Inner City Gazette

y

ee r F

p Co

Est 2009 Issue 45 - 2019

Tel : 011 402 - 1977 Inner-City Gazette

Fax: 086 609 8601

14 - 21 November 2019

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

Website : www.inner-city-gazette.com

072 824 3014

Inner City Gazette

Distributed free to households, churches, schools, clinics, government departments, police stations, libraries and businesses in Bellevue • Berea • Bertrams • Braamfontein • City and Suburban • City West • Crown Gardens • Doornfontein • Fairview • Fordsburg • Hillbrow • Jeppestown • Jules • Johannesburg Inner City • Kensington • Lorentzville • Malvern • Marshallstown • New Doornfontein • Newtown • North Doornfontein • Park Meadows • Rosettenville • Selby • Troyeville • Turffontein • Village Main and Yeoville

The Winners

The 2019 winners with Aurélien Lechevallier, Professor Martiale Zabaze-Kana (UNESCO), Chelsea Tucker, Yogandree Ramsamy, Busiswa Ndaba, Melissa Nel, Sinenhlanhla Sikhosana, Gilles Antoine (L’Oréal South Africa), Shantelle Claassen and Dr Phil Mjwara (Department of Science & Innovation)

Programme recognises female scientists Johannesburg - Female researchers were awarded a research grant at a ceremony in Johannesburg on Monday in the L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science programme.

The organisers said the first edition of the L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science South African National Programme, highlights L’Oréal’s commitment to female scientists and ambition to contribute to the development of scientific excellence.

L’Oreal South Africa manager Gilles Antoine said the initiative began 21 years ago, and has supported and raised the profile of 107

laureates and over 3 100 talented young doctoral and post-doctoral scientists, providing research grants in 117 countries.

“The sub-Saharan Africa programme saw significant growth since inception in 2010. With a vision of reaching more female scientists across Africa the first edition of the programme was launched this year.”

Antoine added that there are not enough women scientists in Africa to drive change at the scale at which it is needed. “Science and technology are among the keys to address these challenges. It is vital that

women and men are empowered to contribute to the development of solutions, foster innovation and enrich locally relevant research. The world continues to face unprecedented challenges such as climate change, water scarcity, and exposure to illnesses and challenges with food security, among other issues. Women in science can change the world. They have the power to change the world provided they are given the means. This year, as we honour seven emerging women scientists from across South Africa, we reaffirm our commitment to empower more young women scien-

tists, so that they receive the recognition they deserve,” Antoine said.

The seven female researchers, five doctoral and two post-doctoral, were selected by a jury of independent experts for the scientific excellence of their work from over 175 applicants.

The winners will attend the subSaharan Africa regional programme leadership training and ceremony in Dakar, Senegal.

The women will benefit from a training programme that will help strengthen their career, with the objective to empower them to pursue their career, the organisers say.

PhD candidates: each PhD candidate will receive a research grant of R80 000 Dr Yogandree Ramsamy- Department of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal Triangulating the Molecular Epidemiology of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae from Humans, Food, Animals and the Environment Shantelle Claassen Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town Nasopharyngeal bacterial community profiles as a biomarker for Lower Respiratory Tract Infections (LRTI) during infancy Chelsea Tucker Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cape Town Designing a catalyst with improved fuel selectivity for decentralized waste-to-fuel production in Africa Emma Platts Department of Mathematics & Applied Mathematics, University of Cape Town Machine Learning and Data Clustering Techniques to Probe Fast Radio Bursts and Constrain Cosmological Parameter Sinenhlanhla Sikhosana College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal Diffuse Radio Emission in Atacama Cosmology Telescope’s polarimetric extension Clusters

Post-Doctoral Researchers Each post-doctoral award winner will receive a research grant of R160 000 Dr Melissa Nel Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of Cape Town Investigating the genetic basis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in subjects of African genetic ancestry Dr Busiswa Ndaba Institute for Soil, Climate and Water, Agricultural Research Council Sustainable production and application of nanofertilizers through the adoption of biosynthesis approach

2

Inner-city Gazette

News

For further information contact Boston on 011 551 2000 Email: info@boston.co.za Visit www.boston.co.za, or Facebook

Boston City Campus

remains serious about education

There are so many messages out there that those looking to study become confused as to what a campus is truly offering. Boston has cut through the clutter proposing a message of integrity – we are serious about your education. It really is that simple.

“Students, whether school leavers or corporate, have become quite critical with education offerings. They are astute as there is so much knowledge available at their fingertips, so they make their choices wisely without being ‘dazzled by free gifts’. They are looking for an institution that will address their needs, their feelings, their financial situations as well as their attitudes.” So says Ari Katz, CEO of Boston.

Katz explains that while students are happy to study online, they still want human contact to assist with administrative as well as academic queries. “We ensure that the have this through our mentoring system”, he says. Students want quality certification of the skills they gain. They need industry recognition, and want to make use of international accreditation of their studies. “We addressed this by achieving international institutional accreditation through the British Accreditation Council.

Local accreditation is through the CHE (Council on Higher Education).

Skills specific accreditation is through appropriate examining bodies such as CompTIA” he says.

Katz quotes the Economist, saying that South Africa has the worst youth unemployment problem in the world.

“Because of this harsh environment in which they find themselves, young people no longer believe that qualifications will guarantee them employment. Boston spent two years researching a way to provide a guarantee for when they graduate.

The Graduate+ guarantee is a unique offering to Boston.”

During our research we did find that

Ari Katz many students idolised the ‘overnight’ success stories, particularly of business people who did not gain a tertiary education. Yes - Richard Branson dropped out – but he had other factors going for him including a young entrepreneurial economy open to new ideas and challenges. The environment is far more treacherous these days to entrepreneurs, who will still need to understand a balance sheet, financing, marketing and other skill sin order to run their “overnight success”. You can find success in the Instagram and social media sphere (bloggers and influencers).

But their success is short lived as it is not based on a living breathing business, a physical product or staff and colleagues.

Boston is continuously developing new curricula, maintaining liaison with corporate and industry, and assessing students and industry

needs and demands in order to create a successful match between employer needs and skills produced by graduates. This is the only way to face the 4th IR head on – feed the monster and give it what it needs in order to grow!

The World Economic Forum predicts that “by 2020 more than a third of the desired core skill sets of most occupations will comprise skills that are not yet even considered crucial to the job today”. The Boston PG Dip tackles this problem by providing new AI and 4th IR skills, a social science way of tackling business challenges, making these grads the most suitable to lead companies into the new world of work.

Boston understands the needs of the 2020 student, and this is seen through the following: • online, enabling any time anywhere study, • Maintaining human contact through training advisors, heads of department and personal tutoring.

Boston maintain a liaison with industry to understand their needs, going so far as to adapt and edit curricula.

This means that Boston graduates will be work ready and competent to contribute to the organisation from day one.

A student’s biggest fear is that they will be wandering the streets with their graduation certificate, seeking work.

Boston’s aim is to ensure that our work-ready grads are confident, skills enabled and motivated to contribute meaningfully to their communities.

Serious about education, Boston now positions itself as a challenger, an innovator and a socially relevant brand.

“We think that your education provider should be an expert. Your qualification should be world-class.

Your education experience should be consistent, quality and recognised,” concludes Katz.

See www.boston.co.za for more.

14 - 21 November 2019

Facebook sees TikTok as a threat ‘TikTok has surpassed the number of Instagram users’ Own Correspondent

S

napchat cofounder and CEO Evan Spiegel has indicated that the Chinese video-sharing app TikTok is a friendly to his platform, rather than a competitor.

He also said TikTok contributes to an increase in the amount of time people spend on mobile devices, which is good news for Snapchat.

But other social media giants like Facebook see TikTok as a threat.

They have reacted to the meteoric rise of the Chinese app with concern.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg recently said TikTok is one of Facebook’s emerging competitors, noting that it had already surpassed the number of Instagram users in India.

Spiegel however, cited a few reasons to call TikTok a friend. For one, Snap and TikTok have active developer and advertising partnerships. The apps provide starkly different services, meaning they are not in direct competition, he said.

And more broadly, TikTok is leading people to spend more time on their smartphones, which Spiegel sees as good news for Snapchat.

“Time spent on mobile is growing.

We’re both growing our businesses in a very rapidly growing industry overall. The value they provide to their community is very different from the value we provide to ours.” he said.

Snapchat has now reached 210 million daily active users, a 13 percent increase from last year, Spiegel said.

In July this year ByteDance, the Beijing-based company that owns TikTok, said it has approximately 700 million daily users across its apps.

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel

TikTok, the viral short video app where millions of teens post comedy skits set to snappy music hooks, is facing a backlash in the US, where lawmakers warn that the app could pose a security risk, and are calling on regulators and intelligence agencies to investigate TikTok’s ties to China.

TikTok has exploded in popularity and become one of the few Chineseowned social media apps to gain traction in Western countries.

The app was downloaded 177 million times last quarter, according to mobile data firm Sensor Tower; the second most downloaded app worldwide, just behind Facebook-owned WhatsApp. It also made $40 million in revenue on the iOS App store last quarter, and has amassed about 100 million users in the United States, according to Sensor Tower.

TikTok is unavailable in China, though ByteDance owns a domestic version there called Douyin.

TikTok said: “Our data centres are located entirely outside of China, and none of our data is subject to Chinese law. We have a dedicated technical team focused on adhering to robust cybersecurity policies, and data privacy and security practices.”

TikTok now has one billion users and many are outside China.

14 - 21 November 2019

Inner-city Gazette

3

4

Inner-city Gazette

News

14 - 21 November 2019

Billionaire gives warning about robots taking jobs

‘Companies and governments have to start thinking of how we are going to make sure that people are employed if AI comes in’

Billionaire Sir Richard Branson

Johannesburg - British billionaire Sir Richard Branson has warned against the fourth industrial revolution, in which technologies and trends including robotics, virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) are changing the way of life and work.

Last Thursday the Virgin Atlantic chairman Branson hosted the Business is an Adventure event in Johannesburg, held in partnership with Investec.

He said while humanity is likely to continue benefiting from technology, it may lead to job losses.

Branson was part of a panel which also featured Fani Titi, Investec chief executive and Kim Reid, CEO and founder of Takealot.com.

Reid said businesses need to get a grip on data. “Businesses with more data will fare better than businesses without, because that data fuels machine learning and AI,” he said.

Branson said: “I think people will benefit from health, education, safety in cars, and many other things. There is the danger that it is going to cost jobs. Companies and governments have to start thinking of how we are going to make sure that people are employed if

AI comes in. You could argue that new jobs will be created in different areas, but I just don’t think there is going to be enough new areas.”

Titi said both people and technology are crucial to the overall outcome. He said the choice between human connection and technology or data, is a false choice.

“We believe in doing both. We believe we can be high touch on the one hand, and high tech. We believe that through human connection, we can do more for our clients,” Titi said.

He said that people can become overwhelmed with data. “The job of humans is to de-clutter that data through human connection, to make sense of it.”

Reid said technology is coming.

He called on the government to address the current standard of education, and that particular focus needs to be placed on maths and science.

Branson said it is not just up to government to create better environments. “Businesses need to draw a circle around themselves, and those circles will start overlapping and you can start working with neighbouring businesses to lift the local community.”

Trees were destroyed in Maboneng, Main Street, to enhance billboard visibility

City cracks down on illegal signage Anna Cox

T

he City of Joburg has declared war on illegal outdoor signage and has given advertisers a deadline to declare their signs.

In September the City pledged to remove all illegal signs, and release figures of how many advertisers responded to the call for legalisation of their signs. The city recently stated that 90% of signs are illegal.

About the issue the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) said advertisers would “heed the full might of the law”.

JPC executive manager of client business operations Fanis Sarianos said the city is aware of efforts by unscrupulous media owners of erecting advertising signs on both public and private land without council approval as required in terms of the 2009 outdoor advertising by-laws.

“Removal of illegal signs without a court order will become a norm after notifying the owners,” he said.

The implementation of the new by-laws was suspended two years ago through a court order, which resulted in advertisers being given a 36-month period to allow for a transition into the new phase; pending finalisation of the litigation.

Sarianos said the city would no

longer allow any unscrupulous media owners to undermine its legitimacy as a statutory institution to regulate the sector.

What has also become apparent is that these illegally-erected advertising structures are not branded, so owners cannot be identified. In recent cases, trees were destroyed on Main Street, Maboneng, to advertise a beer. After a huge outcry, the advertiser said they were only renting the space, but agreed to plant 50 trees in the area to replace the damaged ones.

Uber Eats also came under fire when trees were pruned on Oxford Road, Illovo, for an advert.

The company said it is ‘saddened and shocked, as a company that has made a recent commitment towards becoming more sustainable with our partners, this is unacceptable.’

“We are in contact with our media agency on this and the permits on the site, and once we have further details we will ensure to take the necessary actions and ensure this doesn’t happen again. We will offset this error by committing to a planting day with our long-term partners Greenpop. While this is a small step, we will ensure we do better in future for our planet and the impact of food delivery in South Africa,” Samantha Fuller, head of Uber communications, stated on Facebook. The Star

14 - 21 November 2019

Inner-city Gazette

Firefighters lose court bid against suspension

Murder suspects arrested

Yeoville - Police have arrested three men after a man was shot dead at corner Raleigh and Fortesque streets recently.

Yeoville police spokesperson Captain Sifiso Mabizela said officers responded to a report about a man who lying on the pavement with a bullet wound in the head at about 2am on Thursday.

“Paramedics arrived and certified the man dead at the scene. A witness indicated that the deceased was known to three suspects. The deceased argued with the main suspect who apologised. When the deceased did not respond, the suspect with his two accomplices went back to their victim about 10 minutes later. The main suspect allegedly shot the victim at the back of his head, then fled the scene together with his

The Labour Court said it lacked jurisdiction to rule on the validity of their suspensions

Captain Sifiso Mabizela

accomplices,” Mabizela said.

He added that the police followed information that led to a guest house in Dunbar Street.

“They arrested the three men and recovered a firearm that was allegedly used in committing the crime.

They face charges of murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, harbouring a suspect and defeating the ends of justice,” Mabizela said.

Cops hunt for man over woman’s murder

Jeppestown - A 24-year-old woman was strangled and killed, allegedly by her ex-boyfriend on Saturday evening in his flat at the Mai Mai hostel in Jeppestown.

The woman, Simphiwe Nxumalo’s body was found by police covered with a blanket. She had bruises on her hands, face and neck, while her chest was exposed.

Her cousin Vumile Nkosi said a neighbour’s son informed them that Simphiwe was screaming for help at her ex-boyfriend’s place. “When we got there we found the door locked and a window open. It was dark inside and we could not see anything.

We called out for her but there was no response. Later we saw him coming out and locking the door. We asked him to open the door but he refused; and walked away. The hostel induna called the police, and when they arrived they broke down the door, and we saw her body covered with a blanket,” said Nkosi.

Nkosi said Nxumalo had been in a relationship with the man since September last year, before he started

5

News

getting abusive to her this year.

“At first he assured everyone that he loved her, but early this year we saw a different side of him. He stalked her and wanted to know her every move. When they argued he shoved her around and started hitting her,” Nkosi said.

Police spokesperson Captain Richard Munyai said a murder case is being investigated: “We appeal to the ex-boyfriend to come forward and help with investigations,” he said.

Johannesburg - Over 200 suspended Joburg firefighters; who were suspended over an unprotected strike, have lost their bid at the Labour Court to interdict their suspension.

In July the firefighters refused to attend to call-outs, citing concerns over the non-assignment of supervisors; and accused Emergency Services management of not adhering to the National Health Act. Municipal workers union Demawusa, representing the firefighters, approached the Labour Court for an urgent interdict, arguing their members were suspended unlawfully, and that deductions were wrongfully made from their salaries.

On Thursday the Labour Court said it lacked jurisdiction to rule on the validity of their suspensions.

Emergency Services spokesperson

Nana Radebe said: “They didn’t see it as unlawful due to the firefighters not performing their duties.”

Those who were suspended include the City’s basic ambulance assistants, intermediate life support officials and firefighters.

EMS spokesperson Nana Radebe

6

Inner-city Gazette

14 - 21 November 2019

14 - 21 November 2019

Inner-city Gazette

The Arts

Black Coffee, Nasty C and Gunna

A scene in Train of Salt and Sugar, which was named best film at the first festival

Movie festival celebrates global cinema Sandton - The Joburg Film Festival will kick off its six-day celebration of global film on 19 November at the Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton.

Between 19 and 24 November audiences may watch a total of 60 movies and documentaries from around the world at six venues, within Auto & General Theatre on the Square and at a free outdoor screening area at Nelson Mandela Square; Ster-Kinekor Sandton City; Cinema Nouveau Rosebank; Maboneng’s Bioscope and Kings Theatre in Alexandra.

The festival will play host to a number of stars, producers and directors.

Festival executive director Timothy Mangwedi says the event offers a multicultural cinema experience.

“The event is a cinematic feast that showcases thought-provoking, de-

bate-stoking films,” Mangwedi says. . MultiChoice Group executive Joe Heshu says the company’s support of the festival is aligned to its role. “Our platforms have always supported the best in local and international films, with themed pop-up channels dedicated to film festivals.”

The line-up includes films from South Africa; Nigeria; Mozambique; Brazil; USA; UK; Morocco and more, a mix of feature films and documentaries that cross cultural boundaries.

Local horror film 8 stars Tshamano Sebe, Inge Beckmann, Garth Breytenbach and Chris April. It tells the tale of an old man, fated to collect souls for eternity, who then seeks atonement after trading his daughter’s soul.

Idris Elba’s Yardie, tells the story

of a Jamaican immigrant in London, who becomes consumed with avenging the murder of his older brother.

Frances-Ann Solomon’s Hero is inspired by the life and times of Ulric Cross whose life spanned key moments of the 20th century like WW2, African independence, Black Power, the rise of a new brand of Black leadership, events that have shaped the world today.

Fanney Tsimong’s soulful documentary, My Culture, My Music, illustrates how music is a powerful tool within South African culture. A host of South African artists narrate what music and culture mean to them; connecting to the body and soul, healing and providing a sense of being.

For a full listing of the films on show visit www.joburgfilmfestival.co.za.

International act to be at ‘flipping the script’ party On 23 November 2019, the Russian Bear company will host an event that will see fans, Nasty C, Gunna and Black Coffee perform one of Nasty C’s hit songs together at Constitution Hill Olonathando Nkoe Braamfontein – The Russian Bear has announced that US Rapper Gunna and South African international DJ Black Coffee will join Nasty C at Russian Bear’s epic party #BeUs! On 23 November the Russian Bear company will host an event that will see fans, Nasty C, Gunna and Black Coffee perform one of Nasty C’s hit songs at Constitution Hill in Braamfontein.

The event is about flipping the script and having consumers at the centre of this monumental collaboration, which will be filmed and exploded on MTV Base, as well as multiple other platforms.

The music event also provides a superfan experience nationwide, where lucky winners will get to win an all-expenses paid trip to the #BeUs event to be held in Johannesburg; a meet and greet with Nasty C; and double tickets to be part of the epic moment.

7

Wits faces player exodus Coach Gavin Hunt is looking to add a number of new players in the January transfer window to beef up his squad, so the club has to release some players to make way for the new signings.

Braamfontein - Bidvest Wits are set to release a number of players during the January period to make way for new recruits.

Among those who are believed to be leaving the club is veteran striker Elias Pelembe, 35. So far this season Pelembe has made only one appearance for the club.

Left back Lehlohonolo Nonyane and centre back Joseph Douhadji are also believed to be on their way out of Wits. Togolese-born Douhadji joined the Students at the beginning of the season, but word is that he has not showed Wits coach Gavin Hunt that he has what it takes to play in the Absa Premiership.

An unnamed source at the club said: “They will either loan him

out to get game time or they will release him if no club is willing to take him. As for Nonyane, he is definitely on his way out.

Coach Gavin Hunt is looking to add a number of new players in the January transfer window to beef up his squad, so the club has to release some players to make way for the new signings.”

Meanwhile the son of former Bafana Bafana captain Lucas Radebe has joined UK club Farsley Celtic FC under-23 team for the upcoming season.

Celtic coach Neil Ross said: “We are delighted to secure the signing of Lucas Radebe Jnr. He has been training with our under 23 lads and has impressed us with his technical ability and

pace,” Ross said.

He added that the player would be involved with the Under 23s as soon as his international clearance comes through.

“Our squad is a group of talented and hungry players working hard to progress the game. Although Lucas arrives with all the publicity he is certainly one of those players.

He has arrived for the opportunity to develop in football, and a big thanks must go to Radebe Senior for bringing him down to Farsley Celtic,” Ross said.

Bidvest Wits coach Gavin Hunt