AI is not the problem

When an admitted attorney files a legal brief in court that cites six court cases that did not exist, you know you are in for an exciting ride.In June 2023, a federal court in New York faced exactly that situation. The brief listed detailed case names, airlines, courts, and docket numbers. Everything looked legitimate and carefully sourced. It was not.ChatGPT had generated every citation, and Steven Schwartz of Levidow, Levidow and Oberman P.C. submitted the brief to a federal judge without checking any of them.When Avianca's attorneys flagged the problem, Schwartz went back to ChatGPT and asked it directly whether the cases were real. The chatbot assured him they were. He accepted that too.Judge P. Kevin Castel of the Southern District of New York was not sympathetic. He described the submissions as containing bogus judicial decisions with bogus quotes and bogus internal citations. Schwartz, his colleague Peter LoDuca, and their firm were sanctioned $5,000. In a separate ruling issued the same day, the underlying personal injury lawsuit was dismissed on statute of limitations grounds.At the sanctions hearing, Schwartz told the court he had been operating under a false assumption: that ChatGPT could not possibly fabricate cases on its own. He had never thought to check.That is not an AI failure. It is a human failure. And it is happening every day, in offices across every continent, at every level of seniority, in every industry that has decided AI is a shortcut to thinking rather than a tool for it.Click below to read the full story:https://lnkd.in/dWnb4K3k

Ethical Leadership - Lessons from Africa

On paper South Africa is a global powerhouse, internationally recognised for our strong, highly diversified economy, solid infrastructure, and many world-class tourist attractions.Our country is rich in natural resources, boasts the two best high schools on the continent, and is a sought-after hunting ground for top professional talent.Last year, we also had the highest GDP in Africa – estimated at over USD 400 billion. In theory then, we should be the jewel in the African crown; the country the rest of the continent looks to for inspiration and guidance. Sadly, the reality is very different. Click the link below to read the full article:https://lnkd.in/dxiEfV2i

Fake News Is Costing Billions

It started with a two-minute video.JSE Group CEO Leila Fourie stares into the camera, her voice measured and authoritative. “Invest now through this WhatsApp link,” she says. “300% returns guaranteed. Don’t miss out.” Her colleague, Director Mark Randall, appears in a follow-up clip: “Safe, secure, JSE-backed.”Neither video is real. Not a single frame of it.Both were AI deepfakes, cloned from public speeches in minutes using tools anyone can download for free. Desperate savers transferred money through Telegram. Telegram groups exploded with excitement. The JSE scrambled out an emergency alert: “100% fake.” But the damage was done. Trust evaporated. Copycat scams followed within days.This is not a fringe problem. It is a corporate emergency.Click below to read the full article:https://lnkd.in/dxPZnmrB

When people elected to serve us, serve themselves instead

The fact that South Africa has a corruption problem is not news. Worrying? Yes. Damaging? Definitely. But news? Sadly not.So why am I choosing to hang this article off the findings of the most recent (2025) Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)?Because for the past three years, nothing has changed – despite what many in government would like us to believe. The numbers don’t lie - our score has stagnated, much like our economy.South Africa’s most recent score is just 41 out of 100, the same as in 2023 and 2024. This is below the global average of 42, and puts us in 81st position out of 182 countries.This is in stark contrast to 1995, when we ranked 21st with a score of 57, alongside some of the least corrupt nations in the world, such as Belgium and Japan.Click below to read the full articlehttps://lnkd.in/daS4JxZh

Building a Corruption-Resistant Supply Chain in High_Risk Sectors

South African companies face a supply chain crisis. In the past three years, criminal networks have captured billions in government contracts through systematic fraud. Emergency procurement rules designed for disasters now serve as the primary avenue for corruption. The fraud patterns are documented, repeatable, and accelerating. Your procurement controls, built for compliance, are failing against organized schemes designed to exploit regulatory gaps.
This article explores fraudulent activities in supply chains and makes suggestions regarding what companies can do to protect their supply chain. We focus on medical equipment procurement and construction tenders in this article, two sectors where fraud patterns are well-documented and continue unchecked.Click the link below to read the full article: https://lnkd.in/dvjxd5Ku

Do You Know Where Your Tax Rands Actually Go?

In the coming financial year, the South African government will pay R1.1 billion every day to service its debt.
R1.1 BILLION!!!!!!!
Every. Single. Day.
But wait, there’s more…
This will increase to R1.3 billion a day by the 2027/28 financial year.
I for one, however, am not convinced that paying 15.5% less for edible offal and tins of beans and peas is going to soften the overall effect of the VAT increase to any great degree for the majority of South Africans, especially when debt servicing costs remain the fastest-growing expenditure item in the budget.
Numerous economists warn that increasing spending on servicing debt will have dire consequences for our country. It will overshadow desperately needed expenditure on critical sectors such as healthcare, infrastructure and healthcare.
Click on the link to read the full
article - https://lnkd.in/dtWn--SR
 
#budget #budgetspeech #VAT #VATincrease #debt
#southafrica

Turning Compliance on its Head

Compliance training. Just two words, but they have the power to fill employees with dread and loathing every time they hear them.
Not because they’d prefer to behave unethically, but rather that the way the training is delivered is often tedious, confusing and unmemorable.
Studies clearly show that, although the global compliance training market was worth over $6 billion in 2024 – and is expected to hit over $14 billion by 2029 - companies are still struggling.
After over two decades in this industry, we know that the secret to effective compliance training is to deliver it in a way that aligns with your employees’ psychology and culture. Because when you help your teams connect with your compliance message in way that’s meaningful for them, behavioural change comes naturally and authentically.
 
Click the link below to read the full article - https://lnkd.in/dmdP99zv
 
#compliance #ComplianceTrainingg #riskmanagement #riskmitigation #ethics
#integrity #anticorruption #forensics #forensicservices
#forensicinvestigation

Lies, Damned Lies, And Statistics

It was Mark Twain who famously popularised the saying, “There are 3 kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
He was not wrong.
Got a weak argument? Find a stat and present it craftily to strengthen your point. Struggling to persuade someone? There’s always a way to use a stat inappropriately to create influence.
Here’s an example: Your sales manager tells you, “We’ve seen a 100% increase in sales this week.”
You rub your hands together in glee, mentally planning that holiday by the coast you’ve been wanting to take for ages.
But then you realise…
Last week you made one sale, this week you made two.
Statistically, that’s a 100% increase. In real terms, it means you made R20 instead of R10.
You sadly shelve your beach holiday plans. Again.
 
Click below to read the full article:
https://lnkd.in/dVVCwbv6
 
#statistics #data #datamanipulation #stats #integrity #ethics #forensicservices #forensics #trailblazers

Troops in Trouble: Why Are Our Soldiers Dying in the DRC?

“Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it."George Santayana, philosopherMany incidences in South Africa’s recent past bring this wise quote to mind, but perhaps none so starkly as the tragic deaths of 14 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers who were killed in the latest action against M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).After protracted negotiations, their bodies were repatriated to South Africa, and I know I’m not the only one who’s found the news footage of their funerals haunting to watch.The tragic loss of life has spawned anger and outrage from grieving relatives, the South Africa public in general, and SANDF general, Rudzani Maphwanya, among many others. Many pointed questions are now being asked, not least of which is why did South Africa have troops in the DRC in the first place?It’s a well-known fact that, especially given the apparently unchecked influx of people across our northern and eastern borders, we don’t seem able to defend our own country against unwelcome visitors. Why then are we spending resources we clearly don’t have on helping far away countries defend theirs?Click on the link to read the full article - https://lnkd.in/dS-C_WX4

Good Guys Don't Finish Last

Good corporate leaders can be significant forces for good in the world.
That might smack a little of bumper sticker wisdom or fortune cookie feel-good, but it’s also, undeniably, a statement of fact.