Cape Argus 2022-05-12

FOR insurers to sustain profitable growth, they needed to find new customers and address unmet, new and evolving needs, while retaining ample margin, says PwC Actuarial, Risk and Quants partner Renasha Govender. She said while in the past they had been able to generate value from their investment strategies, regulatory costs and constraints had meant that innovation with regard to products, integrated services and partnerships had proven to be key necessary drivers for continued financial success within the industry globally. Key indicators for the past decade demonstrated that growth in profitability was muted even before the pandemic. Combined IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) earnings grew in line with inflation and Value of New Business (VNB) margins trended slightly downwards. The industry had achieved VNB margins of between 2.7 percent and…

WHILE the pandemic has brought great devastation in the global economy, many franchise brands said they had surprised themselves with how quickly they and their franchisees had adapted to the new normal, were able to pivot quickly and give the necessary cushioning and support to overcome the obstacles. This was revealed when the Franchise Association of South Africa (Fasa) asked some of its members from various sectors to share how they were faring in the current situation of load-shedding and economic uncertainty. Cash Converters managing director Richard Mukheibir said the continual load shedding was unsustainable, increased costs and reduced profits, resulting in job losses and reduced opportunities. “If living through a pandemic for over two years has taught us anything, it is that it’s imperative to have a recession-proof business,…

WITH more than 300 million paper records dating from the 1800s, the South African Department of Home Affairs (DHA) is ripe for digitisation. In the 2022 State of the Nation address, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the DHA intended to appoint 10 000 young IT workers to accelerate the process of digitisation over the next few years. As part of an extension of the Presidential Employment Stimulus programme, a significant number of unemployed young people would be put to work digitising paper records while enhancing their skills and contributing to the modernisation of citizen services. Addressing unemployment is critical in rebuilding the economy, and assistance from reputable outsourcing organisations will be essential to ensuring that the intended outcome of job creation is achievable and sustainable. A starting point for digitisation…

In a bid to develop and promote South Africa’s growing film industry, the local films of two women filmmakers will be screened at the Cannes Film Festival, the largest film festival in the world. The festival takes place from May 17 to 26 in France, and the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission’s (KZNFC) participation will be at the Pavilion Afriques, one of the coveted white tents at the festival, which creates a unique venue for movie and trade promotion while outlining the diversity of African cinema. The Valley of a Thousand Hills by Bonita Sithebe and God’s Work by Sithabile Mkhize will form part of the KZNFC delegation. Jackie Motsepe, the KZN Film Commission’s chief operations officer, said the goal was to empower youth and women in the industry to tell their…

Second Stage Theatre has condemned the leaked nude footage of Jesse Williams. The Grey’s Anatomy actor appears full frontal in his Broadway show Take Me Out, which is running at the venue, and an illegal recording of the scene has been shared online, despite theatregoers being required to lock their phones to prevent photos or videos being taken of the performance. On Twitter, Second Stage said: “Second Stage Theatre has worked to ensure the privacy of the Take Me Out company by creating a phone-free space with locked phone cases at all performances. We are appalled that this policy has been violated and unauthorised footage of our acting company has been posted. “It is deeply unfortunate that one audience member chose to disrespect the production, their fellow audience members, and,…

Evidence has emerged that Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead during an Israeli raid on the West Bank town of Jenin yesterday, was targeted deliberately, the head of the International Federation of Journalists said. But the Israeli Defence Force insisted yesterday that Abu Akleh was killed by Palestinian fire during the raid. Abu Akleh’s fellow Al Jazeera journalist Nida Ibrahim said Abu Akleh was shot in the head. She died in hospital shortly after being admitted in critical condition. Israel has blamed Palestinian gunmen for her death, but Al Jazeera’s Ramallah bureau chief Walid al-Omary said there had been no shooting by Palestinians. “Testimony from journalists who were with her when she was killed point towards this being another deliberate and systematic targeting of a journalist.…