This is how former Joburg mayor allegedly scammed Sowetans: Victims describe Gwamanda’s swindling tactics | The Citizen: Gwamanda has been placed on special leave while he tries to clear his name.
A Soweto man who was scammed, allegedly by the former mayor of Johannesburg Kabelo Gwamanda, says he was promised great wealth and financial freedom.
Gwamanda, a member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for Community Development in the City of Johannesburg, is currently on special leave. This is after he was arrested for fraud related to his investment in Ithemba Lama Afrika, a funeral insurance company.
Sold empty dreams
One of Gwamanda’s alleged victims, Lefu Lebitsa, told The Citizen on Tuesday that he had lost R21 000.
Lebitsa said Gwamanda and his business partner told him that he would make R20 000 at the end of 2014 if he invested a….continue reading HERE.
19 suburbs to be affected by a water outage in Johannesburg: Residents in several Johannesburg suburbs will experience a planned water outage on 29 October, due to critical infrastructure work. Over 14 suburbs, including Commercia Ext and Jukskei View, will be without water from 9:00 until 16:00.
Suburbs and streets impacted in Johannesburg
The water interruption will affect multiple areas, including Commercia Extensions 1 to 3, 6 to 8, 10, 12, 15,16, 18 to 22, 40 and 41, and Jukskei View Extensions 17 and 18. Key streets affected include 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Street, Setter Road, Garey Road, and West Road. The outage, scheduled for eight hours, is part of a more considerable effort to commission new water infrastructure in the city.
Residents have been advised to make the necessary….continue reading HERE.
Equinix launches first South African data center in Johannesburg: Equinix has opened its first International Business Exchange (IBX) data center in South Africa, in the city of Johannesburg.
First announced in December 2022, the new facility officially opened this week.
Located in the Germiston area of the city and known as JN1, the site provides more than 20,000 sq ft (1,900 sqm) of colocation space in its initial phase, with plans for expansion to more than 100,000 sq ft (9,515 sqm) at full build-out.
Able to support liquid cooling, JN1 has 700 cabinets in its initial phase, with plans for 3,475 cabinets when fully built out. The company has previously said the site would initially….continue reading HERE.
WRAP | ‘If Johannesburg CBD can’t go back to where it was, it will fail’- says Lesufi | News24: Issues identified are:
Economic structure
Distorted labour market
Friction between credit and market demand
Institutional weaknesses
Spatial distortion and fragmentation
Crime and grime
Socio-cultural “entrepreneurship is not intrenched”.
To solve this, they suggest (inter alia):
Skills development – a skills portal and coaching
Demand aggregation – buy local campaign
Technology transfer – technology acquisition incentives
Infrastructure development – bulk infrastructure development fund, infrastructure maintenance plans
Incentives – township investment tax incentive, green economy incentives, start up grants….continue reading HERE.
US-based Equinix opens R3bn data centre in Johannesburg: The facility offers more than 1,900m² of co-location space in its initial phase, with plans to increase that to more than 9,515m² at completion. The site “boasts significant power capacity, making it suitable for high-density deployments with the capability to implement liquid cooling to support those deployments”, Equinix said.
JN1 has 700 computer server cabinets in its initial phase, which will increase to 3,475 when fully built.
Johannesburg is seen as an important connectivity hub for digital networks, using an extensive network of submarine cables along the country’s coastline.
Data centres are dedicated facilities for servers and IT equipment, with Johannesburg considered to be the biggest market in Africa, while SA as a whole has….continue reading HERE.
Brics: An anti-imperialist fantasy and sub-imperialist reality? – Aliran:
Patrick Bond, political economist, professor of sociology at the University of Johannesburg, and director of the Centre for Social Change, discusses the Brics summit in Johannesburg in August 2023.
The Brics countries continue to call for greater representation within Bretton Woods institutions, while their opposition to US-dollar hegemony has been feeble at best.
In part 1 above, Bond lays out the complicity of the Brics and soon-to-be Brics+ elite in corruption networks as they profit from Big Oil and Gas contracts and accelerate environmental disasters.
In part 2, Bond broadens out his analysis of the Brics countries engaging in what he terms “talk left, walk right”. He explains the….continue reading HERE.
Somali national arrested in Johannesburg with $20k of khat in drug bust: Johannesburg police arrested a Somali national early Monday after seizing 100 kilograms of Khat worth approximately $19,750 in a targeted drug operation. The suspect, 39-year-old Mohamed Deeq Abdulahi….continue reading HERE.
AFD and city of Johannesburg strengthen long-term partnership for spatial transformation and climate transition: Under this MoU, AFD will continue to provide support to Johannesburg in implementing its strategic priorities. The city has long been confronted with significant challenges, including high levels of spatial and socio-economic inequality, ageing infrastructure, and the increasing impacts of climate change. The MoU formalises the commitment of both parties to work together on these issues through integrated strategies, enhancing access to basic services for marginalied communities, advancing spatial transformation, and addressing environmental challenges, particularly in light of climate change and the need for a just transition.
Building on two decades of cooperation
The relationship between AFD and the City of Johannesburg, dating back to….continue reading HERE.
DA demands immediate action on Cllr Gwamanda’s arrest and “Special Leave”: The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Johannesburg expresses serious dissatisfaction with the handling of the allegations and recent arrest of Cllr Kabelo Gwamanda, who is currently on “special leave” as the MMC for Community Development.
Our concerns regarding these fraud allegations were first raised by our former Caucus Leader, Dr Mpho Phalatse, and we reiterated these when Cllr Gwamanda was elected as Executive Mayor. However, these concerns were dismissed as mere gossip.
As the official opposition and representatives of the residents of Johannesburg, we remind the Executive Mayor, Cllr Dada Morero, that he was elected by Council and is accountable to Council, not to the internal processes of any political party. Furthermore, there is no….continue reading HERE.
Former Joburg mayor arrested for alleged funeral insurance scam: Kabelo Gwamanda, the former mayor of Johannesburg and current Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for community development, has been placed on special leave following his arrest on Friday in connection with an alleged funeral insurance scam that he purportedly operated more than a decade ago.
The scam, which allegedly took place between 2011 and 2012 through Gwamanda’s company, Ithemba Lama Afrika, involved conning Soweto residents into paying monthly contributions for funeral policies. When policyholders attempted to claim on these policies, Gwamanda and his company had allegedly vanished.
The arrest followed the efforts of one victim who, after discovering that the company had disappeared, opened a case at the Protea Glen….continue reading HERE.
Taiwan Refuses South Africa’s Demand to Relocate Office, With Support from Diplomatic Allies – The News Lens International Edition: Taiwan has openly refused South Africa’s demand that it moves the representative office from the capital Pretoria to the commercial hub Johannesburg, in an attempt to hedge against Chinese factors in downgrading Taiwan’s international status.
On Wednesday, the Taiwanese Association in Southern Africa (TASA) sent a letter to the South African government and the parliament to reconsider the contributions of the Taiwanese community and to retract the renaming and relocation demands.
This petition came after Taiwan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeff Liu told a press conference on Tuesday that South Africa has violated an agreement that was signed between the two nations in 1997, which South Africa could not unilaterally breach.
Currently….continue reading HERE.
Huawei Cloud sees fast business growth in South Africa: Increased demand for faster computing from South African firms and the government has attracted big cloud operators into the country, with Huawei the first international vendor to host a local ‘hyperscale’ cloud data centre in South Africa in 2019.
Huawei Cloud has served more than 1,000 customers from the government, financial services, education and telecoms sectors as well as some media and e-commerce companies, Jacqueline Shi, president of Huawei Cloud Global Marketing and Sales Service told delegates at the company’s cloud summit in Johannesburg….continue reading HERE.
Chery’s 2024 User Summit in China Teases Potential Models for SA: Recently, I had the opportunity to travel to Wuhu, China, to attend the Annual Chery International User Summit. This trip marked my first international journey, and naturally, it was filled with mixed emotions as I navigated the 14-hour flight from Johannesburg to Shenzhen and some lengthy commutes. On the plus side, I got up close and personal with several models Chery has earmarked for South Africa.
Upon landing and clearing customs, we were warmly welcomed by the Chery International team who would be handling our needs and answering our barrage of questions. Our adventure….continue reading HERE.
Design Week South Africa aims to “grow pride” in local design: There are complex challenges to stimulating the design scene in the most unequal country in the world, the founder of Design Week South Africa Margot Molyneux tells Dezeen in this interview.
Design Week South Africa is a new two-part event with an instalment that took place in Johannesburg earlier in October and a second chapter starting in Cape Town today.
Molyneux – a fashion designer and former managing editor at the magazine House and Leisure – launched the event with an ambition to invigorate the local industry and increase public awareness about the importance of design.
She told Dezeen she had in….continue reading HERE.
Pikitup: Rubbish bin for graft reports: Same problems year after year. If you’re looking for something to feed your morbid mood over the decay of South Africa’s municipalities and metros, read auditor- general Tsakani Maluleke’s report on Johannesburg – it’s on the internet – and sit down and spew bile with me.
In the report for 2022/23, as in almost every audit over the past 20 years, the financial mismanagement is highlighted in gruesome detail. Nothing is being corrected, despite the AG’s recommendations. The same problems and errors occur year after year. In fact, it seems as if the deployed cadres and tenderpreneurs are taking care to perpetuate the mismanagement.
In the case of Johannesburg, the audits refer to irregular procurement practices, particularly with fleet….continue reading HERE.
‘The Voice’ star Anslin G recounts Johannesburg kidnap and robbery ordeal: Former ‘The Voice South Africa’ contestant Anslin Gysman assures his fans he’s OK after taking to social media this week to recount his harrowing experience of being kidnapped and robbed in Joburg.
In a heartfelt video post, the singer shared the terrifying details of booking an Uber to take him to a local fast-food outlet in Kempton Park close to the hotel where he was staying.
The ‘Evolve’ singer, who hails from Phillipi in Cape Town told fans, “I share this with you, not for your sympathy… but so you are aware of the cruelty that this world has to offer.”….continue reading HERE.
SA’s broken infrastructure | Almost 80% of Joburg’s bridges at risk of collapse: Some Joburg bridges are on the verge of collapse.
Over 700 are in a poor condition, with 12 on the verge of collapse.
They are in Roodepoort, Randburg, Lyndhurst, Buccleuch, Florida, Grobler Park, Ruimsig and Soweto.
We find out what the plans are from Johannesburg Roads Agency CEO, Zweli Nyathi….continue reading HERE.
Equinix adds to mushrooming SA data centres – IT-Online: Nasdaq-listed digital infrastructure company, Equinix, has opened its first international business exchange (IBX) data centre in Johannesburg, South Africa – JN1 – which it says is a key facility within its global network.
Equinix says that the JN1 site is in a key economic centre and a rapidly growing interconnection point on the African continent. Already a strategically important connectivity hub for digital networks, South Africa boasts a significant network of submarine cables across its expansive coastline.
Strong financial services, industrial and professional services sectors have resulted in local and international firms using the city as a hub for regional operations – and the city attracts a large number of foreign and local….continue reading HERE.
Equinix launches R3 billion state-of-the-art data centre · CIO South Africa: On 23 October, Equinix, is a multinational company headquartered in Redwood City, California that specialises in internet connection and data centres, launched its JN1 state-of-the-art, $160 million (R3 billion), 1,900m3 co-location international business exchange (IBX) data centre in Germiston, east of Johannesburg.
The opening of this facility is a pledge that was made by our president, said Sandile Dube, the managing director of Equinix in South Africa at the launch, “a pledge that has come to fruition”.
“What I’m really proud of is the opportunities that have been created for local businesses. We’ve seen a significant number of jobs created for women and the youth, the essence of this investment – Equinix is also here to accelerate….continue reading HERE.
Johannesburg: Joy of Jazz Festival – Celebrates jazz music with local and international artists.
Queen Ginger
I told my dad to embrace his mistakes. He cried, then he hugged me and my sister
Emerald Vine
Biltong – seasoned strips of dried meat. Similar to beef jerky (but much tastier!), this is the spicy, cured snack eaten at rugby matches. It is usually made from beef, game and even ostrich.