The team of Gift of the Givers is driven by one thing only – helping! And serving the country. Its head Imtiaz Sooliman who left a flourishing career as a medical doctor to established the Gift of the Givers Foundation after a ‘divine’ message to form the organisation, was doing what he does best, selflessly for almost three decades alongside his team “that works 24/7/365”, when he received the call: he’s been named the 2021 Social Justice Champion at the Social Justice Summit in Stellenbosch. And so say all of us!
Dr Sooliman is the epitome of the absolute best of who South Africans can be. We are known for supporting each other in times of great distress. Covid-19 has shown that. We were in it together and together we mobilised as one to offer financial aid, distribute food parcels and offer whatever support required by those in dire need. These acts of remarkable kindness have been captured in a book of 50 stories “as a reminder of our desire to support one another across all kinds of divides and barriers”.
For Jess Auerbach, Senior Lecturer, Social Anthropology, North-West University, who spearheaded the study, the exercise had a huge impact on her students, especially their mental health, proof that giving is good for the soul.
It’s clear, there’s hope in the examples of Dr Sooliman and all the millions of South Africans that thrive on helping others just because we want to. Now this is a revolution worth keeping alive!
Back in the markets, global inflation concerns have been one of the significant drivers of the risk aversion and flight to the dollar, making today’s US CPI data hugely important, says TreasuryONE.
According to the forex trading house, markets are expecting inflation to remain high, unchanged from last month’s figures. The focus is also on the release of the Fed’s FOMC minutes later today. For now, the rand is stable around the R14.95-level against the US dollar, with Turkey and Brazil on the backfoot.
Here’s a roundup of the world’s top and most interesting headlines:
SA Business
Medical schemes: The biggest winners and losers in 2020 – Fin24
More dithering on e-tolls – BusinessTech
Emigration consultants say they’ve seen a huge surge in Indian clients since July – Business Insider SA
Global Business
Desperate Indians sell family gold to survive Covid cash crunch – AFP
Ping An’s $90 billion slump grounds one-time China high flyer – Bloomberg
Illegal streams, merch bonanza: Squid Game craze hits China – AFP
Markets
China education stocks jump on support for vocational schools – Bloomberg
Asian traders move cautiously ahead of inflation release – AFP
Bitcoin buckles, then bounces, in late-day spurt of volatility – Bloomberg
Opinion/In-depth
RET: Zuma plans big-bang show of popularity at welcome home prayer meeting – Daily Maverick
Nigeria’s COVID-19 economic plan has delivered disappointing results: here’s why – The Conversation
Here’s why car prices are going through the roof – including the secondhand market – Biznews
Video
US-based economists surprised by Nobel prize win – AP
Retailers think staples of work-from-home wardrobes are here to stay – CBC
JPMorgan’s Dimon blasts bitcoin as ‘worthless’ – Reuters
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