Latest news with #LindseySchutters
Daily Maverick
6 days ago
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Crypto, AI, plastics and dry taps — Daily Maverick's May round-up of #LiveJournalism
At Daily Maverick, our events and webinar department links public service journalism with audience engagement. We host webinars to deepen community connections, enhance understanding of key issues and bring stories to life through interactive experiences. We hosted six webinars in May, all of which can be found on our dedicated webinar platform or YouTube. Here's a peek of our latest live journalism webinars, the topics covered and key takeaways, just for you. To Crypto or Not To Crypto: A personal finance perspective We started this month with a Money Cents personal finance webinar, led by Neesa Moodley, editor of the Money Cents newsletter and Business Maverick. She was joined by her colleague, Lindsey Schutters, a Business Maverick journalist and editor of the Crypto Corner newsletter, to figure out how cryptocurrency fits into your personal investment portfolio. A cloud of scepticism around digital currency and Bitcoin was dissipated by Schutters's sobering sentiment that as cryptocurrency becomes more mainstream, it needs to be taken more seriously. An audience member said the webinar was 'very insightful and addressed various important questions'. Watch the recording here Dumpster Dive: Where is our recycling going? As South Africa grapples with mounting waste and a struggling recycling system, tough questions are being asked about what really happens to the materials we toss in the bin. We followed Our Burning Planet journalist Kristin Engel in conversation with the founder and co-director of Waste-ED, Candice Mostert, and the acting CEO of the Waste Management Bureau in the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Masopha Moshoeshoe. The audience learnt that only a small portion of the country's waste is actually recycled once it leaves the blue bin. One attendee said: ' The reality is that plastic is the number-one profit-making product of the fossil fuel industry. They're on record to double plastic production by 2040. Single-use won't end without bans.' Watch recording here Practical AI: Tools Worth Your Time (and how to use them) Sarah Hoek, Daily Maverick's audience development and community manager, sat down with Jeremy Caplan, director of teaching and learning at City University of New York and Wonder Tools newsletter editor, to explain how to make artificial intelligence work for you. The overarching message: AI is changing the world as we know it, just as the internet, social media and smartphones changed our approach to life. So, according to Jeremy, you might as well know how to use it, and use it well. One viewer said it was ' an hour well spent – will take up the challenge i.e. try something new each week'. Another said: 'For a person who has not wanted to give AI airtime, especially in my work as a lawyer, I'm convinced that it is not bad after all. Let me go check these out. Thank you.' Watch the recording here Decrypting Crypto: The building blocks of digital assets In a follow-up to the crypto personal finance webinar, Lindsey and the webinar team kicked off his three-part webinar series, Decrypting Crypto, featuring Christo de Wit, country manager at Luno, and Diketso Mashigo, head of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority's licensing department. The big takeaway: research the product, know what you're buying into and understand the risks. 'Thank you to the presenters and Daily Maverick. A very necessary discussion, particularly for novice investors,' said one attendee. Watch the recording here Holding out for H₂O: Examining water loss in SA cities Across South Africa's cities communities are waking up to either a trickle from their taps – or no water at all – while treated water spills down streets from leaking pipes. In this webinar, Our Burning Planet journalist Julia Evans had a chat with Dr Ferrial Adam, executive director of WaterCAN, and Professor Mike Muller, former director-general of Department of Water Affairs and adjunct professor at the Wits School of Governance. They explained and reaffirmed much of what South Africans have come to realise on their own: that the country's water problems are complex and multifaceted. Moreover, it's not enough for civil society to keep playing watchdog – a concerted effort on infrastructure repair, municipal debt and reinvestment is necessary. Audience input: 'Besides supply of adequate quantities of water to all, the other discussion is management of quality of supply and sewage plant effluent.' 'Private sector generally struggles to manage provision of water to indigent users. Free water provision and the reticulation network to get to poorer residents is financially challenging.' 'Thank you for this even-handed and informative discussion. I have a much better insight on where the problems are.' Watch the recording here Single-use shake-up: Rethinking plastics and policy in South Africa Following the recycling webinar we noticed an appetite for a conversation focused solely on plastics. And, with the Global Plastics Treaty's goal to end plastic pollution by 2040, South Africa's position in the global initiative may be worth considering. Kristin Engel, joined by Dharmesh Shah, a senior campaigner of the treaty at the Center for International Environmental Law, alongside Johann Conradie, co-founder of Myplas and vice-chair of the South African Plastics Recycling Organisation, the implications of the treaty for big plastic producers in South Africa are arguably profound. The overall view from the audience? Extended producer responsibility regulations, which require plastic producers to reduce plastic packaging waste and fund recycling efforts, are essential and long overdue. 'I am Buyback Centre in Durban where I educated households to bring all their household products to us to buy as they were dumped into rivers. We need tough laws from government to charge all companies.' 'My entry is that government must enforce laws that make the manufacturer of plastic pay a green levy.'
Daily Maverick
02-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Bitcoin reaches fever pitch — but always know what you're buying, say experts
TikTok traders, crypto evangelists and Bitcoin havens paint a picture of quick wins and easy exits. On Daily Maverick's Decrypting Crypto webinar, experts reminded investors that volatility, risk and regulation are all part of the crypto package. At more than R1-million a coin, Bitcoin's latest bull run is once again flooding feeds with promises of overnight wealth. Amid the media noise, experts are stepping in, urging caution: don't buy into something you don't understand. That was the message at Daily Maverick's Decrypting Crypto webinar, hosted by senior journalist Lindsey Schutters, in conversation with Christo de Wit, country manager of Luno, and Diketso Mashigo, head of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority's (FSCA's) licensing department. 'There's obviously a lot of clamour in the market,' Schutters said. 'Bitcoin is at an all-time high, it's a lot of money and everyone's trying to get in.' Don't invest in what you don't understand 'It is very important that people really get to understand what it is that they're buying into, what they're investing in and understand what the risks are,' Mashigo said. He stressed that the regulator expected authorised providers to actively educate their clients, especially when it came to a volatile asset such as crypto. While that may sound obvious, the crypto space is designed to move fast, often faster than many retail investors can realistically follow. Goals before gains 'When it comes to any kind of investment, whether it's crypto or not, it's important to have understanding and a very clear idea what your financial goals are, both short term and long term,' De Wit said. Crypto is notorious for its wild swings. Bitcoin itself has gone from R300,000 to R1-million, with some stomach-churning dips in between. 'Crypto is a higher risk asset class, and there is a lot of volatility,' De Wit said. Having a fundamental understanding of this was crucial in informing oneself when investing in crypto. Fractional ownership, full exposure A common crypto myth is that one needs to own a full coin to get started; an idea De Wit was quick to dispel. 'I think it's important for new-time investors to understand that you don't have to purchase an entire Bitcoin. You can purchase a fraction of it,' he explained. 'Even though Luno or the centralised exchange custodies it and keeps it in safekeeping, you have immediate access to further trade it, to withdraw it, to convert it back to rands, to convert it to other currencies.' The trick is choosing a credible licensed provider. 'Very carefully select your centralised exchange,' De Wit said. 'You can verify that on the FSCA website as well, to make sure that you know this is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that is licensed.' If your slice of the coin gains value, so does your investment. 'Any growth or loss, depending on what the market does, is related to the percentage that you hold,' De Wit said. Users can convert crypto to rands, transfer between wallets and even send Bitcoin to friends, which are growing trends in parts of the country. 'The whole Garden Route is becoming a crypto haven,' Schutters said. 'A lot of [people] are using stablecoins because they're just easier to transact with.' What does it mean to 'own' crypto? Ownership in the crypto space doesn't always look like traditional finance, but it follows similar principles, Mashigo explained. 'If I purchase a financial product, my ownership in that asset is represented somehow,' he said. 'And in this space, you can look at tokens. That, proportionately, is what I'm holding in that particular asset.' But how do you know that ownership is real and respected? De Wit pointed out a crucial consumer safeguard: proof of reserve. An important aspect to look out for is whether an exchange showcases proof of reserve, which is an audited report that validates that all consumer crypto currencies are exactly where the platforms say they are, he said. It's one of the most transparent ways users can confirm their holdings exist and they're not being lent out or siphoned off without consent. The three golden rules Mashingo broke down FSCA's consumer guidance into three pillars for anyone considering a crypto investment: Understand the product. Know exactly what you're buying, how it works and if it addresses your needs. Know the risks. Volatility, market swings and speculation are part of crypto's nature. Be ready to stomach the sudden drops. Verify the platform. 'Understand the party or the platform or the venue or the provider that you're dealing with, whether they're licensed or not,' said Mashigo. 'That's simple. You come through us. You check on our website, pop us an email, and we can confirm.' Growing regulation Mashigo made it clear that the FSCA was here to make sure that people knew what they were getting themselves into. 'We make sure that … certain basic things are in place,' said Mashigo and specified that businesses had to be contactable, transparent and authorised to do what they claimed. With crypto asset providers (CASPs) now being brought under formal licensing and regulatory oversight in South Africa, the hope is that consumer protection will continue to improve. DM
Daily Maverick
16-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Watch – When will SA's top management jobs move beyond the pale?
Despite decades of transformation policy, South Africa's corporate leadership remains overwhelmingly white and male. As the ANC and DA clash in court over the Employment Equity Act, the deeper question remains: why is real change still so elusive? Daily Maverick's Lindsey Schutters explains.
