Inhoudsopgave van 2022-04-20 - Star

THE BUSINESS sector has welcomed the declaration of a National State of Disaster to tackle the severe economic impact of the floods which resulted in deaths, damage to infrastructure and loss of production. Last week’s devastating floods left untold destruction and at least 443 people dead while almost 50 others are unaccounted for. Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) yesterday said the declaration of a disaster signalled the seriousness with which the government was tackling the task, as well as the lessons learned from the emergency responses in the last few years. BLSA chief executive Busi Mavuso said urgent lifesaving support must be a priority, but it was important that businesses and the authorities also focus on restoring transport connections. “The search-and-recovery effort is clearly the priority, while also bringing immediate…

THE SOUTH African government has proposed R5.2 billion in tax relief while the Department of Small Business Development plans to support at least 15 000 youth-owned enterprises to boost economic recovery and youth unemployment. While the proof is still in the pudding, this is a step in the right direction given that small businesses are the backbone of the economy and youth unemployment is one of South Africa’s biggest and most pressing problems. To ensure the proposed measures have the desired outcome of small business development and youth employment creation, it is necessary that all stakeholders are involved – from government agencies to private sector players and educational institutions. This will achieve greater collaboration and help to understand what support and development the small to medium-sized businesses really…

TONGAAT Hulett, which faces financial challenges following management fraud in previous years, said yesterday that it expected earnings for the year to March 31 to plunge at least 120 percent below the earnings of last year. Further bad news for its shareholders, many of whom have been attempting to stall a rights issue they believe is not to their benefit, was that the proposed rights issue to recapitalise the group was being increased to R5 billion from R4bn. The group said in a trading statement and operational update that it had expected to navigate difficult trading conditions in its 2022 financial year, but the impact of the unrest in July 2021 in KwaZulu-Natal had a much more prolonged impact on production, while the forced stoppages aggravated the neglect…

A potential landmark case that will test whether state entities that fraudulently award tenders should be held liable for the loss of profit by the prejudiced bidders is headed to the Constitutional Court. Esorfranki Pipelines, a construction group with headquarters in Gauteng, is dragging the Mopani District Municipality to the Concourt to have it held liable for the group losing out on a R421 million tender, allegedly awarded fraudulently in 2010. Esorfranki stressed in its papers that its case against Mopani, a Limpopo rural municipality, was distinct from previous litigations by other private groups or state entities that sought cancellation of fraudulently awarded contracts. “This case is about whether a municipality should be held liable for the delictual damages of an unsuccessful tenderer for loss of profit where the…

“HER courage was her crown and she wore it like a queen,” are words that reigning beauty queen Lalela Mswane used to share her excitement ahead of the prestigious Miss Supranational beauty pageant taking place in July in Poland. The reigning queen did her countdown as she shared how pleased she was to be representing South Africa for the second time on a global stage. Mswane took to her social platforms to share it with her supporters. “Extremely grateful to be granted the opportunity to once more fly the South African flag high as I grace the Miss Supranational stage in July. I am supra excited to embark on this journey. Your love and support is genuinely appreciated always.” The Richards Bay-born star did exceptional well on her Miss Universe…

The meaning of fasting from food and drink during the hours of daylight in Ramadaan goes beyond just staying away from eating. Fasting is the compulsory part of Ramadaan, but the symbolism of Ramadaan goes much further. Reformation of the soul and refinement of the heart and mind is the other great feature of this blessed month. Rectification of character, conduct, thought, speech, and eradication of objectionable habits are important commandments in the Qur’an. The lessons of Ramadaan are a call not just for individual action, but also for community development. In the spirit of Ramadaan, I humbly appeal to others to donate much-needed aid to bona fide relief organisations to help provide flood victims with food and other basic essentials. Our humanity and humanitarianism must be stimulated in these…

THE DA has written to Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, requesting that they motivate for a Cabinet resolution that addresses impending disaster looming in the country’s electricity sector. This comes after a number of load-shedding announcements and reports of infrastructure problems at the power utility. On Sunday, the power utility announced that the country would be moving to stage 2 load shedding, upgraded yesterday to stage 4. It said the loss of four additional generation units at Matla, Tutuka, Duvha and Arnot power stations, exacerbated by the delay in units returning to service at Camden, Matla, Grootvlei and Tutuka power stations, had necessitated the implementation of load shedding. Eskom said it was forced to implement load shedding to manage and replenish emergency…

Joburg SAPS have arrested a 33-year-old man for attempted murder after he allegedly stabbed a man repeatedly at the corner of Commissioner and Alexander streets, just metres from the Johannesburg Central Police Station. SAPS spokesperson Captain Xoli Mbele said the suspect allegedly stabbed a 30-year-old man several times in the upper body. “Initially, the suspect assaulted a female, and the victim tried to stop him. He (the 33-year-old) took out a knife and stabbed him. The female, who was assaulted, rushed to the police station and alerted the police. “Swift response by the police led to the suspect’s apprehension. A knife was recovered from him. The victim was treated in hospital and discharged.”…

While the full extent of the loss of life and property and the damage to infrastructure from the floods that occurred last week will be finalised in due course, such flooding in KZN is not exceptional. Twice in the past floods have occurred in April. The first recorded occasion was in April 1848. Between April 13 and 15, 1856, the Natal coast received 650mm of rain according to reports in the Natal Mercury of April 18 and 25, 1856. Whereas previously the Mgeni River meandered into the Indian Ocean to the south of its present entry point, the volume of water caused it to straighten its course demolishing everything in the Springfield Flat. The Isipingo Flat suffered a similar fate and was described as having become a lake. Pioneer settler…

Traditionally, a socio-economic impact assessment (Seia) should assess a proposed law’s adverse effects on economic growth and the economy. Regrettably, the government’s current Seias of proposed bills fail to do that and are quite worthless. Look elsewhere for the real impact of new laws. The government requires draft bills submitted to the Cabinet for approval to be accompanied by a Seia countersigned by the Seia Unit of the Department of Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation (the Planning Department). The Planning Department’s 2015 Seia guidelines say Seias should assess a proposed law’s potential costs, benefits and risks without dictating remedies. The Planning Department outlined the procedure to develop Seias. If a state department decides to sponsor draft legislation to address a perceived problem, it should identify legislative options, roughly evaluate the…

Cases of hepatitis of unknown origin, first detected in UK children, have now been recorded in four more European countries and the US, the EU health agency said yesterday. The World Health Organization said it was monitoring 84 cases of severe acute hepatitis that were reported in Britain since April 5. Cases have now been recorded in children in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said. Nine suspected cases have also been recorded in Alabama, US. | AFP…

The Chinese city of Shanghai yesterday pleaded for public co-operation with a massive new push to test most of the population for Covid-19 as it tries to bring community transmission down to zero after nearly three weeks of lockdown. The plea came as some people refused to join PCR testing queues out of weariness after weeks of such requirements, or fear it puts them at greater risk of infection. Residents shared stories on social media about bus loads of people being taken from their homes and sent into quarantine, including babies and the elderly. Authorities are under pressure from Beijing to speed up transfers of positive cases and their close contacts to quarantine centres, fuelling fears about measures designed to completely stop the spread of the virus rather than just…

The problems affecting fallen English giants Manchester United and fallen South African giants Kaizer Chiefs are very similar. Both clubs have struggled to find an identity and glory for the best part of the last 10 years. Some will say that the problems are coaching-related and while this may be true to an extent, it is far from the truth totally. In the case of United, the club has struggled to find consistency since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013. In the case of Chiefs, they’ve not done so since Stuart Baxter’s first stint with them ended in 2015. Neither club has made tough calls on so-called star players. In United’s case, they have held on to players like Phil Jones and Jesse Lingard for years with the…

South Africans love a new sports star, and young sprint sensation Viwe Jingqi is making everybody excited – except, perhaps, her opponents – with her eye-catching performances in 2022. But her coach Paul Gorries advises that we should not get “ahead of ourselves” as his protégé prepares for the national athletics championships at Green Point Athletics Stadium in Cape Town from tomorrow until Saturday. Jingqi, 17, is in matric at TuksSport High School in Pretoria, and made the local athletics world sit up and take notice recently by breaking the SA 100m junior record three times in a day at the national championships in Potchefstroom in 11.22 seconds – an under-18 and under-20 SA record. The next day, she set a new 200m U18 mark of 23.03sec, eclipsing a 40-year-old…

THE RAND YESTERDAY fell to a nearly 4-week low pummelled by a warning of prolonged power cuts, supply chain disruption due to flooding, and a lower global economic outlook. Eskom yesterday ramped up its rotational power cuts to Stage 4 as a result of the failure of two additional generation units, pushing load shedding to remain in force until Friday morning. The power utility warned of 37 days of load-shedding in the best-case scenario while the worst-case scenario could plunge the country to 100 days of power cuts in winter. It is estimated that in 2020 load shedding could cost South Africa’s economy R500 million per stage, per day, as economic activity comes to a halt during power cuts. Reports also suggested that Eskom spent an estimated R235m on…

dieketseng.maleke@inl.co.za GEMFIELDS, supplier of coloured gemstones, said its teams were hosting and welcoming a notable increase in supply chain assessments, and audits, as jewellers and downstream customers strive to better understand and document their logistic networks. Gemfields, which is focused on mining emeralds at the Kagem mine in Zambia and the Montepuez Ruby Mining in Mozambique, released its annual report yesterday. The group said the coloured gemstone sector has long been opaque, and its focus on transparency means that it is uniquely positioned, as the industry rightly shifts to a “mine-of-origin” mo- del and away from “country-of-origin”. “The shift to greater transparency and supply chain certification will ultimately improve and strengthen the evolution of the sector,” it said. According to the company, its board was “aghast and saddened” by atrocities…

PARLIAMENT, the ANC and political parties in Gauteng have described Thabo Masebe as a distinguished leader and communicator who cared for the delivery of services to the people. Masebe died of an undisclosed illness on Monday. His death, which sent shockwaves across the country, has united political parties in sending their condolences to his family. He was acting director-general in the office of Gauteng Premier David Makhura at the time of his death. Masebe took over from Phindile Baleni, who has taken up the post of director-general in the Presidency. ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe said Masebe was from the generation of Young Lions from the 1980s and fought for freedom as a leader in the student and youth movement in the then Northern Transvaal. After the unbanning of…

Although women have made great strides in the legal profession in South Africa and their numbers have steadily increased, they still find it difficult to occupy senior positions or to become partners in law firms. This is according to Dr Tamlynne Meyer, who recently obtained her doctorate in Sociology at Stellenbosch University. Meyer looked at how and why women attorneys, particularly black female attorneys, continue to be marginalised, despite the removal of formal barriers and the enactment of legislation and policies to spearhead transformation in the profession. In this regard, she asked two important questions: to what extent has the profession been feminised; and what factors impede women’s career prospects? “Because women are the subject of South Africa’s transformation project, my study considers the materiality of their everyday lives as…

The family of Isipingo grandfather Nadesan Moodley, who turned 100 in January, say they are extremely grateful to the team that rescued him from his flood-hit home. Moodley, who has 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, was rescued by boat from Isipingo Beach on April 12 along with his daughter and son-in-law after their home flooded and they were trapped. His granddaughter Kenita Govender said the rescue team had to break a window to get to her relatives. “The house where my grandfather lives has been badly damaged by the flood, this also includes the inside of the house, furniture and two vehicles parked outside,” she said. “I am just so grateful that my grandfather, aunt and uncle were rescued. My grandfather spent the night at Isipingo Primary School as we…

NO PLACE on earth is immune from natural disasters – from heat waves and droughts to the catastrophic floods – that dismembered KwaZulu-Natal. The perception of natural hazards as catastrophes is specific to humanity. What engulfed and shattered KZN is an event worse than any in living memory. The country needs to help to stop the carnage as the province is reduced to a tangle of tree limbs and branches. Survivors are haunted by the images of tangled corpses and monumental destruction of epic and biblical proportions. Graphic images of a rampaging mix of mud, debris and vehicles and containers and buildings swept into treacherous waters have left an indelible imprint on to our collective memories that will be difficult to erase. Hundreds of lives were lost, scores are unaccounted…

Black poverty is underpinned by several factors. First, Blacks have been saddled with mother-tongue languages that are little use in the global village. Second, many Black children are not exposed to English at home and arrive in Grade 1 without being able to understand English. Third, many Black children have parents who are illiterate or barely literate. Hence, they arrive in Grade 1 without being able to read and write, and receive little or no academic support from their parents. As a consequence, many lag behind children of other races from Grade 1, and slip further behind each year due to an inability to absorb knowledge as efficiently as learners who have English as their mother-tongue We need to ensure the government understands that many black families are…

Common among several English dictionaries is that the word “resilience” is defined as “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties”. They further define it as the process of adapting well in the face of adversity. This definition perfectly fits the reputation of our city. It is not the first time that eThekwini is on the receiving end of natural disasters, which are not our making. Had it not been for our being resilient, we would have been completely wiped off the face of the Earth. This catastrophe happened just after we bore the brunt of the civil unrest that left a trail of damage amounting to billions. Before that, in 2019, we were hit by floods that reduced many parts of our city to rubble, with scores of people being…

Spanish police said yesterday they had broken up a gang suspected of making high-speed boats to transport “large quantities” of drugs by sea. Officers arrested 22 people and seized 20 boats in raids across Spain, including Madrid and Barcelona, and northern Portugal, the police said. Spain’s physical proximity to Morocco, a major hashish producer, and its close ties with its former colonies in Latin America, a major cocaine-producing region, have made it a key entry point for drugs bound for Europe. | AFP…

Russia launched its long-awaited all-out assault on east Ukraine yesterday, seizing its first town after unleashing thousands of troops in what Ukraine has described as the Battle of the Donbas, a campaign to take two provinces. Ukrainian officials insisted that their troops would withstand the new assault, which they said began overnight with massive Russian artillery and rocket barrages and attempts to advance across almost the entire stretch of the eastern front. In the first big reported success of Russia’s new assault, Ukraine said the Russians had seized Kreminna, a frontline town of 18 000 people in Luhansk, one of the two Donbas provinces. Russian forces were attacking “on all sides”, authorities were trying to evacuate civilians and it was impossible to tally the civilian dead, Luhansk regional governor Serhiy…

If Jacques Nienaber stays loyal to his 2019 Rugby World Cup winners for the 2023 edition, the Springboks will have the most ever players who would turn 32 or older during next year in the squad for France. In 1995 in South Africa, there were no players who turned 32 or older in the Bok World Cup-winning group. Nick Mallett’s 1999 third-place finishers had one, Henry Honiball, while Rudolf Straeuli’s 2003 squad had three, and Jake White’s triumphant 2007 Boks in France also had three. Of course, as the conditioning improved over the years, players could withstand the rigours of Test rugby for longer, and in 2011 under Peter de Villiers, four players were in that age category – Victor Matfield, John Smit, Danie Rossouw and Butch James. That swelled…

An enticing KwaZulu-Natal Derby takes centre stage at the weekend as an AmaZulu FC side on a ‘new coach’ bounce-back look to halt a seemingly rampant Royal AM, who are in pole position to secure a place in next season’s CAF Champions League. While Usuthu have taken gradual steps backwards in terms of achieving “the next level” this season, few would have predicted the type of season Royal AM are enjoying at the moment. A team formed a week before the resumption of league competition go into the final five games of the campaign in second position and on the verge of continental competition qualification; it is certainly the stuff of dreams. Royal AM owner Shawn ‘MaMkhize’ Mkhize’s expectations have no doubt been surpassed as even she could not have…

POWER utility Eskom yesterday moved to Level 4 load shedding and warned of up to 101 days of load shedding over the winter period, which economists said would dampen investment sentiment. Eskom’s Head of Transmission Sekgo- motso Scheepers yesterday said the strain to the system from various assaults risked available capacity dipping to between 37 and 101 days over the winter period, and the utility had to redouble its efforts in fending off the unplanned loss of capacity. Estimates earlier this year by audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers were that load shedding in South Africa increased by 38 percent in 2021 with more than 2 400 gigawatt hours lost, which it estimated reduced real GDP growth by up to 3.1 percentage points, costing the economy up to 400…

MASSMART, the owner of Makro, Builders Warehouse and Game stores said it was poised for accelerated growth as it continued to implement its turnaround strategy, according to its latest integrated annual report. The group said in the report released yesterday that a significant outcome of the turnaround plan to date has been re-organising and introducing new ways of working to unlock the strengths of the group, and deriving the resultant benefit to the business. “This has mostly involved leveraging Massmart scale, and Walmart networks and expertise, to lower the cost base and implement better ways of working to create a significantly more competitive platform for future growth,” Massmart said. The approach was to accelerate omni-focused growth that is responsive to shifting consumer behaviour centred on the Southern African Development Community,…

l Five others sustain gunshot wounds OPERATION Dudula members are mourning the death of one of their members, who was shot and killed in an alleged xenophobic attack in Soweto. Police have confirmed that they are investigating a case of murder and five counts of attempted murder following an altercation between Operation Dudula members and residents of Chicken Farm in Soweto on Monday. “According to the police’s preliminary reports, it is alleged that on 18 April 2022 at about 16:30 (4.30pm), a group of people, allegedly residents of Pimville with Operation Dudula members, marched to Chicken Farm informal settlement in Kliptown. Pimville residents are complaining about theft of electricity cables. “There was an altercation, shots were fired, one person was certified dead on the scene and five more people were…

LOCAL talented artist Cinthia Sifa Mulanga is seeing her career take a new trajectory after being commissioned by the Italian fashion house Gucci to create an artwork that celebrates the iconic Diana tote bag for their latest campaign. In 1991, this special bag was introduced and popularised by Diana, Princess of Wales, and later given her name. With the list of local and international exhibitions she has held, her extraordinary artistry has generated a wave of interest from one of the most globally celebrated fashion houses. Mulanga’s paintings are more than just a conventional paintings, they hold a profound notion about female subjects trapped in interior spaces, that chimes with the times while also overturning ideals of beauty through her exceptional art. This major campaign has the 25-year-old thrilled about…

Julia Roberts says constant “kissing” is the secret to a long, happy marriage. The actress believes the key to her more than two decades of marriage to cinematographer Daniel Moder – with whom she shares 17-year-old twins Hazel and Phinnaeus and 14-year old son Daniel – is not forgetting to have a smooch and showing each other affection. Roberts, 54, appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, who asked her to reveal her tricks, on the count of three. She immediately said: “Kissing”. The 57-year-old talk show host, who has been married for 28 years, said the key was taking the time to “apologise”, and immediately wanted to take it back. Colbert quipped: “Well, I would like to apologise to my wife for not saying ‘kissing’.” |…

CABLE theft has become a major headache in Joburg and in the past week City Power security arrested one of three suspects at the Cydna substation. The City of Joburg said off-duty officers reported suspicious activity at the substation and the criminals were caught in the act. The suspect was delivered to the Norwood police station to be charged with infrastructure theft and is in custody. The city council said it was the same substation where a gang armed with AK-47s overpowered security officers before robbing several hundred kilograms of copper cables just a fortnight ago. Environment and infrastructure services acting MMC Leah Knott applauded the efforts of City Power security. Knott said there was a need for the police and the National Prosecuting Authority to play their part and…

THE Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has upheld the authority of the Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) to adjudicate on complaints by members that are also binding on non-members. In December 2019, Colgate lodged a complaint with the ARB regarding Bliss Brands (BB) Securex soap for what they considered to be an imitation in the architecture of their Protex soap packaging. Colgate, being a member of the ARB, claimed BB, that is not a member, had breached the “code of advertising best practice” which is the guiding document of the ARB. Hearings were then initiated by the ARB, wherein both parties were fully involved, and at the time BB raised no objection to ARB’s jurisdiction during the process. Following appeals by both parties, proceedings were ultimately concluded with ARB’s Final Appeal…

HORROR, horrific devastation unheard of in the history of South Africa. Is it the result of climate change or God’s manifestation of his wrath at the corruption, political killings and factionalism in that province? There have been gruesome, heartbreaking stories such as one where a grandmother, sleeping with her seven-year-old-grandchild, were swept away by the floods. What a horrible way to die! More painful was the fact that while rescue searches were able to find the body of the grandmother, searches were continuing for the boy’s body. On Saturday, we heard that the Zulu king, the Motsepe Foundation and some stakeholders were visiting Mariannhill to assess the extent of the destruction. Typical of the Motsepe Foundation to always be there to provide much-needed relief in dire circumstances. May God…

“WATER, water every where, Nor any drop to drink” – The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The speaker, a sailor on a becalmed ship, is surrounded by salt water that he cannot drink. It’s a poem that resonates with the calamity that has befallen KwaZulu- Natal, which was once surrounded by water, inland, and now residents do not have a piped water supply to their homes. Life on Earth cannot survive without water. So the saying goes. This same water pooled together and washed away roads and bridges and caused more than 440 people to lose their lives in a single week of torrential rainfall. The floods caused devastation and bereavement with the tears of those grieving still wetting the soil. Many people are still missing.…

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have agreed to stop using child soldiers, the UN said, after thousands of under-age fighters were recruited for the seven-year civil war. The Houthis will release all child soldiers within six months, it said. Nearly 3 500 child soldiers have been identified and more than 10 200 children have been “killed or maimed” since the war started. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 to prop up the internationally recognised Yemeni government after the Iran-backed Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa. | AFP…

Cape Town City FC have threatened to stop their parent body, the Premier Soccer League (PSL), from rescheduling their DStv Premiership match against Kaizer Chiefs. Two days ago, the PSL advised their clubs via a circular, now infamously known as ‘Circular No 16 of the National Soccer League’, that the Premiership fixture, which was postponed in December 2021, will be replayed. The PSL’s decision was in keeping with the ruling by Safa arbitrator Nazeer Cassim SC, who said that Kaizer Chiefs will play the two matches they failed to play last December. The PSL were equally unhappy with Cassim’s ruling, and they approached the High Court with the aim of changing the decision. The matter is up for discussion on the High Court roll for May 10. The PSL were…