Author Archives: vrapto

News24.com | IPID admits ‘a few cases’ were prematurely closed in Gauteng

You Need Posted on by

Despite admitting there were “a few cases” in Gauteng where the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) didn’t do proper investigations before cases were closed, the police watchdog questioned the whistleblower’s credibility before the Portfolio Committee on Police.

Earlier this week, an exposé by Viewfinder, a new accountability journalism project, detailed how IPID, since at least 2012, allegedly manipulated statistics by closing or completing cases before an investigation was completed.

Internal documents, seen by News24, reveal that IPID investigators complained that they were forced to complete or close cases without concluding a proper investigation.

These included reports from Amar Maharaj, IPID’s former ethics and risk manager, to then IPID executive director Robert McBride after visits to IPID’s provincial offices in KwaZulu-Natal, the Northern Cape and Gauteng in 2014, in which investigators explained how they were forced to close or complete cases before a proper investigation was completed.

There is also a memorandum on the alleged fraudulent closure of 152 cases between April and July 2016 in Gauteng, in which it is alleged that the usernames and passwords of deceased IPID officials or those who were no longer employed there were used to close cases on IPID’s system.

There is also a whistleblower’s report from KwaZulu-Natal, dated September 2016, about more than 900 cases that were allegedly closed without proper investigation.

Introducing IPID’s presentation on their annual report to the committee on Thursday, acting executive director Victor Senna said he had to address the report.

He said in 2012, similar allegations were taken to the Public Protector, who found they had no merit.

He said then in 2016, the then ethics officer again made similar complaints.

McBride instructed that an investigation should be conducted, starting with Gauteng.

“In the Gauteng office they identified that there were a few incidents where cases were prematurely closed,” Senna said, without elaborating how many a “few cases” entailed.

McBride then instructed that the investigation be extended to the other provinces.

Senna said the report is expected on October 18, when he will also share it with the minister and the committee.

He said IPID already takes measures to prevent the premature closure or completion of cases. Their standard operating procedures were revised, their integrity strengthening unit goes through every case and the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) audits every docket.

“So whatever is published in the annual report, is confirmed by the AGSA,” he said.

“Now these things have again been rehashed.”

IPID head of investigations Matthews Sesoko said the whistleblower had an arbitration hearing last Friday.

“So it is not a surprise that these things are coming out again,” he said.

READ: McBride says Viewfinder exposé is ‘misleading’

He said he was dismissed in 2013 for “similar issues – going to the media, leaking information, publishing misinformation about the department”.

He was then reinstated when McBride was appointed as IPID head.

“From the integrity strengthening unit’s investigation, in the Gauteng office, these issues were picked up where cases were not properly investigated and then closed,” Sesoko said.

He said an employee has been dismissed, one resigned,

“It shows the department has been taking this matter seriously.”

He said criminal charges of defeating the ends of justice has been laid, and they are expecting a decision from the National Prosecuting Authority on it soon.

One of Viewfinder’s findings was that on the days before the financial year-end, many more cases would be closed than on other days.

Sesoko said this is based on a misunderstanding of IPID’s processes.

Committee chairperson Tina Joemat-Pettersson said: “The trust in IPID has been compromised.”

She said the report was worrying.

The committee would engage with IPID on October 23 on the report.

READ: IPID responds to claims of premature closure of cases, says report expected ‘within weeks’

“Now is the time to be totally transparent,” Joemat-Pettersson said. 

“Open the books. Allow yourself to be scrutinised, because your reputation has been tarnished.”

She said the committee should take the matter seriously.

“We have to instill confidence in IPID.”

Senna also said IPID is at the “forefront of fighting corruption” yet they are “grandly underfunded”.

He said this meant they have been forced to close five satellite offices, it impacts on IPID’s independence and it causes low staff morale.

DA MP Andrew Whitfield said IPID was critically under-resourced, and it must be one of the committee’s focus areas.

IPID achieved a clean audit in 2018-2019 and they have met 83% of their targets, compared to the 65% of the previous year.

These targets were not all related to closing cases.

They have referred 2 044 cases to the NPA.

There have been two instances of irregular expenditure, amounting to R1.8m in total – a R615 000 contract with Fidelity which was awarded without following prescribed procurement processes and the salary of an irregularly appointed analyst.

DA MP Okkie Terblanche congratulated IPID on the clean audit and the improvement in meeting their targets.

“It’s quite an achievement, keep it up.”  

Health24.com | Are employers proactively tackling mental health in the workplace?

You Need Posted on by

Mental illness in the workplace is an area of increasing concern, and there is a push to make work environments more compassionate and wiser toward mental health struggles. 

Moving towards a more humane model of management and acknowledging things like mental illness is the first step forward, says Aadil Patel, national head of the employment practice at leading SA legal firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr.

The cost of mental illness

Stigmatisation of employees with mental health problems causes massive challenges in the workplace and significantly affects productivity. 

In fact, Harvard Business Review published the findings of a US survey that revealed that 50% of millennials and 75% of Generation Z (anyone born after 1997) have changed employment for mental health reasons. This should be enough to drive companies and managers to rethink the way they operate.

Despite the fact that in the US over 200 million workdays are lost due to mental health conditions each year, mental health remains a taboo subject – so much so that, according to HBR, almost 60% of employees have never spoken to anyone at work about their mental health.

David S. Mandell, Director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Centre for Mental Health Policy and Services Research, says in a Knowledge@Wharton article: 

“… large-scale studies are saying when you treat depression in the workplace, you get a substantial return on investment relatively quickly, so there’s a real economic argument for reducing the stigma, as long as we can provide evidence-based care for [the employees].”

So it seems like helping valuable employees with mental health issues makes good business sense, and also benefits employee loyalty and retention. Through early intervention, effective treatment can take effect and not only benefit the employee, but the business as well.

But how can this be done?

Positive steps

Employees may subscribe to wellness and meditation apps, but this may not be enough to effectively address the problem. 

According to Patel, many employees would rather remain quiet about mental health issues than suffer the humiliation that may occur in a company that does not have a proactive programme in place.

“Every year mental health awareness campaigns provide evidence that society in general is becoming more enlightened regarding mental illness. The next step is proactive and constructive discussions between management and employees,” he says.

Patel adds that having processes in place to pre-empt, mitigate and manage mental health challenges can go a long way towards reducing the impact on company and employee productivity:

“There are many things that employers can do to be proactive. These start with driving a culture of positivity and openness where employees feel safe to speak to their managers and human resources departments. Positive language is the starting point.”

He also says that mental illness, like many other diseases, can be successfully managed and treated. Many companies have already established programmes to assist employees in dealing with mental illness or symptoms related to their conditions. It is important to equip these programmes properly so that they have their desired effect.

Ernst & Young (EY), a large international accounting firm, has taken a very positive step in creating its “r u ok?” programme to address mental illness. As part of the programme, the company provides resources such as 24/7 counselling support; management consultation; and counselling sessions by phone, online, or face-to-face. 

Ways employers can proactively deal with employee mental health include:

  • Opening dialogue between managers and employees
  • Becoming acquainted with the law
  • Not tolerating discrimination or stigmatisation of employees
  • Implementing employee and manager training regarding mental illness
  • Considering putting employee support programmes in place
  • Cultivating a non-toxic work environment
  • Developing a sound absenteeism policy that is cognisant of mental illness

More than this, it is also important that companies take a look at the workplace environment and ensure that they’re providing healthy workplace conditions that may not potentially be contributing to the stress levels of employees. 

Image: iStock

Structural Designer – POP (Durban)

You Need Posted on by
Remuneration: negotiable Basic salary 
Benefits: Provident fund
Location: Durban, Umbilo
Education level: Diploma
Job level: Mid/Senior
Own transport required: Yes
Job policy: Employment Equity position
Type: Permanent
Reference: #SD-DBN
Company: African Mediums Advertesing

Job description

A well-established Print and branding company based in Durban in Umbilo seeks the services of a structural designer – (POP experience – corrugated and semi perm).

This is a permanent position in a fast-paced, on-demand Sector, which is very deadline driven.

The successful candidate will be responsible for collaborating with the creative/design team and be required to accurately create exciting Innovative structures.

Your responsibilities:

  • The structural designer will be required to combine innovative, creative artistic talent together with research and have a general understanding Industry needs
  • Excellent structural design Knowledge
  • Knowledge of Artois cad, strong point of purchase design term & Permanent experience and good design abilities
  • knowledge of commercial packaging and printing industry an advantage
  • Must be able to combine practical knowledge with artistic ability to turn abstract ideas into formal designs for displays
  • Work closely with the team, other graphic 3D designers to turn their concepts into cost-effective, production-friendly solutions

Requirements

  • Must be able to work well under pressure and ability to meet deadlines
  • Computer-aided design (CAD) Artois CAD or other
  • Strategic and creative thinker.
  • Must be familiar with large format printers, various material types and size constraints
  • Hands on ex – The ability to collaborate closely with the development team implementing your designs
  • At least five years’ experience in the POP industry
  • InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator experience advantageous

Own Transport essential. This is non-negotiable.

Please email your CV and portfolio to:

moc.smuidemnacirfa@sreerac

Posted on 10 Oct 16:05

Apply
Queen Ngcongo
Or apply with your Biz CV

Create your CV once, and thereafter you can apply to this ad and future job ads easily.

Get job alerts for Designer jobs

More…

Senior C# Front-End Developer (Cape Town)

You Need Posted on by
Remuneration: R700000 – R900000 per year negotiable 
Location: Cape Town
Type: Permanent
Reference: #ND43071
Company: E-Merge IT Recruitment

Now is the time to join this bank. Based in the northern suburbs of beautiful Cape Town, we talking massive projects with cutting edge tech and really good budgets for the front-end developers that are really good at what they do!

You’ll be joining a bunch well-educated techie, be involved in big transactional, risk as well as modelling software; and be part of a bank that builds products within corporate but looks and feels like a dev shop. They are also spending big money on tech with very little red tape, so there is lots of leeway to grow! You don’t get much better.

Required:

  • Six+ years’ experience in front-end development (a craftsman in your game)
  • You have the ability to build medium to large single-page applications
  • Strong expertise with HTML, CSSand  writing cross-browser compatible code
  • Good understanding of AJAX and JavaScript Dom manipulation techniques
  • Experience with RESTful services
  • Experience in JavaScript build tools like grunt or gulp
  • Expert in any of the modern JavaScript MV-VM/MVC frameworks (AngularJS, JQuery, NodeJS, GruntJS)
  • You’ve worked with complex AngularJS applications, directives, controllers, services
  • You’re a high performer, critical thinker and problem-solver
  • Cloud based distributed experience a big plus

Duties and responsibilities:

  • Strive to develop a first-class codebase using Angular best practices
  • Implement a complete user interface in the form of a mobile and desktop web app
  • Develop User interfaces for Modern Rich Internet Applications with the latest front-end technologies
  • Perform product analysis and development tasks of increasingly complex nature which may require extensive research and analysis
  • Writing tested and documented JavaScript, HTML and CSS
  • Make design and technical decisions for AngularJS projects
  • Develop application code and unit test in the AngularJS, Rest Web Services with C# back-end experience

Qualifications:

  • BSc Degree in Computer Science or Engineering or similar

Reference number for this position is ND43071 which is a permanent position based in and around Gauteng; offering a salary of R700,000 to R900,000 per annum cost to company, salary negotiable on experience. Contact Nicole on

az.oc.egrem-e@delocin

at www.e-merge.co.za or call her on 011 463 3633 to discuss this and other opportunities.

Are you ready for a change of scenery? E-Merge IT recruitment is a niche recruitment agency. We offer our candidates options so that we can successfully place the right people with the right companies, in the right roles. Check out the e-Merge IT website for more great positions.

Do you have a friend who is a developer or technology specialist? We pay cash for successful referrals!

Posted on 10 Oct 15:35

Apply by email
Nicole de sous
Or apply with your Biz CV

Create your CV once, and thereafter you can apply to this ad and future job ads easily.

Get job alerts for Front-End Developer jobs

More…

Senior Developer – C#/SQL/Data (Cape Town)

You Need Posted on by
Remuneration: R800000 – R900000 per year 
Location: Cape Town, Newlands
Type: Permanent
Reference: #GD46139
Company: E-merge IT recruitment

FSP end user. Long term investing, massive data. Renewables, ecologically responsible investing, south African informal markets, etc.

This is the job for you if you want to work in corporate markets but would like to see your work doing something good in the country.

This is a C# job with a heavy BI and Data focus. You’ll not just be building websites but also the data structures that the business thrives on.

You’ll need to bring a combination of skills with you:

  • You will need to enjoy Data, it’s structured and some of the content
  • You will have spent your life mixing it up between C# and SQL Server
  • With strong T-SQL, ideally some BI or Visualisation in that
  • Some browser skills in ASP.NET, HTML
  • Any asset management, stockbroking or investments experience would help you immensely
  • If you’ve ever touched Qlikview before, that’d be splendid

Pop me a CV at

az.oc.egrem-e@mdegroeg

reference number for this job is GD46139 based in Newlands, Cape Town

Posted on 10 Oct 15:35

Apply by email
George de Mendonca
Or apply with your Biz CV

Create your CV once, and thereafter you can apply to this ad and future job ads easily.

Get job alerts for Developer jobs

More…

HMI recommendations will contribute to universal coverage

You Need Posted on by

Once implemented, the majority of recommendations in the Competition Commission’s Health Market Inquiry (HMI) will provide a conducive environment for attaining universal health coverage.

“These recommendations introduce mechanisms for progressive and positive changes to occur in the private healthcare market, such as moving towards alternative reimbursement systems and away from the traditional fee for service system, which has led to perverse incentives,” Lerato Mosiah, CEO of Health Funders Association (HFA), says.

The recommendation for maximum tariffs for Prescribed Minimum Benefits (PMBs) is positive. However, Mosiah believes that in order to achieve this, funders and providers should come together to work on an industry wide single set of billing codes before the Supply Side Regulator for Healthcare is established, as suggested by the HMI. Clarifying the definitions of PMBs will also assist with this.

The HFA agrees with the recommendation for an industry-level role for health technology assessment and believes that this will assist the entire industry to make funding decisions based on the quality and efficacy of new technology entering the market, such as biological medicines and new equipment. This competency will also improve the health system’s capacity to assist patients with rare diseases.

“Most other health systems in the world rely on a central entity for health technology assessment in order to provide guidance in benefit design and funding decisions. In South Africa, each medical scheme has been left to do this work on their own for their own members. This is not only a duplication of work but also a waste of funds”, she said.

The association welcomes the proposed mechanisms to introduce greater transparency for members of medical schemes, such as a standardised benefit option and comparable top-up cover, as these will empower members to make more informed decisions about their healthcare.

The HMI also emphasises the importance of a well-functioning medical schemes market in healthcare provision. The recommendation for the creation of a risk adjustment mechanism may contribute in this regard and would close some of the gaps in the incomplete private healthcare sector regulatory regime.

“The recommendations will bring about more cohesive and efficient private and public healthcare sectors that will improve the quality of care experienced by patients,” concludes Mosiah.

The $13 Amazon Yoga Mat Kourtney Kardashian Swears By

You Need Posted on by

Your days of staring idly at workout equipment in a crowded gym are officially over, thanks to Kourtney Kardashian. The resident health and wellness guru of the Kardashian family just revealed her standard HIIT workout routine on her website, Poosh, and gave us all major workout inspo. 

The workout, which can easily be knocked out in just 15 minutes, is comprised of four different sets of high-intensity moves repeated for 30 seconds each in three separate circuits. The routine kicks off with thirty seconds of jump squats paired with jumping lunges, followed by mountain climbers with push-ups.  Next, there’s a seriously intense combination of burpees and squat jumps, rounded out by jumping jacks into a jumping jack plank. 

RELATED: Kourtney Kardashian’s Favorite Leggings Are So Good, Everyone Should Own a Pair

Feeling confused? Same. Thankfully, Amanda Lee (Poosh’s *in-house* trainer) broke down the entire routine with four different videos demonstrating each cycle of moves. Considering we’re out of breath just watching these videos, it’s no surprise this routine is Kardashian’s go-to.

Another major reveal in the post was a photo of the oldest Kardashian laying on the ground in exhaustion after her workout (a whole mood), which gave us a quick peek at the workout gear and equipment she uses in the gym. Along with snake print leggings from Good American and a super chic Alo sports bra, the photo also shows a black yoga mat. 

While we all want to live like a Kardashian, most of us (me!!) are on a budget, so I was happy to learn that the exercise mat she uses is just $13 on Amazon—the BalanceFrom GoYoga Exercise Mat ($13; amazon.com). Even better? Kourt’s mat of choice also happens to be the number one best-selling exercise mat on Amazon, so clearly she’s not the only fan. 

To buy: BalanceFrom GoYoga Exercise Mat, $13; amazon.com

The affordable Amazon find is made from a high-density foam that gently cushions your hands, knees, and spine during your workout—whether you’re moving through a yoga flow or following Kardashian’s super intense HIIT routine.

Despite a bargain price, the mat has plenty of features that ensure it’s long-lasting, including an integrated anti-tearing net to prevent rips, and moisture-resistant technology that makes its possible to hand wash the mat with soap and water between uses. Plus, there’s a two-year warranty that guarantees you’ll feel safe putting this equipment to the test. 

Not to mention, it’s a great pick for commuters. Despite the standard 68 inch by 28 inch sizing, the super light mat weighs less than two pounds and comes with a free carrying strap. You can also choose from seven different colors to match your personal style, including a bright red, a neon green, and a royal purple.

RELATED: Kourtney Kardashian’s Secret for White Teeth is This $4 Toothpaste from Amazon

While we love a good Kardashian seal of approval, this mat also has almost 3,000 perfect five-star reviews from customers who rave about the mat’s comfort, quality, and durability. Many reviewers also mentioned that it’s great for a variety of exercises, including hot yoga and strength conditioning routines. 

Unfortunately, bringing this budget-friendly mat to the gym won’t automatically make conquering Kardashian’s routine any easier. But it will bring you one step closer to channelling your inner KK—and what’s wrong with that? 

To get our top stories delivered to your inbox, sign up for the Healthy Living newsletter