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President Cyril Ramaphosa has placed Justices TA Maumela and NP Mngqibisa-Thusi on suspension to allow the Judicial Conduct Tribunal to investigate suspected misconduct regarding alleged excessive delays by the judges in handing down a significant number of judgments.

The President has taken this step in terms of Section 177(3) of the Constitution, which empowers the President to suspend a judge on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission.

On 26 January 2023, the Judicial Service Commission accepted a recommendation of the Judicial Conduct Committee that there were reasonable grounds to suspect that the judges were guilty of misconduct in delaying the handing down of a significant number of judgments.

The Commission decided the matter should be referred to the Judicial Conduct Tribunal for investigation.

At its meeting of 20 April 2023, the Judicial Service Commission took a decision to advise the President to suspend Justice Maumela and Justice Mngqibisa-Thusi pending a tribunal process envisaged in Section 19(1) of the Judicial Service Commission Act, 1994 (Act No.9 of 1994).

Both Judge Maumela and Judge Mngqibisa-Thusi are suspended subject to the condition that they finalise their part-heard matters.

The President has informed Chief Justice Raymond Zondo and the suspended justices of his decision.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Presidency: Republic of South Africa.

Liquid C2, a business of Liquid Intelligent Technologies (https://www.Liquid.Tech), a pan-African technology group, has revealed that the number of cyberattacks on businesses in Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia increased by 76%. This is according to the latest cyber security report - 'The Evolving Cyber Security Landscape in Africa 2022' (https://apo-opa.info/3XLnJ9T).

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Featuring research, analysis, and findings across the three countries on the evolving cyber security threats present in Africa, the report shows that cyberattacks against all large enterprises ramped up dramatically. Kenyan businesses reported an 82% increase in such attacks, while South African businesses recorded a 62% increase, and Zambian businesses a 62% increase.

"The biggest concern emerging from this report is that companies are saying that they've put a lot more cyber security controls in place. With threats evolving faster than security systems, companies cannot afford to get complacent," says David Behr, CEO of Liquid C2. "The report highlights that businesses must be consistently vigilant about the ever-evolving cybercrime landscape and the methods malicious actors use to breach cyber security measures. As the report shows, complacency is a luxury no one can afford."

There are reasons to be optimistic; all the respondents in the report highlighted that they had advanced significantly in their cloud and digital strategies and cyber security capabilities. Furthermore, the majority (68%) of the companies interviewed in the research said they had appointed cyber security staff members or signed up with a cyber security team in the past year. Kenya had the highest percentage at 82%, followed by South Africa (63%) and Zambia (62%).

Yet, as Behr says, "This could prove a double-edged sword. The research highlights that over half of all large enterprises in the three countries were victims of a successful cyberattack, with 90% of them being Kenyan businesses. Increasingly sophisticated methods like Cybercrime-as-a-Service (CaaS) are becoming more popular in Africa, meaning businesses can no longer rely on outdated technologies and processes. It is time they invested in a partner that provides 24/7/365 protection, rapid response, threat intelligence and prevention, compliance and improved business reputation, all designed to cater to the specific needs of businesses.

The top method of attack used by cybercriminals targeting companies was through email, using Phishing or Spam attacks (61%), with attacks through compromised passwords following at 48% and data breaches and attacks (44%) being the second and third most common. Furthermore, 61% of the companies included in the research said that the breaches to their operations occurred as a result of remote or hybrid working.

One of the most concerning revelations in the report is that Africa faces a growing 100,000-person gap in the number of certified cyber security professionals. Reports estimate that there are only 7,000 certified cyber security professionals, or one for every 177,000 people on the continent. However, this number may disguise the true magnitude of the problem as there is no readily available data on the level of investment made by African governments into cyber security.

The report underlines the increasing need for companies to invest in cyber security measures to avoid reputational damage, financial loss, and potential business interruptions. Additionally, it reinforces how vital it is for organisations to collaborate with trusted third-party Managed Security Services Providers (MSSPs) to implement and refine their cyber security strategies.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Liquid Intelligent Technologies.

About Liquid C2:
Liquid C2 is a business of Cassava Technologies, a pan-African technology group, and the Liquid division was launched to offer customers managed cloud and security services, product solutions, related professional and advisory services to customers in 22 African countries. The business operates Africa's widest Azure Stack deployment across four countries and deployed the only African Cyber Security Fusion Centres in South Africa and Kenya, with another four to be launched in 2023. Liquid C2 was selected as an Operator Connect launch partner by Microsoft in six countries. Liquid C2 was a finalist in the Microsoft Partner of the Year 2021 and 2022 and a Microsoft Partner of the Year in Ethiopia 2022. https://LiquidC2.africa