JGL Forensic Services - Where Integrity and Business Meet

From Joburg to Woe-burg – Is there still hope for the City of Gold?

Anyone who loves Springbok rugby will be familiar with the Bomb Squad – the brainchild of head coach Rassie Erasmus that sees the Bok bench heavily laden (6-2 or sometimes even 7-1) with massive forwards. The idea is genius in its simplicity: let the starting line-up of forwards empty their tanks in the first half, and then substitute the entire lot with an intimidating group of world class replacements for the last 40 minutes.The latest “copy-cat” however, comes from a very different – and entirely unexpected – quarter.Johannesburg Mayor, Dada Morero, in his State of the City Address earlier this month, outlined a turnaround plan to tackle the city’s collapsing infrastructure, which included the introduction of a specialised “bomb squad.”As I’ve highlighted before in a previous article, our once proud and beautiful City of Gold is tarnished almost beyond recognition and needs around R200 billion just to affect necessary repairs to roads and other infrastructure, and address the many other pressing issues facing the city.The mayor referred to Joburg’s “state of rot” and said, “we need extreme actions to resolve our challenges.”The so-called Bomb Squad, which, in the mayor’s words, is a “a high-powered implementation impact team,” is a key driver of these actions.He went on to say, “This bomb squad will be led by the ANC Veterans’ League boss Snuki Zikalala, and will remove constraints that impact the City’s ability to create the Joburg we want to see.”It all, as usual, sounds very promising. But it begs one critical question:What does Mayor Morero mean by “removing constraints?” As far as I can see, the main constraint is a crippling lack of available funds to fix the myriad problems.And I’m not sure how even the biggest, strongest and most muscly bomb squad can make that problem go away.It’s something the mayor acknowledges, if a little reluctantly.Click below to read the full article https://lnkd.in/drtuVssr

Burning Billions. What's the true cost of keeping South Africa's lights on?

Lies, damned lies, and loadshedding…“In another 18 months to two years, you will forget the challenges that we had with Eskom.”Cyril Ramaphosa, then Deputy President, September 2015.In every state of the nation address since 2018, Ramaphosa has boldly claimed we’d soon be looking at load-shedding in our rear-view mirrors.In May 2023, he told us the end of load-shedding “should be in sight soon.”In August 2023, he claimed the government was doing “great work” to fix Eskom, and promised “by 2024, the energy crisis will be over.”The fact that Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, in a metaphorical rending of garments, said, “I’m the minister and I bear the responsibility, working with Eskom, so there’s no other person but myself. The buck stops here,” was little comfort to those struggling to keep businesses afloat, and families fed.South Africans are becoming mighty tired of ministers writing cheques they can’t cash.Click below to read the full articlehttps://lnkd.in/dCaWkmwN

Wage Rage - South Africa’s civil servants earn more than our doctors

South Africa’s civil servants are the highest paid in the world, when taken as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).According to studies by the IMF and World Bank, paying our civil servants consumes between 12% and 13% of GDP – that’s 3.5% higher than the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average, and significantly more than economically strong countries such as the UK, US, Japan and Australia.In the past 30 years, the government salary bill has exploded from R55 billion in 1995 to R724 billion in the 2023/24 financial year – far above normal, inflation-related increases.Much of this happened under Jacob Zuma’s watch, and it put massive pressure on government finances. In fact, the state had to borrow money to fund this inflated wage bill, increasing government debt from R627 billion to R5.21 trillion in fifteen years.Click below to read the full article.https://lnkd.in/dFJ72wjD

Deepfake Crisis

“The question is no longer whether deepfakes will affect South Africa, but how well we are prepared to deal with them.”
Boland Lithebe, Accenture Africa Security Lead
 
This stark warning from Boland Lithebe comes at a critical time for South Africa, as the country enters a period of staggered municipal by-elections. The rise of deepfake technology presents a chilling new frontier in the fight against cybercrime and disinformation.
 
Click below to read the full article.
https://lnkd.in/dfPbMJzB
 
#deepfake #fake #fraud #corruption #AI #cybercrime #cybersecurity #forensicservices #forensics #forensicinvestigation

Cybersecurity in South Africa: 3 Tipping Point Moves for Big Business

Cybercrime is expected to cost the world $10.5 trillion annually by the end of this year. It’s an almost unimaginable amount of money, and surely not a cost businesses can continue to bear for very long.
In 2023, South Africa ranked in the top three most targeted African countries for cyberattacks, according to a report by Kapersky. Top of the list of crimes was ransomware attacks targeting critical infrastructure and financial services.
The recent declaration from Cell C that data compromised in a cybersecurity incident in January this year has now been unlawfully disclosed by RansomHouse throws into stark relief just how serious the problem is. There is clearly an urgent need for far stronger cyber risk mitigation strategies within all businesses in South Africa.
Click the link to read the full article
https://www.linkedin.com/.../cybersecurity-south-africa-3...
 
 
#cybercrime #cybersecurity #fraud #corruption #forensicinvestigation #forensics #forensicservices

The Clash of Titans" Lessons From The Boardroom

“Let’s do more, together.”
If that sounds familiar, it’s likely because it was the ANC’s 2024 general election slogan. Somewhat ironically, and arguably not in the way they would have wanted, they got their wish.
A failure to secure an outright majority ushered in the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU) - a coalition of 10 of the 18 parties with seats in the National Assembly.
This collaboration between traditionally disparate parties across the political spectrum was unchartered territory; for the first time in 30 years of democracy, the ANC would have to share power.
And yet, despite protracted negotiations over the cabinet formation, and fierce competition for key ministerial positions, initial feelings were that the GNU was a good thing. There was a general, if cautious, joy that the ground-breaking power-sharing agreement would herald the start of true co-operation between our political parties. Surely that could only benefit all South Africans in the long run?
 
Click on the link to read the full article - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/clash-titans-lessons-from-boardroom-jacques-van-wyk-5fo5f/
 
 
#mergers #coalition #worktogether #agreement #GNU #forensics #forensicinvestigation #forensicservices

The Curse of Desperation

Motive. Means. Opportunity.
Anyone who has ever watched a murder detective series on TV will instantly recognise the significance of those three words. They’re the key determinants to rule suspects in or out when it comes to discovering “whodunnit.”
Motive is the “why” – the reason someone commits murder. Means refers to the ability or resources a person has to enable them to commit it, while opportunity is the “where and when”.
Find a suspect with all three in alignment and you’re likely looking at your killer.
Somewhat surprisingly, the path an employee takes on their journey to committing a financial crime is not all that dissimilar.
Click on the link to read the full article - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/curse-desperation-jacques-van-wyk-9iraf/
 
#fraud #crime #desperation #workplacefraud #ethics #integrity

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