Table of contents for 2021-06-29 in Star

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE ECONOMIC outlook has become bleaker for low-income households in South Africa, pushing the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) deeper into negative territory in the three months to June after a slight recovery. Data from the Bureau for Economic Research (BER), sponsored by FNB, yesterday revealed a worrying picture of the CCI. The CCI backpedalled to -13 index points in the second quarter of 2021 after recovering further from -12 to -9 index points during the first quarter of 2021. FNB said this latest reading remained well below the average CCI reading of +2 index points since 1994, denoting very depressed consumer confidence levels. However, the CCI was less nega- tive compared to the extraordinarily pessimistic readings of -33 and -23 index points recorded when severe restrictions were…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za INVICTA Holdings, the investment holding and management company, yesterday returned to profitability in the year to the end of March, boosted by strong working capital management and the restructuring of the business. Invicta reported a 156 percent surge in profits to R376.07 million compared to a loss of R673.30m reported a year earlier, and a 310 percent increase in headline earnings per share from continuing operations to 172 cents a share, up from a loss of 82c, while basic earnings per share improved by 130 percent to 212c compared to a loss of 707c reported a year earlier. Chief executive Steven Joffe said yesterday that the year had been characterised by major but very posi- tive changes for the group, which included…

LAST year former ANC spokesperson and current Deputy Minister of State Security Zizi Kodwa defended the presence of former president FW de Klerk and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan at the State of the Nation Address (Sona) following disruptions by EFF members. Kodwa spoke outside Parliament after National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise suspended proceedings and told the media that De Klerk and Gordhan were “going nowhere” and that come what may, the Sona would go ahead. Kodwa faced a sexual assault accusation in 2019 when a woman accused him of drugging and raping her at the Michaelangelo Hotel in Sandton in April 2018. The woman alleged she had been dissuaded from opening a criminal case and settlement negotiations had been initiated. However, nothing came of it. Kodwa labelled the allegations…

Chulumanco Mahamba ALL PUBLIC schools across the country will reopen on July 19 for the third term, after the closure for the winter break was brought forward as a result of spiking Covid-19 infections. The Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga was visiting a vaccination centre in the Free State yesterday where she briefed the media on the department’s response to Covid-19. She said classes would stop tomorrow, while Thursday and Friday would be used for teachers and managers to close the schools properly. “We are aware that some learners in schools come from different provinces so we can’t, for example, tell a parent who stays in Gauteng to fetch their child now. Parents have to make arrangements to come and pick up their children so that’s why we needed…

Cometh Dube-Makholwa | Midrand THE very high rates of infection that we see now are exactly what was happening in countries like Italy, the UK, and the US. The difference is that communities in those countries, except the US under Donald Trump, stuck to the proper use of the mask, hence only the US lost more than 600 000 people. South Africa is now reporting staggering daily infections, yet the EFF and its leaders are encouraging their followers to defy the health protocols that are meant to reduce rates of transmission of the virus. Is it any wonder that our daily infections are in the region of 18 000 or more? And when people die in large numbers we wonder why this is happening to us. After all…

Mpiletso Motumi mpiletso.motumi@inl.co.za MUVHANGO actor Gabriel Temudzani knows his way around the kitchen when it comes to making Sunday lunch. The star revealed his “masterful” ways in the kitchen during the launch of the Maggi “Open Up the Kitchen” campaign that seeks to get more people in the kitchen. Now, with the recent news that the country will be on lockdown level 4 for two weeks, there is no better time to be in the kitchen learning new recipes. “My relationship with the kitchen started in 1992 when I was 12. As a first-born, I was forced to look after my siblings and make sure they are well fed and bathed. From time to time you would find that as a boy child, you should be able to take care…

Rudolph Nkgadima Rudolph.Nkgadima@africannewsagency.com THE country is not going to be in a better place 14 days from now, Wits University vaccinologist Professor Shabir Madhi has warned. Madhi expects that the president will extend the restrictions beyond two weeks. He said the restrictions had come too late and would have a nominal effect. “It is the provinces that are in the earlier stages of the resurgence that will probably benefit more from these restrictions,” he said. “We are going to have a tsunami of Covid-19 cases as well as people dying in our hospitals in the next two weeks. Fourteen days from now, we are probably going to have the president extend it for another 14 days because the country is not going to be in much of a better space…

It’s time for a new strategy that puts women at the centre of economic recovery ONE of the intractable truths about South Africa’s flagging economy is that it is toughest on women. They face disproportionately greater financial challenges and in an economy scarce on jobs, are more excluded from economic participation than men. The perilous position has intensified during South Africa’s dire economic performance since democracy. The gap between the richest and the most impoverished has grown into the greatest recorded globally. Disastrous poverty has worsened. And over the past year, the number of employed people fell by 1.4 million while an annual contraction of gross domestic product (GDP) by 7.2% revealed dwindling national output amid a shrinking economy, further accelerating the likelihood of unemployment. After women’s economic participation deteriorated…

Naypyidaw: A junta trial of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi will run longer than scheduled, her lawyers said yesterday, with the prosecution still to call nearly two dozen witnesses. The coup-ousted leader, who is under house arrest, faces an eclectic raft of charges in a trial her legal team had expected would be wrapped up by the end of July. But with 23 witnesses to go, “even the close of the prosecution side won’t be possible” by then, said her lawyer Khin Maung Zaw. Suu Kyi, 76, appeared at the tribunal yesterday to hear four junta witnesses testify against her. She is charged with flouting coronavirus restrictions during elections last year that her National League for Democracy (NLD) party won in a landslide. | AFP…

LONDON: Bids for a non-fungible token of the original source code for the World Wide Web written by inventor Tim Berners-Lee have soared to $2.8 million (R39.7m) from an opening price of $1 000 with the Sotheby’s auction ending tomorrow. Berners-Lee, a London-born computer scientist, invented the World Wide Web in 1989, revolutionising the sharing of information – one of the most significant inventions since the printing press in 15th Century Germany. The digitally signed Ethereum blockchain non-fungible token (NFT), a digital asset which records ownership, includes the original source code, an animated visualisation, a letter written by Berners-Lee and a digital poster of the full code from the original files. | Reuters…

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights yesterday called for systemic racism against black people to be immediately dismantled around the world to avoid repeating outrages like the killing of George Floyd. In a report to the UN Human Rights Council triggered by the death of Floyd, who was murdered by a white US police officer, Michelle Bachelet said the dehumanisation of people of African descent had fed a culture of tolerance for racial discrimination and violence. She set out an agenda for transformative change on racial justice and equality, and urged states to implement it. Bachelet’s recommendations include reparations for historical racism, as well as funding for groups like Black Lives Matter. “We need a transformative approach that tackles the interconnected areas that drive racism and lead to repeated…

HERMAN GIBBS Comment This season, indomitable Kaizer Chiefs have made the Champions League formbook look like a comic strip as they worked their way to the final after emerging winners despite being decided underdogs each time. Chiefs need to continue this remarkable run and ride their luck. If not, everything points to a lopsided final given Al Ahly’s imposing credentials – nine-time champions and an unprecedented 14 final appearances. In Saturday’s semi-final second leg, Wydad AC had a massive possession advantage but failed to capitalise. Chiefs defence chased down the ball in all the channels and hoofed away anything that came close to their penalty box. Their style on defence did not ooze sophistication but on the day, it was impenetrable. Lady Luck came down hard on Chiefs before the…

Sonri Naidoo DIEPKLOOF, Soweto, residents are talking of a shutdown of shops belonging to foreign nationals if their concerns are not addressed. Operating under the banner #OperationDudula, Diepkloof residents and those from surrounding areas marched on June 16 to demand that their grievances about undocumented foreign nationals in the area be addressed. They claimed the foreign nationals are preventing many locals from getting jobs and are selling drugs to the youth, increasing crime and gender-based violence. The Star spoke to Dan Radebe, spokesperson for Dudula, who said that a memorandum has been issued to the City of Joburg mayor, Geoff Makhubo, and departments such as Home Affairs, for answers to the high rate of undocumented foreign nationals. “Undocumented foreign nationals still fill our area and continue to operate their…

ITUMELENG MAFISA SOUTH Africa’s taxi industry has expressed concern over the restrictions placed on travelling in and out of Gauteng. This comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa moved the country to alert level 4 on Sunday evening and restricted travel in and out of the province as part of measures to reduce the Covid-19 infection rate. Theo Malele of the National Taxi Alliance said: “The industry will be negatively impacted and this places the operators under pressure because they will not meet their monthly commitments and this affects their well-being. We just hope a miracle happens and this passes.” Despite the rise in cases of the virus, the association would not encourage its members to reduce the number of people in a taxi. He said taxis would instead encourage sanitising…

BONGANI NKOSI bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za THE integrity of the Health Professionals Council of South Africa (HPCSA) has been brought into question after it gave a graduate seeking to complete her exam for foreign qualified medical practitioners the runaround. Judge Nelisa Mali described the HPCSA’s conduct in its dealings since July 2019 with Ksenia Kholina, a dentist qualified in Russia, as despicable and nonchalant. The conduct also raised questions about the fitness of the statutory body to carry out its duties, Judge Mali said. Kholina relocated to South Africa with her family when she was a toddler. After matriculating in the country, she enrolled at a Russian university and qualified as a dentist in 2016. The 31-year-old submitted all documents to the HPCSA in January 2017 required to register as an accredited dentist…

SOUTH Africa’s vaccination campaign has been a disastrous flop up to now. Only around 2.5 million people have been inoculated out of a population of 60 million. And the 2.5 million includes many who have received only the first dose and must receive the second soon. Professor Schabir Mahdi, of Wits University, stated recently in Daily Maverick poor planning on the part of the authorities would lead to hundreds of preventable deaths. He was referring to the Gauteng situation which, according to Premier Makhura, is “out of control”. Hundreds will die because of a disastrously inept provincial Health Department that failed to listen to warnings from the scientists about the imminent third wave. How many people, probably in the thousands, will die unnecessarily because they have not been inoculated? Will…

IT WAS inevitable that as the numbers kept rising exponentially, something had to give, especially in Gauteng – the country’s economic hub being the hardest hit. In trying to strike a balance, the government was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement on Sunday night saw the country being moved to level 4 of the lockdown as coronavirus cases soared. As of yesterday, Covid-19 cases stood at 1 928 897. Up to 59 900 people have died and 1 709 999 people have recovered. Hospital admissions are almost as high as during the height of the first wave in July last year, and the total number of cases is forecast to be twice as large as during the first…

Sershnee Pillay SOUTH Africa’s economy contracted by 7% last year. The reported Budget deficit has ballooned to a record 14% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), more than double the forecast of 6.2%. This is disturbing; South Africa’s ability to care for its citizens is limited by our weak fiscal position. And South Africans are heavily in debt, be it looking at their own pockets or our collective debt as a nation. This requires a tiered intervention, one which can address economic growth at a grassroots level, and that can lead us on the sustainable road to recovery as a nation. The answer lies in strengthening our fiscus. This can be achieved through financial literacy Most families are struggling to get through the month. The Household Affordability Index showed that,…

WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a major transgender rights case, leaving in place a lower court’s ruling that a Virginia school board acted unlawfully in preventing a transgender student from using a bathroom at his high school that corresponded with his gender identity. The justices opted not to hear the Gloucester County School Board’s appeal of a 2020 ruling by the Richmond-based 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals that transgender student Gavin Grimm is protected under the federal law that bars sex discrimination in education. The decision to reject the appeal is a victory for Grimm, who sued the school board in 2015 after officials at the school refused to allow him to use the boys’ bathrooms. | Reuters…

LONDON: Britain’s new health minister, Sajid Javid, confirmed yesterday that Britain would lift most of its remaining Covid-19 restrictions on July 19. Javid said he had spent his first day on the job studying the data to see if the next stage of easing restrictions, called step four, could go ahead any earlier. “For me, July 19 is not only the end of the line but the start of a exciting new journey for our country,” said Javid. Britain is seeing case numbers rise again, with daily increases topping 10 000 in recent days. But officials say a mass vaccination campaign is weakening the link between cases and deaths. | Reuters…

Jewish settlers agreed yesterday to leave a new outpost in the occupied West Bank that has stirred weeks of Palestinian protests following a deal with Israel’s government. Under the agreement, confirmed by settler leaders and the interior ministry, the settlers will leave the Eviatar outpost within days but their mobile homes will remain and Israeli troops will establish a base in the area. According regional settler leader Yossi Dagan, the defence ministry had agreed to study land claims to assess the prospect of a future recognised settlement. He said the agreement had been approved by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. About 50 Jewish families moved to Eviatar last month, erecting huts, tents and caravans – in defiance of international and Israeli law – on land near Nablus in the occupied West…

Rugby Reporter The Johannesburg Lions unveiled a smidgen of their plans yesterday when they announced their squad which will prepare for the British & Irish Lions’ tour opener this weekend. Coach Ivan van Rooyen has welcomed back first choice selections such as captain Burger Odendaal, Sti Sithole, MJ Pelser and veteran Jannie du Plessis. Regular starting hooker Jaco Visagie will also be in the selection mix after making his return to the team in the Lions’ impressive victory in the Currie Cup over Western Province last weekend. Flyhalf Jordan Hendrikse, who has been doing duty for the Baby Boks this past fortnight in their Under-20 International Series against Georgia and Argentina, has also made the squad and will vie for the No 10 jersey against Fred Zeilinga. Joburg Lions fans…

Amid all the recent recycling of England’s football tournament suffering at the hands of Germany, their Euro 2000 group stage victory in Belgium 21 years ago seems to have slipped from the nation’s collective memory – and with good reason. Alan Shearer’s second-half goal secured England’s only tournament win over their old rivals since the 1966 World Cup final, but it proved a false dawn and instead did the defeated Germans a lot more long-term good. As England and Germany prepare for today’s Euro 2020 last 16 meeting at Wembley (6pm SA time kick-off), their historical footballing relationship can effectively be divided into the period before the 68th minute of their 1970 World Cup quarter-final, and after. England had triumphed in the 1966 World Cup final and looked to be…

■ Says he was never involved in tenders ■ Luxury Camps Bay accommodation paid for Kailene Pillay kailene.pillay@inl.co.za THE DEPUTY Minister of State Security, Zizi Kodwa, has insisted that hefty cash transfers into his personal bank account and lavish free accommodation in Cape Town were handouts from his EOH executive friend, Jehan Mackay, and not gifts to buy his influence on government tenders. Kodwa, who appeared at the State Capture commission yesterday, maintained his story despite the commission revealing email exchanges where Mackay asked Kodwa to speak to people involved in tender processes The commission referred to an email from Mackay to Kodwa asking him to speak to the “chairperson” regarding a R360 million tender in which EOH was bumped from the…

AFTER shelving the idea of body cameras due to lack of funds, the SAPS is once again considering introducing the tool to protect the officers during operations. This was revealed by Police Minister Bheki Cele while responding in writing to parliamentary questions from IFP MP Zandile Majozi. Majozi enquired about the budget allocations for the use of body-worn cameras and details regarding the implementation of the cameras. She said in light of the increasing number of SAPS officers being killed, and civilian videos showing SAPS members abusing their office, there was a need for an update on the initiative. In his response, Cele said no specific budget allocation has been made available for body cameras. But, he said the SAPS had published a request for information (RFI) on the body…

FAROUK ARAIE | Johannesburg We are now under adjusted lockdown 4, for the second time. Because of our botched vaccination programme, our visionless strategy and our utter complacency, the third wave is now assuming menacing proportions, placing the entire country at risk. This new variant of the Covid-19 virus will not threaten the existence of humanity on Earth, but it certainly has the potential to kill a lot of people and threaten our way of living. The Delta plus variant and a sluggish uptake of vaccines are factors fuelling the current surge. Dense social events were the cardinal factor that propelled the third wave into a frightening dimension. South Africa is an inherently high-risk country for any epidemic due to our social and economic imbalance. Twenty-seven years of…

Colin David Reddy and Ralph Hamann THERE are growing expectations across the world for companies to show their commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR). This is especially so for large multinational companies. Their size, influence and geographic spread make such responsibility all the more important. But in reality how do multinationals respond both to global norms and diverse local expectations? This is especially salient in some African contexts. Many governments have developed empowerment regulations to increase the participation of local people in the economy. An analysis of 14 African countries by the South African legal firm Bowmans shows a growing emphasis on such regulations. But they have been difficult to implement. You might expect that multinationals used to meeting CSR demands would be proactive in responding to local empowerment…

India has redirected at least 50 000 additional troops to its border with China in a historic shift toward an offensive military posture against the world’s second-biggest economy. Although the two countries battled in the Himalayas in 1962, India’s strategic focus has primarily been Pakistan since the British left the subcontinent, with the long-time rivals fighting three wars over the disputed region of Kashmir. Yet since the deadliest India-China fighting in decades last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration has sought to ease tensions with Islamabad and concentrate primarily on countering Beijing. Over the past few months, India has moved troops and fighter jet squadrons to three distinct areas along its border with China, according to four people familiar with the matter. India now has about 200 000 troops focused…

Port-au-Prince: Doctors without Borders (MSF) said yesterday it had closed a hospital in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince after it was hit by gunfire at the weekend – a sign of an escalation of violence in the city. No one was wounded in the attack on the clinic in the Martissant neighbourhood, which has been run by the Nobel peace prize-winning charity since 2006 and provides critical care to the poor. The area is under siege by armed gangs, and MSF said it could no longer “keep caring for the population without putting its staff in danger”. The facility has been evacuated, with patients transported to other clinics, the group said in a statement. “The safety of our personnel is a priority, we cannot care for others if our own staff is…

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis yesterday held talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the wake of a decision by US Catholic bishops that could lead them to deny communion to President Joe Biden for his support of abortion. But it was not clear if the topic came up in talks in the Vatican. The US State Department said the meeting was “warm and wide ranging”. Blinken gave the pope a gold and silver sculpture of a dove holding an olive branch and the pope gave him copies of his writings, including the landmark 2015 encyclical Laudado Si on protection of the environment. | Reuters…

While British & Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland can certainly be pleased with his team’s 28-10 victory against Japan in the 1888 Cup at the weekend, it wasn’t enough to get the warning sirens to go off for the Springboks. The Lions produced a strong and composed opening half performance to go in 21-0 up at half-time but as satisfactory as that scoreline sounds, they could have done more against a Japanese outfit that provided far from a decent test before the break. Sure, there were a few things that really stood out in the Lions’ performance. For one, they looked settled as a team and that cohesion is something that might not be the case right from the start for the Boks after 19 months without international action, regardless…

Eshlin Vedan eshlin.vedan@inl.co.za Royal AM did not turn up for their PSL promotion/relegation play-off clash against hosts Richards Bay at uMhlathuze Sports Complex yesterday and the outcome officially means that they have no chance of securing promotion to the DStv Premiership via the play-offs. Royal AM technically have one remaining play-off game to contest, against Chippa United tomorrow, but it appears unlikely that they will turn out for this one either as they have not honoured their three fixtures so far. Their non-participation in yesterday’s game resulted in a 3-0 victory for Richards Bay. The KwaZulu-Natal club, it seems, continue to rely on the court to award them first place in the GladAfrica Championship (previously the National First Division), which would grant them automatic entry into next season’s Premiership. In…