Sunday Independent 2021-10-03

TikTok hit 1 billion monthly active users globally, the company announced via a blogpost, marking a 45% jump since July 2020. The United States, Europe, Brazil, and Southeast Asia are the biggest markets for the popular short-video app, the company said. TikTok has experienced surges in users around the world in the past few years, despite regulatory scrutiny, it is facing in the United States and other regions. The company previously said it had about 55 million global users by January 2018. That number rose to more than 271 million by December 2018, 508 million by December 2019, and 689 million by July 2020. Facebook reported 2.9 billion monthly active users as of the end of June 2021, according to its latest quarterly report. TikTok previously said it surpassed 2…

WESLEY DIPHOKO wesley@fastcompany.co.za The technology for vaccinating people against diseases is almost the same as it was 50 years ago – a freeze-dried powder vaccine that requires continuous refrigerated storage, liquid reconstitution before use, and a needle-and- syringe injection. But thanks to researchers at Stanford University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, all that could change. They have produced a 3D printed vaccine patch which they claim provides greater protection than a typical vaccine shot. Applied directly to the skin, the microneedle patch reportedly delivered an immune response 10 times greater than a vaccine delivered into an arm muscle via a needle jab. The microneedle patch also has other advantages, including easy and painless delivery, and the potential to be self-administered. The patches are typically formed of…

WESLEY DIPHOKO wesley@fastcompany.co.za You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that there’s something deeply wrong with the South African education system. As a result of this, there are numerous initiatives that are designed to fix it. One of them is the UCT Online High School, modelled after Stanford University Online High school. At a surface level, it might be difficult to understand how a technology-driven institution can form part of solving an education challenge in a country with a digital divide challenge. An interview with the school Principal, Yandiswa Xhakaza, by Fast Company magazine, has revealed that there’s more value to this online high school in SA than first meets the eye. One of the major challenges facing universities is getting learners who are not ready for…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za Massmart employees who were retrenched in June have lamented the delay in the payout of their severance packages. Massmart, owner of Game and Builders Warehouse, embarked on the retrenchments following the implementation of a turnaround of its business in January 2020 to return to profitability. A retrenched Game employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Massmart had retrenched employees without benefits including severance pay. “Massmart is also refusing to send exit packs for retrenched employees to receive their provident funds. Both Old mutual and Sanlam have confirmed that Massmart have not sent any documents for retrenched employees,” he said. Massmart spokesperson Brian Leroni said it was focused on ensuring it diligently met its legal obligation to pay out packages in full and as quickly as possible.…

Pali Lehohla AUGUST was a bad month in which I mourned the loss of comrade Muvhango Muravha. A call came and I thought it was him calling but it was the daughter informing me he was no more. Muravha worked in the Venda Statistics Office and we had constant run-ins with him shortly after 1994. A witty trade unionist, knowledgeable in conditions of service law and an ardent negotiator. The amalgamation of South Africa into one unitary state away from what was homelands, self-governing territories, townships including a white homeland appropriated to white establishment was daunting. Whilst one had to read this through a measurement lens, but it also had to be confronted from the shear moving of individuals from physical spaces, job descriptions and making sure all work together.…

ben bierman “Sustainable business”, and “responsible profit-making” were once industry buzzwords, but today, they represent a new frontier for businesses across all sectors. In South Africa, we’re seeing big corporates and listed companies take on the sustainability agenda, allowing every facet of their operations to be driven by ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) policies. In a recent media statement, President Cyril Ramaphosa affirmed that the move towards a “low-carbon, ecologically friendly and socially sustainable” economy has the ability to drive job-creation, inclusion and growth in sectors including: renewable energy, grid construction, manufacturing of renewable components, battery storage, green vehicles and green hydrogen. At first glance these sectors may appear to comprise of larger companies in terms of capital value, however, the production, manufacturing and distribution of the parts of these…