NSFAS administrator, professor Hlengani Mathebula. (Image source: X) ICT has emerged as the biggest operational risk facing the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). Administrator, professor Hlengani Mathebula, warns that outdated and fragmented technology systems are undermining funding administration, payments and student services. Mathebula made the remarks as he submitted the NSFAS administration’s stabilisation plan…
El Niño is putting millions of lives at risk in eastern and southern Africa but the UN is ensuring that communities are better prepared to deal with its impact. The story from a human perspective A farmer in Zambia who hasn’t seen a maize harvest. A mother in Somalia carrying her sick children through floodwater….
Armed conflict, insecurity and environmental pressures are threatening ancient cities, historic castles and one of the world’s greatest wildlife migrations. In response, the UN cultural agency (UNESCO) has added six sites to its List of World Heritage in Danger. Meeting in Busan, Republic of Korea, the World Heritage Committee on Sunday granted emergency protection to…
The security situation in the Strait of Hormuz has returned to a “worse-case scenario” for oil tankers as Iran has repeatedly attacked ships over the past week, the CEO of a maritime risk services firm said. “We see the reduction of the volume of transits through the Strait of Hormuz and right now crews of…
Comprehensive visibility forms the foundation for stronger cyber security outcomes. Public sector institutions across Africa are delivering an expanding range of digital services across increasingly complex and interconnected environments. These environments span modern platforms, legacy systems, operational technology and a growing number of connected devices – all of which must co-exist to support critical public…
David Meister, Global Head, MSP & MSSPs, Check Point Software Technologies. Every year on 27 June, the world marks the United Nations International Day for Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSME Day). This year’s theme – “The Future Generation of MSMEs: An AI-Driven Future” – could not be more timely, because what I’m seeing on…
Karin Hone, CISO at Barloworld; Celia Mantshiyane, CISO at RMB; Justin Williams, head of group information security at MTN Group; and Pepkor’s Duncan Rae. (Photograph by Strike a Pose) South Africa-based chief information security officers (CISOs) have laid out their top cyber security concerns, with third-party risk (60%) front and centre. This is one of…
Anthony Miller, CEO of Simply Financial Services. Cape-based insurtech Simply Financial Services, a Hollard Group company, believes business leaders in the SME market do not adequately consider the value of providing risk benefits to their staff. The 11-year-old firm says the segment, which consists of around 14 million employees and contributes roughly 40% towards the…
Attackers can spoof or route their traffic through the same geographic regions as staff use, reducing location as a security control measure. (Graphic created with GenAI) Small businesses with inadequate IT support, which rely on single sign-on credentials for access to e-mail, accounting software and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, are the most at risk…
A typical migration environment looks manageable on paper. An established organisation, a predominantly on-premises setup, a directive to move to the cloud. What the scoping work usually reveals is something more layered: servers provisioned years ago and never decommissioned, data that was never classified, access controls set up once and never reviewed. Not unusual individually…
