An Approach to Governance of CyberSecurity in South Africa

2014 ◽  
pp. 1583-1597
Author(s):  
Joey Jansen van Vuuren ◽  
Louise Leenen ◽  
Jackie Phahlamohlaka ◽  
Jannie Zaaiman

A government has the responsibility to provide, regulate and maintain national security, which includes human security for its citizens. Recent declarations from the UK and USA governments about setting up cybersecurity organisations and the appointment of cyber czars reflect a global recognition that the Internet is part of the national critical infrastructure that needs to be safeguarded and protected. Although the South African government approved a draft National Cyber Security Policy Framework in March 2012, the country still needs a national cybersecurity governance structure in order to effectively control and protect its cyber infrastructure. Whilst various structures have been established to deal with cybersecurity in South Africa, they are inadequate and implementation of the policy is still in the very early stages. Structures need to be in place to set the security controls and policies and also to govern their implementation. It is important to have a holistic approach to cybersecurity, with partnerships between business, government and civil society put in place to achieve this goal. This paper investigates different government organisational structures created for the control of national cybersecurity in selected countries of the world. The main contribution is a proposed approach that South Africa could follow in implementing its proposed cybersecurity policy framework, taking into account the challenges of legislation and control of cybersecurity in Africa, and in particular, in South Africa.

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 13-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joey Jansen van Vuuren ◽  
Louise Leenen ◽  
Jackie Phahlamohlaka ◽  
Jannie Zaaiman

A government has the responsibility to provide, regulate and maintain national security, which includes human security for its citizens. Recent declarations from the UK and USA governments about setting up cybersecurity organisations and the appointment of cyber czars reflect a global recognition that the Internet is part of the national critical infrastructure that needs to be safeguarded and protected. Although the South African government approved a draft National Cyber Security Policy Framework in March 2012, the country still needs a national cybersecurity governance structure in order to effectively control and protect its cyber infrastructure. Whilst various structures have been established to deal with cybersecurity in South Africa, they are inadequate and implementation of the policy is still in the very early stages. Structures need to be in place to set the security controls and policies and also to govern their implementation. It is important to have a holistic approach to cybersecurity, with partnerships between business, government and civil society put in place to achieve this goal. This paper investigates different government organisational structures created for the control of national cybersecurity in selected countries of the world. The main contribution is a proposed approach that South Africa could follow in implementing its proposed cybersecurity policy framework, taking into account the challenges of legislation and control of cybersecurity in Africa, and in particular, in South Africa.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 291
Author(s):  
Masike Malatji ◽  
Annlizé L. Marnewick ◽  
Suné von Solms

The water and wastewater sector is an important lifeline upon which other economic sectors depend. Securing the sector’s critical infrastructure is therefore important for any country’s economy. Like many other nations, South Africa has an overarching national cybersecurity strategy aimed at addressing cyber terrorism, cybercriminal activities, cyber vandalism, and cyber sabotage. The aim of this study is to contextualise the water and wastewater sector’s cybersecurity responsibilities within the national cybersecurity legislative and policy environment. This is achieved by conducting a detailed analysis of the international, national and sector cybersecurity stakeholders; legislation and policies; and challenges pertaining to the protection of the water and wastewater sector. The study found some concerning challenges and improvement gaps regarding the complex manner in which the national government is implementing the cybersecurity strategy. The study also found that, along with the National Cybersecurity Policy Framework (the national cybersecurity strategy of South Africa), the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, Critical Infrastructure Protection Act, and other supporting legislation and policies make provision for the water and wastewater sector’s computer security incidents response team to be established without the need to propose any new laws or amend existing ones. This is conducive for the immediate development of the sector-specific cybersecurity governance framework and resilience strategy to protect the water and wastewater assets.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter M. Shane

This critique of Karson K. Thompson’s note, "Not Like an Egyptian: Cybersecurity and the Internet Kill Switch Debate," argues that the U.S. lacks a framework of laws and regulations, "smart" or otherwise, that adequately incentivizes the parties with the greatest capacity to improve our cyber security to do so. It attributes the poor state of U.S. cyber policy to the "bewildering array of overlapping responsibilities" scattered among government offices and departments; the difficult imperative of sharing responsibility among military and civilian authorities; the fact that most of the networks (and the dependent critical infrastructures) that need protecting are in private hands; and the lack of public understanding of the kinds of regulation that are necessary or appropriate. The essay argues that meaningful progress towards an adequate legal framework depends on a broad national debate aimed at defining the public good with regard to cyber-security, and the inevitable trade-offs among security, privacy, productivity, economic growth, organizational flexibility, military effectiveness, government transparency, and accountability that must be confronted in making sensible cyber-security policy.


2021 ◽  
pp. 348-374
Author(s):  
Pamela Mondliwa ◽  
Simon Roberts

The orientation of large corporations is at the heart of how countries develop. These firms make large-scale investments and realize economies of scale and scope, as well as make long-term commitments to the learning and research necessary to build capabilities required for industrial development. In many industries and sectors the large firms have key technologies, govern access to markets, and control material inputs which can shape the structure of an economy. The chapter reviews the changing corporate structure in South Africa focusing on the implications for industrial development, the evolving internationalization of South African businesses, and the political economy of economic policy. While the South African economy has remained highly concentrated, the corporate structure has altered in fundamental ways. The chapter identifies key elements of continuity and change to explain the implications of the continued high levels of economic concentration for the economy through the lens of the corporate structure.


Author(s):  
Julie Hennessy

Stella Artois, an AB InBev brand, is the world's best-selling Belgian beer. In early 2017, Ricardo Tadeu, AB InBev Zone President for Africa, is planning the brand's entry into its next export market: South Africa. The case explores Stella's introduction strategies into three of its export markets—the UK (1976), the US (2000), and Mexico (2016)—examining the drivers of the brand's success as well as its failures. Students will analyze the brand's previous launches to determine what made it successful in some markets and not in others. They will apply these learnings to develop a strategy for the brand's introduction to the South African market. Beyond the central discussion of growth through international expansion, the case addresses issues of brand positioning for premium products, changing consumer perceptions, the use of cause marketing, category development and maturity, and competitive strategy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 587-600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacobus Gerhardus J. Nortje ◽  
Daniel P. Bredenkamp

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to critically analyse and discuss the identification of a generic investigation process to be followed by the commercial forensic practitioner in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a cross-sectional design that commenced with a review of the current available literature, highlighting the different approaches, processes and best practices used in local and international forensic practices. The methodology includes primary data collected with questionnaires from commercial forensic practitioner (N = 75) process users. Findings This paper identifies the following five distinct categories in the forensic investigation process, with sub-processes, namely, initiation, planning, execution, reporting and reflection. Research limitations/implications The study focuses only on the South African members of the Institute of Commercial Forensic Practitioners (ICFP) fraternity in South Africa as the ICFP is a leading body that, through membership, offers a recognised professional qualification in commercial forensics. Practical implications An investigation process for commercial forensic practitioners in South Africa could be used by the ICFP that would provide a governance structure for the ICFP. Originality/value The originality of this paper lies in setting out of an account of forensic accounting processes and best practices nationally and internationally. The missing knowledge is that no such research is known to have been conducted in South Africa. Currently, to the authors’ knowledge, no formalised investigation process exists. The contribution of the study is that by using an investigation process, it may enhance the quality of forensic investigations and contribute to the successful investigation and prosecution of commercial crime in South Africa that will be beneficial to all stakeholders.


2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 263-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Jane Hume ◽  
Megan Wainwright

In this paper, we draw on our own cross-cultural experience of engaging with different incarnations of the medical and health humanities (MHH) in the UK and South Africa to reflect on what is distinct and the same about MHH in these locations. MHH spaces, whether departments, programmes or networks, have espoused a common critique of biomedical dualism and reductionism, a celebration of qualitative evidence and the value of visual and performative arts for their research, therapeutic and transformative social potential. However, there have also been differences, and importantly a different ‘identity’ among some leading South African scholars and practitioners, who have felt that if MHH were to speak from the South as opposed to the North, they would say something quite different. We seek to contextualise our personal reflections on the development of the field in South Africa over recent years within wider debates about MHH in the context of South African academia and practice, drawing in part on interviews conducted by one of the authors with South African researchers and practitioners and our own reflections as ‘Northerners’ in the ‘South’.


Author(s):  
Patricia Wilson ◽  
Azwihangwisi Helen Mavhandu-Mudzusi

Abstract Community and public participation and involvement is an underpinning principle of primary health care, an essential component of a social justice-orientated approach to health care and a vehicle to improving health outcomes for patients, public and communities. However, influenced by history and context, there are intrinsic issues surrounding power imbalance and other barriers to partnerships between communities, public, policy makers and researchers. It is important to acknowledge these issues, and through doing so share experiences and learn from those working within very different settings. In South Africa, community participation is seen as a route to decolonisation. It is also integral to the core functions of South African Higher Education Institutes, alongside teaching and research. In the UK, there has also been a history of participation and involvement as part of a social rights movement, but notably public involvement has become embedded in publicly funded health research as a policy imperative. In this paper, we draw on our respective programmes of work in public and community participation and involvement. These include a South African community engagement project to reduce teenage pregnancy and HIV infection working through a partnership between teachers, students and university academics, and a national evaluation in England of public involvement in applied health research. We begin by highlighting the lack of clarity and terms used interchangeably to describe participation, engagement and involvement. Frameworks for partnership working with relevance to South Africa and the UK are then analysed, suggesting key themes of relationships, working together, and evaluation and monitoring. The South African project and examples of public involvement in English primary and community care research are examined through these themes. We conclude the paper by mapping out common enablers and barriers to partnership working within these very different contexts.


Author(s):  
P. C.B. Turnbull ◽  
M. Diekman ◽  
J. W. Killian ◽  
W. Versfeld ◽  
V. De Vos ◽  
...  

TURNBULLP, P.C.B. DIEKMANNM,M., KILIAN, J.W., VERSFELDW, W.,DE VOS, V., ARNTZENL, L.,WOLTER, K., BARTELS, P. & KOTZE, A. 2008.N aturally acquired antibodies to Bacillusa nthracisp rotective antigeni n vultureso f southern Africa. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, T5:95-102 Sera from 19 wild caught vultures in northern Namibia and 15 (12 wild caught and three captive bred but with minimal histories) in North West Province, South Africa, were examined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbenats say( ELISA)f or antibodiesto the Bacillus anthracis toxin protective antigen (PA). As assessed from the baseline established with a control group of ten captive reared vultures with well-documented histories, elevated titres were found in 12 of the 19 (63%) wild caught Namibian birds as compared with none of the 15 South African ones. There was a highly significant difference between the Namibian group as a hole and the other groups (P < 0.001) and no significant difference between the South African and control groups (P > 0.05). Numbers in the Namibian group were too small to determine any significances in species-, sex- or age-related differences within the raw data showing elevated titres in four out of six Cape Vultures, Gyps coprotheress, six out of ten Whitebacked Vultures, Gyps africanus, and one out of three Lappet-faced Vultures, Aegypiust racheliotus, or in five of six males versus three of seven females, and ten of 15 adults versus one of four juveniles. The results are in line with the available data on the incidence of anthrax in northern Namibia and South Africa and the likely contact of the vultures tested with anthrax carcasses. lt is not known whether elevated titre indicates infection per se in vultures or absorption of incompletely digested epitopes of the toxin or both. The results are discussed in relation to distances travelled by vultures as determined by new tracking techniques, how serology can reveal anthrax activity in an area and the issue of the role of vultures in transmission of anthrax.


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