated Toll-Free Number: 0800 212 553 E: info@morar.co.za W: www.morar.co.za

Clinton Govender CEO of Brand Partners has much experience and a demonstrated history of working in the marketing, advertising and communications industry. He is skilled in marketing management, market planning, integrated marketing, advertising, financial management and market research. Brand Partners provides a platform for dialogue between government, corporate citizens, civil society and the individuals of our nation. Go to https://morar.co.za/webinars/ to register. See you online.

Join us on Monday 7 December for the Business Leadership Shaping the Future webinar at 10 am to hear Jonathan Naidoo speak on business sustainability in the future. Jonathan Naidoo, the CEO of SmartXchange, is an economics graduate with post-graduate specialisation in research methods, political and economic geography. He was previously chief operations officer of Trade and Investment KZN and holds certificates in imports and exports, project financing for public-private partnerships, conflict management, programme management, financial modelling. he also holds an estate agents' diploma and an education degree specialising in mathematics. Jonathan has extensive experience in trade and investment-related activities, having led and accompanied a number of outward and inward business missions. Jonathan's business experiences, coupled with his connectivity, both domestically and internationally has earned him the reputation of an astute "deal maker". As the CEO of SmartXchange, he is passionate about the work that the business incubator is doing to promote the development of entrepreneurs in the MICTe sector. He is focused on what he wishes the organisation to achieve and always maintains a visionary outlook. This approach is necessary in order to remain relevant in the innovation space. Go to https://morar.co.za/webinars/ to register. See you online.

Frikkie Brooks has a long history, as well as much experience, in strategic and spatial planning as well as development facilitation in the public sector. His 40-year career in the government sector include being the former: · Acting Head of Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (KZN) · Acting Director-General of KZN Province · Deputy Director-General: Strategic Management in the KZN Office of the Premier · Head of Secretariat for the KZN Provincial Planning Commission In his role at the KZN Provincial Planning Commission, Brooks was responsible for overseeing the establishment of the new provincial growth and development strategy and plans for the province. In addition to the strategy’s development he was responsible for getting it institutionalised and implemented. Brooks is now the director of Brooks Facilitation Services which focuses on guiding business, civil society and/or government entities to develop clear strategies to achieve corporate or project specific goals. This guidance is provided through structured engagements aimed at developing win-win solutions. Go to https://morar.co.za/webinars/ to register. See you online.