Innovate Africa: Lawyer Adrian Dommisse is start-up world's best-kept secret
He's known for helping founders cut through complex regulations with clear, no-nonsense advice. No jargon. No drama. Just legal solutions that keep businesses moving.
Kieno Kammies, founder of Innovate Africa, sat down with Adrian to find out how he helps high-growth companies stay compliant while scaling.
Adrian doesn't fight the system. He works within it to get results that make business sense. He understands the pressures founders face and speaks their language. That's why start-ups keep calling.
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The Citizen
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Lions still sponsorless
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The Herald
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- The Herald
Metro offers debt lifeline for accounts in arrears
Cash-strapped businesses and residents in Nelson Mandela Bay who are drowning in municipal debt have just been thrown a lifeline — a new amnesty deal that could see half their overdue bill wiped out if they settle the balance within a year. The municipality has launched a programme to write off 50% of debts on all residential and business accounts that are in arrears, offering much-needed breathing room. The application for the revenue enhancement programme opened on July 1 and will close on September 30. Debt within the last 24 months will be considered and they must pay 2.5% of their remaining balance upfront. The rest must be cleared within 12 months, in monthly instalments. Those unable to meet the payment terms within the stipulated period would no longer qualify for the amnesty, and their accounts would instead be handled through the municipality's standard credit control procedures. It is open to residential, business and registered NPOs accounts. Budget and treasury political head Khanya Ngqisha said this was not a handout, but a one-off deal designed to help residents recover. Council approved the programme in June. It does not extend to government entities, municipal employees and councillors. As of June, the government owed the metro R23.5m while metro departments owed R1m. He said some residents owed about R1 million — a situation that should never have been allowed. 'This is a lifeline, and those people must thank us because this was a political decision deliberately taken to benefit residents. 'The programme also brings relief to hundreds of small businesses, particularly in township and peri-urban areas, who form the backbone of the local economy but have been crippled by municipal debt. 'This programme is more than just a financial intervention. 'It is an opportunity to rebuild trust between the municipality and its people,' he said. The metro has set a target of reaching an 80% collection rate. In June, the rate was 72.6%, up from 69.9% in February. Debtor management and suspension of services manager Joel Swartz said the lower-value property segment was hardest hit. 'There is a slight increase in performance. However, the rate at which the debt book is increasing vs the rate at which we can increase our revenue flow is where our problem is,' he said. He said revenue collection in the municipality faced several challenges. This included a decrease in the number of ATTP re-registrations and access to municipal meters. 'Access to our meters remains a problem, as well as non-responsive customers. 'Many residents are tampering with electricity, and that has directly had an impact on the financial sustainability of the institution. 'The rapid debt increase of the debt book was also due to the punitive water tariffs, an unintended consequence of the drought period we were in, and that led to lingering debt in our books, which we have seen in unaffordable,' said Swartz. For the 2024/2025 financial year, the council opted to remove the punitive Part C water tariff after the relaxation of the drought regulations. To apply, households must submit a copy of their ID, a payslip, and three months' bank statements. Business account holders must provide a letter of authority, the ID of the authorised person handling the financial arrangement, a one-month bank statement, and their latest audited financial statements. 'It is a requirement of our credit control credit policy for specific financial information to be provided by a customer that concludes an arrangement." The Herald
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SA's indigenous Nguni cattle are known for their adaptability to different, often harsh, environments and their resilience to pests and diseases, as well as being particularly beautiful animals with their distinctive horns and wide variety of coat colours and patterns. What might these cows and wine have in common though? There's the adaptability of grape vines to different wine-growing regions; the fascinating variety of grapes, winemaking styles and blends; and the resilience required of both vines and winemakers to survive in a business subject to the vagaries of weather, pests, red tape and Trump tariffs, and still produce an intriguing, beautiful product. Which makes Survivor a pretty apt name for a wine brand whose story starts with an Nguni cow. The story goes that this particular cow was being transported through the Swartland on the back of a truck when she spotted a chance at freedom and leapt from the truck into a vineyard alongside the road. The unsuspecting cattle farmer discovered her escape only some kilometres later and was in search of the wayward bovine when he encountered the grape farmer who had just found the surprise of an unknown cow happily grazing in his vineyard. The cow, uninjured by her gymnastic feat, was gifted to the grape farmer, who named her Survivor and then offered her name to a winemaking customer looking for a name for a new wine brand, and Survivor Wines was born in 2014. Sadly, Survivor departed her happy existence last year, but she lives on in the names and labels of Survivor wines. Cellarmaster Pierre Wahl, in the Bay recently to share some of the latest releases, sources grapes from a diversity of wine-growing regions — from the arid Swartland to cool-climate Elgin — making some into terroir-specific wines and also using the diverse building blocks in his love of complex and intriguing blends. You could say the Survivor range is as diverse and distinctive as the patterns unique to each Nguni's hide. In the Survivor Terroir range, Swartland Chenin (R160 ex-cellar), half of it wild-fermented and matured in barrels before blending, is juicy and crisp, peachy in flavour with the zing of pineapple for bright acidity and a mineral streak to finish. By contrast, Survivor Reserve Chenin (R350), from old, low-yielding bushvines in a different Swartland site, is 100% barrel fermented and aged for 11 months. Here the characteristic pineapple turns grilled and caramelised, the wine fragrant with lemon grass, citrus zest, delicate nuttiness — a delicious wine of complexity and depth. The Survivor Cellar Master Chardonnay, from Tradouw outside Barrydale, (±R400), is creamy and full-bodied, but fresh with ripe yellow fruit, vanilla notes and a zingy citrus finish and a touch of cool-climate minerality. Partly wooded in untoasted and older barrels, the oak influence just lending structure and texture. Pinotage, with which Wahl put Rijk's in Tulbagh on the map, is a strong feature through the ranges. Survivor Terroir Pinotage, from the cooler Swartland area of Darling (R200), has juicy black cherries with savoury, spicy notes blended with delicate florals; fresh, flavourful easy drinking. The Reserve Pinotage (R465) is a decadent exploration of the grape's darker side — deep, rich and full-bodied, with inky dark fruit, salted liquorice and cigarbox spice, the layers unfold and shift with every sip. The first, and well deserved, Platter's 5* for Survivor. The pinnacle of Wahl's love of pinotage and of blending comes in the Cellar Master Reunion (R515), uniting pinotage with its parent grapes of pinot noir and cinsault in blend that combines vibrant fresh cherries and strawberries with finely woven layers of darker fruits, spice, flintiness and earthy mushroomy umami notes, all integrated into a harmonious whole; a rare and very desirable treat. Just for some more fun- and pun-filled survivalist cow antics, search Google or YouTube for 'cows with guns' and have a laugh at the graphics and lyrics, which play very well with a glass of Survivor Pinotage.
