Inhoudsopgave van 2021-07-21 - Star

Itumeleng Mafisa Itumeleng Mafisa THERE are growing calls from different quarters for the state to be compassionate and allow former president Jacob Zuma to attend his brother Michael Zuma’s funeral which will be held in KwaZulu-Natal tomorrow. The South African Prisoners Organisation for Human Rights said Zuma had the right to attend his brother’s funeral. The organisation’s president, Golden Miles Bhudu, said the former president should be treated like any other South African and be granted the right to bury his loved ones. Bhudu criticised statements claiming that Zuma making a public appearance could lead to further protests in the country. “He is doing a lousy sentence. He must apply to go to the funeral; they should not deny him to go and bury his brother. I don’t think…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za GAUTENG Health Department officials were warned that their “marathon project” to transfer 2 600 mentally ill patients from Life Esidimeni could have the same effect as that of two children who died in 2007 due to neglect when they were moved to an NGO. Dr Basuku Morgan Makhatshwa, managing director of Life Esidimeni at the time of the tragedy, testified that he repeatedly told the department that the hasty transfer of the patients could potentially have disastrous consequences. Makhatshwa was the second witness to take the stand on the second day of the inquest following the deaths of 144 mentally patients in 2016. The hearing is taking place in the North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, via a virtual hearing. The hearing aims to establish whether anyone…

Baldwin Ndaba baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za The EFF failed to provide solid legal arguments to oblige the courts to unseal bank statements for contributions to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s campaign to become ANC president in December 2017. It also used the incorrect Act in its bid to ask the North Gauteng High Court to unseal the documents, including the identities of those who made financial contributions to Ramaphosa’s campaign. Judge Cassim Sardiwalla dismissed the EFF’s application in the high court in Pretoria yesterday. Judge Sardiwalla said the EFF brought its application under the newly promulgated Party Political Funding Act, which compels political parties to disclose their funders to allow voters to make a correct choice. The Funding Act only came into effect in April this year, and the EFF’s court application was lodged in…

JUST a week ago, members of the taxi industry emerged as heroes as they organised themselves to protect property amid the worst incidents of public violence South Africa has seen since 1994. But, this week, we’ve seen the dark side of an industry that has for too long operated in the shadows, while thriving on lawlessness and dysfunction. For months, a taxi war has been raging in the Western Cape over access to routes. Seventy-nine people, including passengers, have been killed. The Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association and the Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations are waging a war over routes, leaving countless commuters stranded. Golden Arrow Bus Service, which has no relation to the taxi industry, has had to suspend services after one of its drivers was shot on Monday. While…

AHEAD of South Africa’s opening match against Japan at the Tokyo Olympics tomorrow, Matshelane Mamabolo reflects on the historical clash between the two countries that he covered 21 years ago at the Sydney Olympics ... BRUCE Stadium in Canberra was nearly full that night with about 17000 people inside the 25000-seat arena when Siyabonga Nomvethe got us South Africans all giddy as we dreamt of glory. Bhele scored the opening goal in our maiden appearance at the Olympics football tournament to put Shakes Mashaba’s Amaglug-glug (the national under-23 side) 1-0 up against Japan. It was a beautiful goal, Nomvethe managing to get his head onto the ball while seemingly falling the other way to beat the flailing Japanese goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki. The build-up to it was even more exciting,…

Morgan Bolton morgan.bolton@inl.co.za The Lions will finally get back to Currie Cup action today after a disjointed fortnight for the tournament hampered by Covid-19, riots and concessions to the British & Irish Lions. The Sigma Lions have played only two of their four matches in the tournament thus far, the last a 38-32 victory over Western Province on June 23. Their last encounter was against the B&I Lions on June 3 when they were outplayed 56-14. Their matches against the Sharks (July 10) and Cheetahs (July 17) were cancelled due to last week’s civil unrest in the country, with a decision on the log points yet to be made, although the result has been recorded as a 0-0 draw. Today’s match against Griquas at Emirates Airline Park (kick-off 2.30pm) therefore…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za MORE than 300 Shoprite Holdings and Pick n Pay stores were hit by looters and burnt in last week’s civil unrest and riots in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), the companies said yesterday in separate statements. Shoprite and Pick n Pay are the latest retailers to tally the damage to their stores after Woolworths, Spar, Mr Price, Massmart, The Foschini Group and Pepkor announced that several of their outlets and distribution centres had been badly damaged. Shoprite, Africa’s retail giant, said of the 1 189 supermarkets trading under the Shoprite, Usave, Checkers and Checkers Hyper brands, 119 stores – including 64 Shoprite, 44 Usave, six Checkers and one Checkers Hyper – had been severely affected as a result of looting and fire damage. Out of the 537-store…

Siyabonga Mkhwanazi siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has denied she deliberately contradicted President Cyril Ramaphosa that there was an attempted insurrection following the events in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng last week. Mapisa-Nqakula said she had located her argument on the issue of counter-revolution, but she had no intention of contradicting Ramaphosa. The minister had come under fire from political parties after she said on Sunday there was no attempted insurrection or coup. This was after Ramaphosa had told the nation two days before there had been an attempted insurrection. Mapisa-Nqakula was part of a team that met with members of Parliament who were on an oversight visit in Durban and surrounding areas following the violence and looting. “I think when I made that point, there was never a deliberate, mischievous or…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za WITH schools set to reopen next week, concerns have been raised that the aftermath of last week’s civil unrest will lead to further learning losses and school drop-outs. This comes as the Department of Basic Education (DBE) confirms that a total of 134 schools in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng were affected by the looting and burning. Last week, parts of the two provinces resembled a war zone as looters targeted malls and other businesses, and later torched them. Schools were not spared – some were burnt, and food from school feeding schemes was stolen. KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said about 50 schools had been damaged, as well as two educational centres and two circuit offices. “Obviously there are schools that are adversely affected, that will…

SOUTH Africa’s government has yet again failed to showcase a vibrant and brave leadership during the ongoing pandemonium in some parts of the country, mainly in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces. President Cyril Ramaphosa continues to believe that his monologue press conferences sufficiently deal with societal problems. His press conferences are not different from a church setting where the preacher would say anything he wants to say without taking any questions or criticism from the audience. We should take what is being said. Ramaphosa missed an opportunity to showcase the leadership qualities that he is reputed to have from his days in the unions. He failed to go to the ground to see what was happening so that he could get the picture of what was happening as well as engage…

Cometh Dube-Makholwa | Midrand THOSE responsible for the destruction of malls, businesses, warehouses, factories and all kinds of infrastructure cannot possibly be happy now, realising the impact of their senseless actions on all areas of humanity, if they still have a conscience. Mob psychology can drive people to do unthinkable things which, with hindsight might haunt them so much that they may suffer from sleep deprivation. While the president has promised reconstruction of buildings, businesses and infrastructure will be undertaken, we all know what a mammoth task it will be as the amount of destruction runs into billions, in a country bankrupt long before the riots. Maybe this is the time for all those who have millions and billions stashed away in local and offshore bank accounts to…

Another Olympics is upon us, inexorable even in the face of Covid. With it comes the inevitable, salacious speculation around doping scandals. There have been doping scandals at every Olympics in my lifetime and a few before, reaching back to the middle of the 20th century. Now, because of the lag between new drugs coming into sport and the development of reliable drug tests, there’s a 10-year retrospective testing window. This leaves the question of exactly who wins what an open question for a decade. With the testing window used for the 2012 London Olympics now closed (it used to be eight years), we only now have a final account ofh medals and doping at those games. According to Olympics historian Bill Mallon, more than 140 athletes were banned or…

Olympics chief Thomas Bach revealed “doubts” and “sleepless nights” over the postponed Tokyo Games yesterday as the opening ceremony nears after a year’s delay and Covid-19 chaos that has made them deeply unpopular with the Japanese public. Bach, speaking at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Tokyo, said the unprecedented step of postponing the Games “weighed on me” as it proved more complicated than he thought. The build-up to Friday’s opening ceremony has been exceptionally rocky, with Tokyo still under a state of emergency and public opinion consistently against the Games, which will be held largely without spectators. “Over the past 15 months we had to take many decisions on very uncertain grounds. We had doubts every day. We deliberated and discussed. There were sleepless nights,” said Bach. “This…

Eshlin Vedan eshlin.vedan@inl.co.za Mamelodi Sundowns defender Rushine De Reuck is one player who would have grown tremendously after helping Bafana Bafana win the Cosafa Cup over the weekend. The 25-year-old played a vital role for the largely developmental South African national team as they won the final 5-4 on penalties against Senegal at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Sunday. “I’m happy to be back in training with Sundowns. Seeing my teammates and the coaches really made me happy today. I’m happy to have helped the national team win the Cosafa Cup,” said De Reuck. “As national team players, we have a big responsibility to do well for the country, especially as it’s not in a good state. We are happy to have won and did the country proud.” After some…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za The GOVERNMENT will soon announce a social and economic relief package to aid businesses and employees affected by the recent civil unrest to get back on their feet. This was a promise made by Presi- dent Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday in a meeting with about 90 captains of industry that had been impacted by last week’s unrest, largely in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. The recent unrest is estimated to have impacted 40 000 formal businesses and 55 000 informal traders in KZN alone, with 160 000 people at risk of joining the unemployed queues. Ramaphosa said the government had been working with social partners to finalise an extensive social and economic relief package that would support poor households and provide assistance to affected businesses and employees.…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za KAROOOOO, the New York- and JSE-listed group that owns 100 percent of Cartrack Holdings, continued to report strong subscriber and subscription revenue growth in the three months to May 31, despite ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, chief executive Zak Calisto said yesterday. “Our 2022 financial year commenced on a solid note. New customer additions across a broad base of industries are at historical highs, demonstrating our ability to innovate and to provide a differentiated fleet management platform,” he said. The company operates in a growing and under-penetrated global automotive market, coupled with a growing vehicle parc (or vehicle population) and customers seek digitalised software solutions to address higher operating costs, unproductive use of resources and inefficient workflows. “We believe Karooooo remains well positioned for growth,” Calisto said. He…

Alyssia Birjalal alyssia.birjalal@inl.co.za South African actor Atandwa Kani, son of the legendary John Kani, has taken to Twitter to clear up a rumour that has spiralled out of control about Black Panther. Apparently word on the Twitter street is that Kani will be starring in the Black Panther sequel, for which filming is under way. Kani acted in the first Black Panther movie where he portrayed the younger King T'Chaka, a dual part shared with his father, John. As the rumour made its rounds, Kani instantly took to Twitter to settle it once and for all. He wrote: “HOLD ON!!! I have NOT been cast as the new Black Panther. I don’t know where this rumour came from, but I know nothing of this.” The sequel, titled Black Panther: Wakanda…

Baldwin Ndaba The Gauteng provincial legislature’s health portfolio committee wants all those implicated and found guilty of irregular issuing of personal protective equipment (PPE) tenders to be blacklisted and stolen funds, if any, recovered. The health portfolio committee, through its chairperson Rebecca Phaladi-Digamela, made these remarks after the Gauteng Department of Health fired its chief director of supply chain management, Thandi Pino, for her involvement in the irregular awarding of tenders worth millions of rand. Pino took employment with the Gauteng Health in March last year and the irregularities happened in April – soon after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the R500 billion Covid-19 funds to fight the pandemic. She was fired early this month following an internal disciplinary hearing on after recommendation of the Special Investigative Unit (SIU), which is…

Mpiletso Motumi mpiletso.motumi@inl.co.za Performing artist, sister and lover. This is how singer-songwriter Sofaya describes herself. The talented vocalist has been singing since she was young, entering school competitions and winning them. Her passion for music was instilled in church. “I come from a musical family. The family is filled with singers, we are all vocally talented. I’m the first in my family to take it commercial and pursue that as a dream and a full-time career.” For a long time Sofaya has focused on working with other artists, lending her voice to many songs. “When you're young you jump on to any track. It was fun and back then it had never been what I was going to pursue.” Sofaya initially pursued a career in law and worked in the…

Labelling violence a ‘coup attempt’ amounts to propaganda that’s a threat to civil rights THE Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels asserted that “it would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be moulded until they clothe ideas and disguise. By using propaganda skilfully any delusion can become fact”. Recently, I was summoned and interrogated by police intelligence and the Hawks from the “national office” for my role in the supposed “coup”/ “insurrection” attempt. The current government has decided to recklessly characterise the protests, that turned violent, against the unjust arrest of former president Jacob Zuma to have been an attempted coup. The initial prognosis of the…

Professor Kelly Chibale THE crisis brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic has not only revealed the systemic weaknesses in health-care infrastructure in many places, but also that the developing world remains far too reliant on rich countries to discover, develop, manufacture and supply the rest of us with vaccines and medicines. According to the World Health Organization, only four countries in Africa have manufacturing capabilities. Although there are pharmaceutical companies in 40 African countries, their work is mostly limited to packaging manufactured medicines or doing what is known as “fill and finish” work — formulating active pharmaceutical ingredients for vaccines and filling and packaging vials. While plans are advanced to expand manufacturing in South Africa, a vibrant, self-sufficient, innovative pharmaceutical industry is a long way off. There is no…

Zaahier Adams zaahier.adams@inl.co.za Tabraiz Shamsi probably appreciates playing for the Proteas more than most. That is not intended to be a slight on his teammates’ commitment to the national team but rather an understanding of what Shamsi has endured in rising to the pinnacle of his profession. The 31-year-old was not a teenage prodigy who gained automatic selection into a franchise team. Initially, he had to be content on being a journeyman in the amateur set-up hoping for a professional contract to be thrown his way. He was forced to switch between Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal in his early years before eventually settling in Benoni, where Easterns and the Titans became home. And yet still it was only after his exploits in far off St Kitts and Nevis while playing in…

Mike Greenaway mike.greenaway@inl.co.za The British & Irish Lions team for the first Test against the Springboks was internally named yesterday and the players disappointed to miss out will have to quickly pull themselves together for the common good, says kicking coach Neil Jenkins. Welshman Jenkins is a veteran of many a Lions tour as both a player and a coach and he said the players were to be informed between training sessions, with the unlucky ones immediately having to form a team to train against the match-day squad for Saturday’s opening Test of the series at Cape Town Stadium (6pm kick-off). Unlike the Springboks, where the World Cup-winning team virtually picked itself, Lions coach Warren Gatland has quality options in every position and in some cases he would have been…