BizBriefing: Malema settles spat, Covid-19 deaths under reported, Fibre

By Melani Nathan  

  • The Black Lawyers Association has settled its spat with Julius Malema. The Association was upset by what it called a generalisation that black lawyers are losing cases. After appearing for a criminal court case, EFF leader Julius Malema commented that he used white lawyers as the EFF was an anti-racist organisation. “There is some story going around that we are represented by white lawyers. It is true, they will represent us today, tomorrow and any time we want. No one chooses lawyers for us. We choose our own lawyers and we know which one is best where. We are not an anti-white organisation. We are a non-racial organisation and our stand against white racists is not a stand against white people,” Malema said in a video clip.
  • According to a study released by the University of the Witwatersrand, South African hospitals likely under-reported the number of patients with Covid-19 and the death toll from the virus is probably much higher than the official figure. Debbie Bradshaw, chief specialist scientist at the South African Medical Research Council and a co-author of the council’s weekly excess deaths report says “We think that it is overstating the number of excess deaths,” Still, “we concur with his interpretation that the temporal trend across the provinces suggests most of the deaths would be Covid related” .
  • African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) has acquired a R980m stake in South African open-access fibre network operator MetroFibre Networx. MetroFibre aims to densify its network in existing areas, and expand its network to an additional 300,000 homes. “This investment provides AIIM with an attractive foothold in the digital infrastructure market in South Africa,” said Investment Director Ed Stumpf. He added that: “Despite material investment in recent years, AIIM continues to see a significant deficit in last-mile fibre connectivity across many parts of the country.”
  • Speaking at a recent event, Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko said they were rocked when competition arrived. Maseko said Telkom only really began to sell products around 2010. Before that, the company was a monopoly which took orders. “When Eskom says they sell stuff it is a crock of nonsense. They are the only guys. They don’t compete with anyone. They don’t have to innovate. They don’t have to compete on price,” he said.
  • The 12th annual BRICS Summit took place today, during a virtual gathering of leaders. One of the group’s priorities was to discuss how the emerging economies will recover from Covid-19. President Ramaphosa readily admitted that the pandemic has taught the BRICS members some critical lessons about their shortcomings. He emphasised that investment in science, technology and innovation is vitally important for South Africa and its BRICS partners.
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