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The Citizen
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Citizen
DA calls for action to address farm murders after Trump meeting
US President Donald Trump proved to be a political rottweiler of Afrikaners and white farmers falsely claiming genocide in SA. South African Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen speaks during a meeting with US President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 21, 2025. Picture: Jim Watson / AFP The DA has reiterated its call for urgent action to address farm murders in the country following President Cyril Ramaphosa's meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump. This comes after Trump, who proved to be a political rottweiler for Afrikaners and white farmers, shifted the focus from what began as a cordial discussion with President Cyril Ramaphosa but veered sharply off course to farm attacks in South Africa. Ramaphosa met Trump on Wednesday. He was joined by four ministers, renowned businessman Johann Rupert, and golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. During the bilateral talks, which played out before the media, Trump showed videos of EFF leader Julius Malema to support his false belief in genocide against whites in the country, asking why Malema has not been arrested. Farm murders DA national and agriculture spokesperson Willie Aucamp said farm murders continue and rural safety continues to threaten lives, food security, jobs, and the stability of South Africa's rural economy. 'In his engagement with President Trump, Minister Steenhuisen reiterated that farm murders are a grim reality in South Africa and must be treated as an urgent national priority. ALSO READ: 'There is doubt in Trump's head about genocide in SA,' Ramaphosa says [VIDEO] 'We now welcome the fact that two parliamentary portfolio committees — the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and the Portfolio Committee on Police — have formally recognised that farm murders do happen and must be combated without delay,' Aucamp said. Parliamentary report Aucamp said the adoption of the Joint Parliamentary Committee Report on Farm murders, tabled on Wednesday, reflects many of the policy reforms the 'DA has long championed'. 'These include, among others, key recommendations that align directly with the DA's Integrated Rural Safety Strategy. 'Establishment of a Specialised Rural Safety Unit in Saps, strengthen rural crime intelligence to combat farm attack syndicates and cross-border networks and acknowledge the uniquely brutal nature of farm murders, often involving torture,' Aucamp said. ALSO READ: WATCH: Donald Trump ambushes Cyril Ramaphosa in Oval Office Food security Aucamp added that the murder of farmers and farmworkers affects the 'food security of our nation'. 'These are not ordinary crimes. They are premeditated, cruel and economically devastating. 'We call on the Minister of Police to implement these recommendations without delay. Rural South Africa needs boots on the ground, intelligence in the field, and justice in the courts,' Aucamp stressed. Afrikaner refugees Last week, the first group of 49 Afrikaners left South Africa and arrived in the US under Trump's new refugee policy for them. Ramaphosa at the time said the Afrikaners who had flown to the US as 'refugees' had committed a 'cowardly act' and were clearly unhappy with efforts to redress the inequities of the apartheid past. 'I think that it's a sad moment for them. They may be feeling excited that they left the country, that they've got somebody like President (Donald) Trump,' Ramaphosa said at an impromptu press briefing at the annual Nampo harvest festival near the Free State town of Bothaville. Despite the unsubstantiated claims made by Trump about genocide in South Africa, Ramaphosa said the meeting with Trump was fruitful. After his private lunch meeting with Trump, Ramaphosa told the media that there was 'doubt in Trump's head about genocide in SA'. ALSO READ: 'Older men gossiping about me': Malema reacts to Ramaphosa-Trump meeting after Kill the Boer videos
Daily Maverick
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Ashley Saul's attempt at questioning foreign staff at universities shows a lack of understanding
Tshilidzi Marwala, the former vice-chancellor of the University of Johannesburg, is now the Rector of the United Nations University (UNU) in Tokyo and a UN under-secretary-general. In August 2023, he was appointed to the United Nations Scientific Advisory Council. A global scholar in the field of artificial intelligence, Marwala is among South Africa's most distinguished academic international appointment is not only a personal honour — it is a reminder that our country has long been both a contributor to, and a beneficiary of, global academic exchange. The question now raised by some populist voices is: Should he and others like him return home to make space for natives of the countries in which they work? That, essentially, is the dangerous logic behind the latest xenophobic campaign, dressed up as concern for South African jobs in month, a Patriotic Alliance (PA) Member of Parliament, Ashley Sauls, accused universities of prioritising foreign nationals over South African academics, citing a single contested case at the Central University of Technology (CUT) and extrapolating it into an alarming generalisation. Sauls' confidence is matched only by his lack of understanding. He has taken one grievance and distorted it into a narrative that undermines both institutional integrity and our country's international standing. Struggling Let's be clear: South African universities are not flooded with foreign staff. They are struggling — still — to become truly representative of our demographics, values, and developmental priorities. But foreign nationals are not the obstacle. The real crisis lies in our failure to invest in and grow a new generation of black South African to the Ministerial Task Team (MTT) Report on the Recruitment, Retention and Progression of Black South African Academics, South Africans make up 88.4% of the academic staff in our universities. Foreign nationals — who often bring scarce expertise or participate in global research collaborations — constitute only 11.2% of the total academic importantly, many of those international academics are black Africans, whose presence in South African lecture halls should be a source of solidarity, not suspicion. The MTT report identified the real barriers to transformation: A shrinking and unequal postgraduate pipeline, especially in Stem and health sciences. Exclusionary institutional cultures that marginalise black scholars, particularly women. Poor working conditions and heavy teaching loads, leaving little room for research or advancement. Fragmented policy and funding support for initiatives like nGAP, which are critical to building black academic excellence. These are the bottlenecks. Not fellow scholars from Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana or fact, many senior South African academics and vice-chancellors have benefitted from international exposure, studying or working in the US, UK, Germany, China, Brazil and across the continent. Are we now to punish those whose careers were sharpened abroad? Or suggest that they have no right to shape the institutions they now lead?It is precisely through international engagement that we sharpen our intellectual tools. South Africa collaborated with global institutions to develop and trial Covid-19 vaccines that saved millions of lives — right here, led by African scientists and researchers. That is what international collaboration looks like: not replacement, but suggest otherwise is to play directly into xenophobic populism, with dangerous consequences. The last time this rhetoric escalated, lives were lost. Shops were burned. Migrants were hunted. South Africa's reputation took a beating on the global may be right to raise a grievance about an individual hiring case at a university — but to generalise it into an anti-foreigner campaign is reckless and disingenuous. It's not transformation. It's be honest: if transformation was truly the concern, Sauls would be championing postgraduate funding, fixing NSFAS bottlenecks, defending nGAP, and holding universities accountable for succession planning. Scapegoating and political posturing Instead, what we get is easy scapegoating and political we need is not louder voices, but better ones. Let's cherish the black academics we can attract, from both South Africa and the continent, and build a system that grows more like them, with rigorous support, mentorship, and public us fix the real problems: underfunding, institutional inertia, a lack of coherence in building academic careers. But let us not turn fellow scholars into enemies. In the battle for transformation, our best allies are those who believe in justice, equity, and the power of shared knowledge. We don't build a better academy by building walls. We build it by growing our own — while learning with, and from, the world. DM
Cision Canada
25-04-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
A force for good, GreenShield's Mandy Mail named one of Canada's Best Executives by The Globe and Mail Français
TORONTO, April 25, 2025 /CNW/ - Purpose, passion, and performance. GreenShield is proud to announce that Mandy Mail, Executive Vice President, Head of Marketing, Corporate Affairs, and GreenShield Cares, has been honoured as one of Canada's Best Executives by The Globe and Mail's Report on Business Magazine. This prestigious accolade recognized 50 leaders across Canada who are driving innovation, delivering impactful results, and redefining leadership with purpose. This recognition by The Globe and Mail celebrates Mandy's unwavering dedication to excellence and her transformative influence on GreenShield's journey towards a healthier future for all. Since joining GreenShield in 2022, Mandy has been instrumental in transforming the company into Canada's first integrated payer-provider, guided by their non-profit social mission of Better Health for All. Her leadership has been pivotal in advancing GreenShield's evolution and reinforcing its commitment to making a positive difference. "Mandy is a force for impact, a bold strategist and empathetic leader who has redefined how we show up in the market and in the lives of the people we serve," said Zahid Salman, President & CEO of GreenShield. "She leads with authenticity, courage, and conviction, and has helped GreenShield prove that aligning business growth and social good is not only possible—it's essential." As the leader behind GreenShield's brand transformation, marketing, corporate affairs, and social impact strategies, Mandy has: Unified and elevated GreenShield's brand to drive business and social growth: Mandy spearheaded the integration of over 50 disparate post-acquisition brands into a cohesive, award-winning brand architecture. Her visionary efforts brought clarity to the market, enhanced GreenShield's visibility and credibility, and helped position the organization as a leading purpose-driven health and benefits company. This transformative work extended across all facets of GreenShield's business, amplifying the company's voice in health, dental, pharmacy, and mental health, while also strengthening its role as a national advocate for equitable access to care. Leveraged a sustainable model to embed social impact into business strategy: Under Mandy's leadership, GreenShield adopted a pioneering model in Canadian healthcare that links profit with purpose. The innovative new economic approach ensures the organization's business growth directly fuels social impact. Delivered transformative results through innovative, equity-driven health programs: Mandy has led the design and launch of scalable programs that address systemic barriers in healthcare for underserved populations. This includes culturally sensitive mental health counseling for Black women through a partnership with Black Mental Health Canada, and trauma-informed wellness services for Indigenous communities through Noojimo Health. These services are offered free of charge to those in need and are seamlessly integrated into GreenShield's business offering, providing clients with a meaningful way to contribute to health equity while enhancing their own benefits offerings. Secured global recognition for impact by aligning social value and business outcomes: Mandy's leadership helped GreenShield earn a coveted spot on Fortune's 2024 Change the World list, the most sought-after global recognition for companies that are solving societal challenges through core business strategy. GreenShield was one of only 52 global companies, and first among the independent Canadian companies listed, a testament to the measurable outcomes of its sustainable model and the positive health impact the organization is delivering nationwide. Elevated employee engagement and built a purpose-driven culture of giving and volunteering: Nearly 90% of GreenShield employees are now actively engaged in company-supported giving and volunteering programs—an industry-leading figure that speaks to the culture of purpose Mandy has helped foster. Through internal campaigns, storytelling, and all-company events, she has inspired employees at every level to see themselves as agents of social change and ambassadors of GreenShield's mission of Better Health for All. Strengthened client trust through co-created impact programs that fuel business growth: In 2024 alone, Mandy's team collaborated on dozens of business pursuits that integrated client-specific social impact initiatives—partnering with organizations like YWCA Canada and ATB Financial. These initiatives extended GreenShield's reach into vulnerable communities and supported valued clients in delivering on their own social impact commitments, deepening relationships and expanding GreenShield's market presence. "This award is not just a personal honour; it's a celebration of our collective efforts to create lasting impact," said Mandy Mail, Executive Vice President, Head of Marketing, Corporate Affairs, and GreenShield Cares. "GreenShield has demonstrated that achieving bold growth targets while staying true to our purpose is not only possible but essential. I am immensely proud to be part of a team that is innovating to scale our impact, deepening partnerships, and embedding purpose into every facet of our business." As a non-profit, GreenShield operates without shareholders, enabling the company to prioritize longer term health outcomes and reinvest its excess earnings to directly support the health and well-being of underserved communities. About GreenShield: As Canada's only national non-profit health and benefits company, GreenShield believes health care is a right, not a privilege. We're dedicated to improving health outcomes, driving systemic change, and building a future where every Canadian can reach their full health and well-being potential. We are revolutionizing the health and benefits experience with coverage and care in one place. Through our unique integrated payer-provider ("payvider") model, offering insurance, administering benefits and paying claims as a 'payer' while offering health services such as mental health, pharmacy, telemedicine and chronic disease management as a 'provider'. As a non-profit social enterprise, we don't have shareholders, which allows us to prioritize and reinvest our excess earnings to directly support underserved communities. Through GreenShield Cares, we've committed $75 million to improve the health of over one million Canadians by the end of 2025, focusing on mental health, essential medicines, and chronic disease management. Our scalable initiatives deliver meaningful change in pursuit of Better Health for All. GreenShield is proud to be recognized as one of Canada's Most Admired Corporate Cultures, a leading Imagine Canada Caring Company, and named on the Fortune's Change the World list. SOURCE GreenShield Holdings Inc.
Forbes
27-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Is AI Technology The Biggest Risk For Hedge Fund Growth And Market Stability?
The U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is not at the top of anyone's list for hedge fund commentators but it does have serious views on the subject. Its report in June last year said that hedge funds use of AI and machine learning technologies to assist in trading decisions, which has been a practice by some for years, raises several concerns as this technology evolves, including the risk of inadequate disclosures to clients and the potential for increased threats to market stability.' It quoted the then SEC Chairman Gary Gensler's view that a financial crisis triggered by AI is 'nearly unavoidable' within the next decade and cited the May 2023 incident when an AI generated image of an explosion at the Pentagon led to a drop in stock market indices. Gary Gensler is gone and AI regulation in the new administration is certain to be lighter but the issue remains. Arguably, the biggest concern often raised by policymakers and regulators about AI in financial services is the use of GenAI and Large Language Models (LLMs) which are complex and nuanced, often with a lack of transparency with the underlying information used in generating a response that is used to make investment decisions. This is especially the case in the regulated financial services sector. The CFTC released Report on Responsible AI in Financial Markets, in May 2024, was authored by an independent Commitee of experts to facilitate an understanding of the impact and implications of the evolution of AI on financial markets with five recommendations to as to how the CFTC should approach this AI evolution in order to safeguard financial markets - regulating AI in financial services was not one of the recommendations. Commenting on the report, Commissioner Goldsmith Romero said, 'I herald the foundational, iterative approach of the Committee to recognize both that AI has been used in financial markets for decades, and that the evolution of generative AI introduces new issues and concerns, as well as opportunities." 'Herding' is often cited as a concern, where similar common models are used systemically important financial institutions or large cohorts of market participants, creating concentration risks, as pointed out in IOSCO's newly released member survey report, Artificial Intelligence in Capital Markets: Use Cases, Risks, and Challenges, though the report claims there is a lack of sufficient data in this specific area. The European Commission is consulting the industry on the use of AI in financial services with a view to regulating it, which is more the European way. Jack Inglis, ceo of The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), says, 'A prescriptive approach to policy-making in this area could stifle innovation, placing European investment managers at a competitive disadvantage globally.' AIMA, which represents many hedge funds, stressed advanced technologies have been used in the sector for years 'to increase business and compliance efficiencies, but generative AI now offers new opportunities for enhanced efficiency gains.' Firms in the hedge fund industry, and across the financial services sector as a whole, invests heavily in their own technology, and in fintech and technology investments. After the Fed started rate cutting Goldman Sachs noted that hedge funds were buying technology stocks at the fastest rate for four months placing nearly almost three times as many long positions on the bet that information technology stocks would rise, compared to those with bets against them. That has of course changed since the start of the year and coinciding with the launch of DeepSeek. The Magnificent Seven or Mag7, now dubbed the Lag7, are down 16 percent so far this year. Markets being markets, there are claims now that Lag7 stocks are oversold. Goldman Sachs now says hedge funds are fuelling the biggest tech buying spree since 2021 with Clif Marriott in Goldman Sachs Global Banking & Markets saying, 'We think 2025 is going to be a breakout year for the number of tech IPOs globally.' The amount of capital invested in artificial intelligence is growing and similarly in cyber security, 'European tech has evolved immensely over the past decade,'add Marriott. Investment by hedge funds in technology for their own business operations as well as for their investors is a major issue and one that research from Beacon Platform Inc. has explored in depth in a new research report, Hedge Funds in 2024: Risks, Resilience, and Technology. Asset Tarabayev, chief product officer at Beacon, sums it up the report saying, 'Hedge funds clearly understand that data and systems integration are essential components of both risk visibility and competitive advantage.' The report from Beacon, a cross-asset portfolio analytics and risk management platform for multi-strategy hedge funds, contains some good news and some not so good news about hedge funds' use of technology. The good news is that institutional investors are predicting strong growth and attractive risk-adjusted returns in the hedge fund sector and are planning to back expansion with increased allocations. Almost all (93 percent) questioned expect an increase in fundraising by hedge funds of 10 percent or more over the next three years with 14 percent predicting growth of more than 20 percent. All institutional investors questioned believe investing in hedge funds will be attractive in terms of risk-adjusted returns over the next five years, with 17 percent describing it as very attractive. Data from Hedge Fund Research shows that at the end of 2024 total global hedge fund capital rose to an estimated $4.51 trillion, increasing $401.4 billion in the year. A major growth area has been crypto and blockchain with the HFR Cryptocurrency Index showing annualized returns of 51.4 percent and cumulative gains of 694.6 percent over five years. The not so good news is that, for all the investment in technology and talk of the use of generative AI and innovation, the research discovered the old ways have not gone away yet with 90 percent questioned saying their fund or department is wasting time with Excel spreadsheets and other manual activities. Almost all (92 percent) believe their system spends too much time on consolidating data from multiple sources while 81 percent say too much time goes in investment evaluation and 79 percent admit time is wasted on aggregating and measuring risk. Nearly three out of four (73 percent) say too much time goes into manual or spreadsheet-based analytics and 71 percent say this about trying to define P&L residuals. Kirat Singh, co-founder and ceo, at Beacon said: 'Excel spreadsheets clearly have a place in managing trading activity and risk management in the hedge fund sector, however, with so many saying that they are spending too much time on spreadsheets, there is a strong case for greater use of the available technologies. 'Leading funds are turning massive spreadsheets with millions of cells into cloud-enabled analytics, increasing the scale and speed of their analysis and decision making.' Technology and its use in risk management emerged as one of the biggest risks. Most institutional investors questioned (88 percent) agree that the quality of information and transparency in hedge funds needs to improve, with 22 percent saying it needs to improve dramatically. It is an issue that is costing hedge funds money. 85 percent of institutional investors questioned have decided not to invest in a particular fund because of concerns over its management of risk, and almost all (93 percent) think that this will be a growing trend. Almost all (93 percent) of senior hedge-fund executives questioned said risk parameters are becoming stricter at their firm in terms of what they can and cannot trade. Almost all (95 percent) say they are having to reduce or abandon trading in some areas because of the growing risks or because they don't have a good enough understanding of the risks in that area. Credit trading is the area hedge fund executives believe is most likely to be reduced or abandoned due to tighter risk parameters. Technology is the answer or at least a big part of the answer in helping to improve risk management. Almost all (99 percent) of hedge fund executives questioned say their fund will increase spending on risk management over the next two years. 90 percent questioned admit transparency provided to clients and investors must improve with 23 percent saying it has to improve dramatically. More than half (55 percent) say investment in technology is helping improve risk management and technology is seen as a source of competitive advantage across a range of factors. It is also a major factor making it easier to launch new funds with 60 percent of hedge fund executives questioned pointed to technology as a driver for growth in the number of funds. Technology is just about as important as being able to raise funds with 61 percent questioned indicating this. The research found launching a new fund is so popular that most hedge fund executives suspect colleagues are planning to quit and launch their own fund with 85 percent of senior executives questioned are concerned about a colleague launching their own fund. They just need the technology, which is becoming both cheaper to buy and build. Technology is central to the development of the hedge fund industry and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future, however it is often a tale of two domains from LLMs to spreadsheets. While the U.S. is focused more on voluntary guidelines for AI use in industries like financial services, the EU AI Act looks to be focused on comprehensive regulatory efforts, and classifying AI systems in high risk areas like financial services and healthcare. A good common ground for the hedge fund industry and policymakers and regulators is transparency - technology that delivers the transparency and outcomes that investors increasingly require will go some way to satisfying the drive to better oversight. The use of newer and greater technology monitoring systems to underpin financial stability would be a great and innovate breaththrough and improvement - physician, heal thyself. It is time that governments and regulators master this new and innovative technology to satisfy the monitoring (RegTech) and supervisory (SupTech) requirements in industries like financial services that are technology driven to meet the requirements of our complex society.
