S editor’s note
S editor’s note Resilience in service R Resiliency is the capacity to recover from failures, disasters, crises or fiascos and still have the ability to function effectively. Resilience can also be described as a community’s capacity to deal with an out-of-the-ordinary occurrence and be able to resist it, acclimatise through it and then to recover effectually and to ultimately learn from the disruption. Covid-19 taught us how to cope in the face of immense adversity, and the new normal brought with it communities, cities and organisations that are building their resilience to cope with an uncertain future. The ability of a service delivery structure, such as government, to react, adjust and fortify in the face of conflict is crucial. “We cannot undo the mistakes that were made in the past,” President Ramaphosa proclaimed in his 2023 State of the Nation Address. “What we can do is fix the problem today to keep the lights on tomorrow and for generations to come.” The problem today is that we are in the grip of a profound energy crisis, the seeds of which were planted many years ago. Ramaphosa then announced that government had classified the crisis and its impact as a disaster and declared a National State of Disaster. “It will enable us to accelerate energy projects and limit regulatory requirements,” he said. Read more about the reforms, rollouts and rebates that government has taken to mitigate the disaster on page 6. South Africa’s energy shortage is having a profound impact on its cities at a time when they urgently need to recover from the Covid-19 crisis. South African municipalities have a constitutional mandate to distribute electricity to citizens (page 17). Craig Kesson, PwC South Africa, says: “Resolving the energy shortfall requires a collective effort across private and public sectors, including, and especially, by municipalities who play a key role in the development of sustainable energy strategies. By playing a key role in resolving the energy supply gap, municipalities will be able to contribute to local economic development and job creation.” Municipalities also bear the biggest responsibility for clean water provision in the country, but do not have the ability to fix the system. Each year, budgets to safeguard water supplies go unspent. Efforts to fix South Africa’s water system have been hampered by weak local capacity and deep degeneracy (page 14). After more than a decade of neglect, mismanagement and corruption, the country’s water infrastructure can no longer supply many communities with reliable access to safe drinking water. In the Department of Water and Sanitation’s latest drinking water report, more than 60% of water supply systems did not meet water quality standards (page 20). And Eskom’s decline is deepening the problem. “In places like Johannesburg, you have the water supplies; however, you are experiencing shortages because of dilapidated infrastructure,” explains water expert Dr Anja du Plessis. “[That] infrastructure is now collapsing under loadshedding.” The ability of a service delivery structure, such as government, to react, adjust and fortify in the face of conflict is crucial. We need to be resilient, to serve and to fix the problem today to keep the lights on for tomorrow and for generations to come. Enjoy this issue! Alexis Knipe Editor Editor: Alexis Knipe | Publishing director: Chris Whales | Managing director: Clive During | Online editor: Christoff Scholtz Design: Brent Meder & Salmah Brown Production: Yonella Ngaba | Ad sales: Venesia Fowler, Tennyson Naidoo, Graeme February, Tahlia Wyngaard and Vanessa Wallace Administration & accounts: Charlene Steynberg, Kathy Wootton | Distribution & circulation manager: Edward MacDonald | Printing: FA Print Service magazine is published by Global Africa Network Media (Pty) Ltd | Company Registration No: 2004/004982/07 Directors: Clive During, Chris Whales | Physical address: 28 Main Road, Rondebosch 7700 Postal: PO Box 292, Newlands 7701 | Tel: +27 21 657 6200 | Email: info@gan.co.za | Website: www.gan.co.za No portion of this book may be reproduced without written consent of the copyright owner. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Service magazine, nor the publisher, none of whom accept liability of any nature arising out of, or in connection with, the contents of this book. The publishers would like to express thanks to those who Support this publication by their submission of articles and with their advertising. All rights reserved. Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations 2 | Service magazine
technology S Supporting the financial services sector with SD-WAN The banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) industry is increasingly taking a digital approach, moving infrastructure and applications to the cloud and introducing technologies, such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and machine learning. This digitisation has been accelerated by the adoption of hybrid working, while meeting the demand for a better customer experience. In addition, the BFSI industry continues to be a target for cyber-attackers and is subject to stringent regulatory and compliance requirements. These are over and above the pressure for companies to optimise costs and efficiencies. “Leveraging Software Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) can help BFSI organisations overcome these challenges now and into the future. SD-WAN offers the opportunity to manage the network more effectively, support a hybrid working model, enhance cybersecurity and increase agility, to take advantage of digital transformation,” says Kevin Odudoh, executive head of the BFSI sector at Vodacom Business. BENEFITS OF SD-WAN A key advantage of SD-WAN is improved network performance. SD-WAN provides greater bandwidth and reduces congestion across multiple connection points on any available underlay connectivity service. The technology uses multiple paths for data traffic, selecting the best route while ensuring reliability in the event of a connection failure. Furthermore, this offers faster and stable application performance, critical in delivering superior customer experience. SD-WAN also offers flexibility, allowing users to connect to multiple technologies, applications and services, conveniently and remotely. For example, a bank call centre employee can work from home and access the network simply through a supplied SD-WAN router or device that is connected to any internet service, whether that’s fixed or wireless. “The network is managed centrally, reducing the time and resources necessary to manage the network, update security and enable compliance, which is a benefit for BFSI organisations that have sites locally and globally, as well as remote employees. This together with SD-WAN’s use of less expensive Internet connections rather than dedicated connections such as MPLS, saves costs in maintaining a wide area network,” adds Odudoh. In addition, SD-WAN can use Virtual Private Network (VPN) connections to encrypt data traffic, which increases security when transmitting sensitive information such as financial transactions. SD-WAN also combines managed security services, such as firewalls, ensuring a secure infrastructure and highquality performance. SELECTING THE RIGHT SD-WAN PARTNER Vodacom Business was the first telecommunications operator in Africa to achieve the prestigious MEF3.0 SD-WAN certification in 2020. This certification enables providers to confirm that their solutions comply with the highest industry standards for performance, assurance and agility. With the expertise to meet the BFSI sector’s evolving needs, Vodacom Business provides on-demand support throughout the transition to SD-WAN and afterwards. Clients are also able to access Vodacom’s free LTE back-up solution, suitable for sites with less bandwidth, such as outlying branches and ATMs, and benefit from end-to-end security using Secure Access Service Edge. “Based on our learnings and that of our multi-vendor partners over the past three years, Vodacom Business offers leading SD-WAN technology that is flexible, reliable, cost-effective and secure. In using our own extensive infrastructure, our trusted partner base and our support services, BFSI clients can feel assured that Vodacom’s SD-WAN enables them to reap the benefits of digitisation in the long run,” concludes Ermano Quartero, executive head of Fixed Line Centre of Excellence at Vodacom Business. S Ermano Quartero, Executive Head of Fixed Line Centre of Excellence, Vodacom Business. Kevin Odudoh, Executive Head, BFSI Sector, Vodacom Business. Service magazine | 3
