Actress Simphiwe Ngema says that one of the great things about technology is that it has made it possible for entrepreneurs to access information, customers, and potential investors without needing to leave their homes.

The founder of EternalCrush and a Gold Series Perfumes Brand Ambassador, has shared her tips on how during these unsettling times, she has continued to grow her business.

‘It’s my experience that a quality product or service paired with a healthy dose of determination can go a long way to ensuring business success. The lockdown does not have to mean the end of a dream, ambition or business idea, in fact, it could lead to many opportunities.” says Simz.

Here are Simz tips for growing a business from home:

1. Increase your online presence

It is important to make it easy for your customers to reach you, whether it’s on social media or via your website.

Increasing your online presence creates new opportunities for your business and will help you leverage more exposure on social media. As an entrepreneur, your customers are your main source of income, consciously engaging and communicating with them consistently will help drive sales and traffic to your website.

2. Be part of an ecosystem

It is often said that it takes an ecosystem to create a successful start-up. As an entrepreneur, it is important to recognise the need to connect, collaborate and exchange ideas with other like-minded individuals and entrepreneurs.

Ecosystems are not just communities in which to network, but also to learn from the mistakes of others, gain great referrals, as well as you, gain a support system that can help you pick yourself up on the hard days. Look out for relevant groups on Facebook, or join a local co-working space to spend time in once it’s safe (for the moment, you might benefit from a virtual membership).

“I also ensure that I show up and take part in industry events to help grow my business and other businesses that I support like Gold Series”.

3. Time management

Time management is important! No one is productive 24/7. Set aside time to work on your personal development and learning opportunities, and time to work on your business.

Zandisile Nhlapho is not about to let social media dictate how she should mourn the death of her ex-fiance, the late Bob Mabena.

Her heartfelt tribute message was received with mixed emotions as some people deemed it inappropriate and disrespectful to his wife Eucharist Mabena.

In the Instagram post she wrote, “The passion in this relationship, even way after we parted. We loved too hard & fought just as hard. You could literally cut passion with a knife. I didn’t know these pics existed. I wondered & asked where he got them from but then again, that was Bob for you. “I’m a nigga packed with surprises” he said. I wonder who the photographer was. I still can’t believe it, he’s really really gone?! Wow.”

Twitter users were not impressed so they decided to ‘called her out’ and before she knew it she became a trending topic.

Defending her right to mourn the way she chooses, she said that the two of them never stopped communicating ‘passionately’ about things and their relationship was still good.

Zandi made it clear that she will not be bullied nor policed into grieving the loss of the father of her child and ex-fiance.

Generations: The Legacy actress Zoe Mthiyane’s off the screen acts nearly landed her deeper in trouble with the law.

Zitha, as she is affectionately known in the popular SABC telenovela, appeared at the Randburg Magistrates Court this week on charges of reckless and negligent driving.

Since her arrest in December last year, Mthiyane tried to write her own script, which include skipping her bail conditions of appearing in court till the case is finalised.

Her actions of failing to appear in court saw the court issuing a warrant of her arrest on three different occasions.The SunTeam can reveal the first warrant of her arrest was issued in December, shortly after she was arrested for reckless and negligent driving.The warrant was then withheld for her next court appearance in January where she produced evidence that her failure to pitch in court was compelling.

But in April, she was back at it again and failed to appear in court and the court issued another warrant of arrest. The court also cancelled her R1 500 bail in the process.

On her next court appearance, she told the court that she was on self-isolation because of Covid-19. The court accepted her reasons and cancelled the warrant and also reinstated her bail conditions. In June, the court issued another warrant of her arrest but again withheld it because the court was on lockdown after some court officials had tested positive for coronavirus.Daily Sun reported last year that Mthiyane was arrested in Fourways for driving under the influence of alcohol.

The People’s Paper can also reveal that since her arrest, Mthiyane has been trying to evade prosecution by making representations to the Director of Public Prosecution at the Randburg Magistrates Court.

But all her representations failed to convince the DPP. Her case was postponed to next month for mediation.

-Daily Sun

Zodwa Wabantu’s ex-boyfriend has been exposed as a “trickster”. This after Audi has distanced themselves from the purchase of an Audi R8.

According to the sales manager for Audi Centre in Durban, Phana Mzimela, the whole thing was staged, strange and misleading.

In mid-July, Audi Centre Durban congratulated Vusi on buying an Audi R8.

Vusi later posted the congratulatory messages from Audi, as well as video clips.In one of the video clips, Vusi can be seen walking inside Audi as if to pick up his car.He tagged Audi Centre Duran and captioned one of the photos, “I remember the day I didn’t have R8 to catch a taxi to school.”

“Vusi is not our client. He never bought the car, he never signed any documents with us. Everything including the pictures and videos that he took were staged.

He did this with the help of our sales representative. They even used delivery pictures to make the whole thing legit. Vusi later posted these on his Instagram account. We don’t know how did he do all of this. Our stance on this matter is that, Vusi never bought the Audi R8 and we have no contract with him. We are following internal processes to deal with the salesman,” said Phana.

He said that customers visit their dealership and take pictures all the time, but this time around things went horribly wrong.

“The whole thing is strange and misleading because Vusi and the salesman used delivery pictures, yet there was no purchase at all,” he said.

The source said that Vusi was also called in for a meeting by Audi, but he refused to meet them.

“He was then asked to delete the photos, but he has only delete one where he was being congratulated by Audi,” said the source.

Zodwa Wabantu confirmed the meeting with Audi but said she cannot divulge details of the meeting. “I can confirm that I was called in by Audi on the Vusi matter but I cannot disclose the details of the meeting,” said Zodwa Wabantu.

Meanwhile, Vusi told the public that there is no case against him, but Daily Sun can confirm that a case in terms of Telecommunication Act was opened.

Captain Nqobile Gwala said: “The complainant alleged that a known suspect hacked her social media account as well as her email address. A case in terms of Telecommunication Act was opened at Empangeni Police Station for investigation.”

Speaking to Daily Sun, Vusi said he has a working relationship with Audi: “I then wrote a proposal asking them to assist my digital company to do the campaign.

They agreed.

This year Zodwa was planning to tag Vusi along to the VDJ but then lockdown happened. Vusi knew all of this, he then approached the same car dealership and presented himself as Zodwa’s boyfriend. That is how he fooled the salesman and staged those pictures,” said the source.

“When Audi saw Zodwa Wabantu’s rant on social media they called her into their Durban offices and tried to legitimize the deal. They asked her to make another video and tell her fans that she is at Center Audi Durban and pretend as if everything is fine, but Zodwa refused saying she is not going to protect Audi’s brand. They offered to drive her around but again Zodwa refused saying she was never part of Vusi’s scam and she will not help them in their PR stunt,” said the source.

An inside source told Daily Sun that when Audi saw Zodwa Wabantu’s rant on social media, they called her and tried to legitimise the deal.

“Zodwa Wabantu has a relationship with Audi Centre Durban.

Even last year Zodwa was temporarily sponsored by them for the Durban July.