Índex per 2021-06-09 a Star

siphelele dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE WORLD Bank has revised South Africa’s 2021 growth outlook upwards by 0.2 percentage points as the continuing commodity supercycle is expected to benefit from the strong growth and demand in China. In its June Global Economic Prospects report released yesterday, the World Bank said South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) would rise from a forecasted 3.3 percent to 3.5 percent. The World Bank’s forecast comes as Statistics South Africa revealed yesterday that the economy failed to expand at a quicker pace in the first three months of this year. Headline GDP in South Africa rose by 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2021, translating into an annualised growth rate 4.6 percent. Investec’s chief economist Annabel Bishop said the lift in…

Philippa Larkin philippa.larkin@inl.co.za THE BLACK Business Chamber (BBC) yesterday said it was dismayed by how British telecoms firm BT had treated its long-standing black economic empowerment partner (BEE), African Equity Empowerment Investments (AEEI) based on unfounded media reports. The BBC called on the Black Economic Empowerment Commission to investigate the UK firm’s conduct. “This decision goes against the spirit of BEE, especially considering that, according to media reports, AEEI has been a shareholder in BT since 2008, with a 30 percent shareholding in the multinational group. “While the BBC acknowledges BT’s commitment to BEE, we are extremely disappointed that they have terminated their relationship with AEEI, which has an excellent track record of both business and empowerment success,” the organisation said. BT intends to exercise a call…

A lot of our traditional methods of doing things have changed, forcing mothers to adapt to a new normal. Pampers expert gives clarity and advice about ways of parenting in a digital age: We’re living in a digital age, with many of us spending much of our time online. Whether for leisure or work, our lives have been thoroughly absorbed by technology. Sister Yolanda Nompilo, expert adviser from Pampers, advises parents to approach technology with equal amounts of caution and enthusiasm. “We must remember that technology is a tool. It’s how we use it that makes the difference. It’s given us the capacity to grow our children in new and wonderful ways, but it has also given us new ways to instil bad habits.” Sister Yolanda provides some insights into…

ZELDA VENTER zelda.venter@inl.co.za LEGENDARY sports commentator Zama “ZZ” Masondo will not only go down in history for his soccer commentating, but also as a Unisa alumnus at 70 years of age. Affectionately known as Mr Laduma, Masondo recently graduated cum laude with a Master’s of Arts in African Languages. He was admitted through the recognition of prior learning process. His Master’s supervisor, Professor Stanley Madonsela, said Masondo’s application went through a vetting process by the department’s Higher Degrees Committee. The acting head of the Department of African Languages in the College of Human Sciences at the university said the committee recommended that he be admitted for the qualification. Madonsela said: “He was admitted on the basis that he held an undergraduate degree majoring in African languages. “His vast experience in…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za A HOMELESS woman, who gave birth to a baby girl on Sunday, has thanked law enforcement and her homeless friend for assisting her during delivery. An excited Sharon Esau, 35, who has been staying under the bridge in Foundry Road, Salt River, for six years, confirmed her daughter was “healthy and doing well”. “Thank you very much for helping me, I appreciate it a lot. We are fine, the baby is healthy. After I am discharged I am going to stay with the baby’s grandmother. The baby doesn’t have a name yet,” Esau said. According to the law enforcement officer Nonzaliseko Maginindane, they were stopped during a patrol by two panicked boys, appealing for help with a lady who was about to give birth. Maginindane said the…

IT HAS become a cliché to point out that a pandemic tells us much about our society. So does a vaccine roll-out. South Africa’s response to Covid-19 has failed to prevent about as many deaths as the rest of Africa combined because it is two countries. One lives like – and focuses on – “First World” Western Europe and North America, while the other looks much like the rest of Africa as well as parts of Asia and Latin America. The “First World” minority called the shots on how to fight the virus. Its vaccine plan shows why this is a problem. At its centre is a monument to the pretensions of “First World” South Africa: a partnership between the government and business that produced the electronic vaccination data system…

THE HAGUE: Ratko Mladic was dubbed the “Butcher of Bosnia” for terrorising the capital Sarajevo with a 43-month siege and presiding over the 1995 massacre of up to 8 000 Muslims in a UN-designated “safe area”, Europe’s worst atrocity since WWII. The Srebrenica slaughter was the grisly culmination of a war in which nationalist Bosnian Serb forces under Mladic pounded Sarajevo daily with artillery, tanks, mortars and heavy machine guns, killing 10 000. The goal, as determined by the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), was “ethnic cleansing” – the forcible expulsion of Bosnian Muslims, Croats and other non-Serbs to clear Bosnian lands for a Greater Serbia. The tribunal, in a judgment upheld by appeals judges yesterday, found that Mladic, together with late Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic…

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani engineers reopened the nation’s main north-south railway line yesterday after clearing the mangled wreckage of two trains that collided in a remote farming region, killing dozens and highlighting huge safety problems on the dilapidated network. At least 63 people died on Monday morning when a high-speed passenger train knifed through carriages of another express that had derailed minutes earlier near Daharki in Sindh province. It took army and civil engineers a day and a half to clear the wreckage of carriages that were crushed or sliced open like tin cans. A heavy stench of diesel, sweat and blood hung over the scene, with workers saying bodies were still being pulled overnight from mangled carriages.…

Manchester – A record number of fake pharmacies were taken offline in a massive Interpol-led operation involving authorities from 92 countries, the international crime-fighting body said yesterday. “As the pandemic forced more people to move their lives online, criminals were quick to target these new ‘customers’,” Interpol chief Jurgen Stock said. The operation targeted websites and online market places that sought to cash in on the surge in demand for personal protection and hygiene products, deleting over 113 000 links, the highest number since 2008. More than half of all medical devices seized during a week of action in May were fake and unauthorised Covid-19 testing kits. Interpol said 277 people were arrested worldwide.…

Eshlin Vedan eshlin.vedan@inl.co.za THE youthful Bafana Bafana side that will take on Uganda tomorrow will give fans an indication of what to expect from the national team in future. New Bafana coach Hugo Broos is set to miss the game as he will be receiving a Covid-19 vaccine in his homeland of Belgium with assistant coaches Janevski Cedomir and Helman Mkhalele set to oversee the match. The national team were dealt a blow in their preparations for the game after it emerged that Percy Tau, Teboho Mokoena Sipho Mbule, Mosa Lebusa, Mothobi Mvala and Rivaldo Coetzee had to all be withdrawn from the side following positive Covid-19 tests and injuries. Denwin Farmer, Evidence Makgopa, Njabulo Ngcobo and TS Galaxy’s Ethan Brooks have since been called up to make up the…

JULIAN KIEWIETZ julian.kiewietz@inl.co.za SOUTH Africa-born mixed martial artist Igeu Kabesa will kick off a new season and campaign in getting that elusive Ultimate Fighting Championship contract at EFC86 this weekend. The Extreme Fighting Championship featherweight king returns to the hexagon on Saturday for the first time in over two years to defend his title against Brazil’s Reinaldo Ekson (15-4). The Democratic Republic of Congo-rooted Igeu has been nothing short of sensational since making his debut in the EFC, losing only once (at EFC57) to now UFC-signed athlete Danny Henry from Scotland. Prior to and following that bout, Igeu has been unstoppable, racking up a record of 12-1. It is well-known in all corners of the MMA community that Igeu has long deserved a shot at a bigger promotion following his…

NICTUS expected headline earnings per share of between 17.33 cents and 18.71c for the year to the end of March, which was between 153 and 173 percent higher than the previous corresponding period. The retailer of household furniture, electrical appliances and home electronics said in a trading update that earnings per share (Eps) of between 17.33c and 18.69c per share were forecast, which was between 154 and 174 percent higher than the previous corresponding period’s Eps of 6.81c per share. The financial results for the year were expected to be published by June 30. | Edward West…

Liam Karabo Joyce liam.joyce@inl.co.za Rapper AKA has returned to social media. This comes after the star took a break from all his social media platforms following the tragic death of his fiancée, Anele “Nellie” Tembe. Anele died in April after an incident at the Pepperclub Hotel in Cape Town where she fell from the 10th floor. Following Anele’s death, AKA said he would be taking a break from social media. However, this past weekend the star took to Instagram posting a picture of himself and his dog and another by a lake with mountains in the background. He captioned the picture “Blessed Sunday”. Last month, AKA told broadcaster Thembekile Mrototo about his “tumultuous“ relationship with Anele. “We had been having a particularly difficult week in our relationship,…

THE country is waiting as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US ponders whether to approve and release millions of doses of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) coronavirus vaccine. The SA Health Professions Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) registered the Janssen Covid-19 vaccine on March 31 with conditions, according to Sahpra chief executive Dr Boitumelo Semete- Makokotlela. Semete-Makokotlela said the authorisation was subject to a number of conditions, including that the vaccines should be manufactured under conditions of good manufacturing practices as determined by Sahpra and aligned with global best practice. Nearly all the vaccines used in South Africa are manufactured in other countries, and Sahpra requires documentation that confirms the quality of these vaccines from the regulatory authority in the country of manufacture. Semete-Makokotlela said that through an arrangement…

DEANNA STEVENS | Sandown Had I not already known, I would have guessed immediately that your frequent correspondent Whitlock is a Trump supporter. Whitlock’s contemptuous comparison between a celebrity wanting personal privacy as compared to the “job” of giving press interviews required by their sponsors merely underscores a certain mentality. Naomi Osaka is a brilliant tennis player, she is a true champion and has shown her worth. She suffers from an illness. Depression is an illness. Difficult to diagnose and difficult to cure. Some need to rely on their own resources, mental, physical and emotional, to get through a day or a week or a year. The cruelty of this condition knows no bounds. Whitlock declares that mental health is “nonsense”. In sports anyway. In what other professions…

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za WHILE immunity after an infection with Covid-19 is not fully understood and therefore neither are reinfections, there are more than 3 000 confirmed cases of people who have been diagnosed with the virus more than once. The Western Cape Health Department said there were an estimated 3 200 reinfections in the province. “Reinfections are defined as individuals testing positive for Sars-Cov-2 infection with 90 or more days between positive tests. This can be with or without a negative test in between.” The probability of severe sickness in those who have been reinfected and possible long-term effects were being investigated. Nicola Date, a theatre-maker, comic and designer from Century City, said she was diagnosed twice in eight months. “I had Covid-19 in May last year. I had…

It is critically important that the voices of the young are heard in decision-making and policy structures when it comes to dealing effectively with gender-based violence and femicide (GBV), as they are the future leaders of South Africa and can help shape a more inclusive, safer nation. Young people are a major human resource for development, often acting as key agents for social change, economic expansion and innovation. Young people already contribute to the resilience of their communities, proposing innovative solutions, driving social progress and inspiring political change, in urban and rural contexts. This potential has been seen through their activism and organising related to gender inequality, GBV and making feminist change possible. We have found within our leadership programmes at Activate Change Drivers – which our 4…

Australian police arrested more than 200 people involved in organised crime after infiltrating an encrypted messaging app that opened up nearly 25 million messages about “industrial scale” drug imports and murder plots, officials said yesterday. They said the joint operation between Australia and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, which begun in 2018, has ensnared criminals in Australia, Asia, South America and the Middle East involved in the global narcotics trade. “It has struck a heavy blow against organised crime – not just in this country, but one that will echo around organised crime around the world. “This is a watershed moment in Australian law enforcement history,” Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Sydney. Australia did not detail any arrests in other countries but said Europol and…

ACCRA: A Ghanaian court denied bail yesterday to 21 gay rights activists arrested nearly three weeks ago for what police described as an unlawful gathering, their lawyer said. The 16 women and five men were told to reappear in court in the city of Ho on June 16. LGBT people face widespread persecution in Ghana, and the LGBT community has reported a crackdown by authorities in recent months. The activists were arrested on May 20 at a hotel, with police accusing them of advocating LGBT activities with flyers with titles including “All about Trans”. The group LGBT+ Rights Ghana said there was no reason for the arrests, and the activists had met for a workshop on how to report rights violations. Promoting LGBT rights is not illegal in Ghana.…

STATIONER CNA, which has fallen behind on payments to suppliers, is set to follow its former owner Edcon after it emerged yesterday that it had officially been placed into business rescue. Sources confirmed yesterday that Tashya Giyapersad and Simi Maharaj have been appointed as business rescue practitioners for the business, which has been in existence for over 100 years. The business rescue process is to help the group over the rough financial patch and possibly prevent strenuous legal action from its suppliers and landlords as it battles to keep its doors open. The retailer has been hard-hit by the extended lockdown period due to the Covid-19 pandemic as shoppers were scarce at malls and stores where it has a presence. The Edcon division was sold to investment group Astoria last…

THE BULK of South African investors’ assets still goes into a few large funds. At the same time, over the past decade, there has been an explosion of funds from which investors can choose. How then should investors select funds and how many is enough? The South African unit trust industry has well over 1 000 funds. According to the latest Morningstar Fund Observer, close to a quarter of all unit trust assets are held in the 20 largest funds, and the largest fund is bigger than the combined size of nine of the 15 Asisa categories. More than half of South African investors’ fund assets is spread across just three Asisa categories, reflecting the important historical role funds have played as a vehicle for retirement savings (in South…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za DENEL, the state-owned arms manu- facturer, announced yesterday that it was engaging with contractor Saab Grintek Defence to reach an “amicable outcome” regarding its bid to have Denel put into liquidation over unpaid debts. In a brief notice to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Denel said “noteholders are referred to various press articles relating to an application by Saab Grintek Defence for the liquidation of the company. In this regard, noteholders are advised that Denel is currently engaging with Saab Grintek Defence to reach an amicable outcome and if need be, will engage its legal advisers to defend this matter.” It emerged recently that Saab Grintek Defence was seeking to have Denel liquidated over a failed contract to supply 211 fire control computers for the SA Army’s…

RISE OF THE MURDOCH DYNASTY M-NET, DSTV 101, 10.30PM A dramatic three-part series tells the incredible story of Rupert Murdoch's Empire, interweaving his behind-the-scenes influence with the battle for power at the heart of his own family. CHICAGO P.D. S5 UNIVERSAL TV, DSTV 117, 8PM Season five of Chicago P.D. arrives with Jason Beghe returning as Detective Sergeant Hank Voight. In the season premiere, a young bystander is shot during a tough operation, and when Chief Lugo reviews the shootout, Halstead becomes a key player in the outcome. The cases continue with a lethal bomb exploding during an annual street festival, before the investigation into the murder of an illegal immigrant runs into problems due to the perception of police among the city's migrant population. CASE CLOSED 14 TELEMUNDO, DSTV…

STAFF REPORTER TWO suspects will appear in the Vereeniging Magistrate’s Court today after the discovery of a flatbed truck loaded with R3 million worth of copperplates. Gauteng police spokesperson Captain Kay Makhubele says the two are suspected of being behind the business robbery in Olifantsfontein where trailers of cargo to the Congo were stolen on Sunday. They were arrested on Monday at Plot 45 in Balmoral Estates, De Deur. Gauteng police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela welcomed the arrest. Soon after the business robbery was reported to the police, a search operation was launched for suspects which resulted in the arrest of two men, Makhubele said. The tracking company with Armed Defence Response followed the information which led to the recovery of six trailers of cargo to the Congo loaded…

Mafika Siphiwe Mgcina | (ANC Sedibeng Regional Task Team Coordinator) June, the month dedicated to the heroism of our youth against the apartheid regime, started on a sorry state after the Quarterly Labour Force Survey released the most shocking statistics about the jobs bloodbath in our country, particularly for the youth. Stats SA revealed the official unemployment rate among the youth – those between 15 and 34 years – was at 46%. This is coupled by independent research which puts the youth unemployment rate above 70%.This is astonishing, given the fact government has launched a number of initiatives to curb youth unemployment in our country. What we should be asking is: how far have those initiatives yielded the desired results in dealing with youth unemployment? Theses initiatives, among…

HAVING read Chief Rabbi Goldstein’s “open letter” to Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, I’m not surprised that his defensive stance on the racist settler colonial regime leans on an attempt to divert attention from Israel to Islam. As absurd as it may be, it is not untoward for defenders of Israel’s apartheid regime to do so. After all, the issue of Israel is closely linked to the issue of Islamophobia. In his desperation and failure to sound convincing in his responses to Archbishop Makgoba’s letter to Anglican Church members in which he correctly criticised Israel, Goldstein injects a bizarre narrative implying Hamas is linked to the insurgency in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique. Not only is it a ridiculous notion; it is at odds with authentic probes by among others, Amnesty International. But facts…

ALMOST four weeks ago, with their friends cheering them on, Iqbal Sharma and his wife Tarina performed a sultry tango to celebrate her 45th birthday. Attended by a veritable who’s who of celebrity and media personalities, the party was hosted at the couple’s palatial mansion in Morningside, in Johannesburg’s northern suburbs. Late last week the gilded lives that the Sharmas had been living caved in when the National Prosecuting Authority’s Investigating Directorate (ID) came knocking. In no time the mansion, and their other properties worth millions, were seized after the High Court in the Free State granted the ID a restraining order that froze the assets of Sharma, his wife and the Gupta brothers over allegations of fraud, corruption and money laundering. The NPA accuses Sharma, through his company Nulane…

Gangs raided multiple police stations for weapons in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, in deadly attacks over the weekend as violence between armed groups flared, with intense conflict in one southern suburb forcing thousands to flee. The gangs have proliferated in the poorest country in the Americas over the past few years during a period of political unrest and growing economic misery. Armed groups outgun Haiti’s security forces and fight with one another over territory. The UN said it was “profoundly worried” about the impact of the growing violence on civilians, recalling similar incidents over the past year that forced thousands to flee. Haiti is also facing a surge in Covid-19 cases and is bracing for a referendum at the end of June over a new constitution. Attackers raided six police stations…

AMMAN: The longest-serving Jordanian prisoner in an Israeli jail arrived home yesterday, Jordanian officials said, after completing a 20-year sentence for planting a bomb on an Israeli bus that injured more than a dozen people. Abdullah Abu Jaber, 44, was arrested after the explosive device went off on the bus in Tel Aviv in December 2000. He was one of thousands of Jordanians who found casual work in Israel after the two countries normalised ties with a peace treaty in 1994. Separately, foreign ministry officials said Israel had dropped charges against two Jordanians who were arrested last month for allegedly crossing the border carrying knives. The authorities had put them on trial shortly after their detention.…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za WEST Indies coach Phil Simmons expects the battle between his side’s fast bowlers and South Africa’s potent set of quicks to be the deciding factor in the two-match Test series between the teams starting in St Lucia tomorrow. The conditions the teams will encounter seem unlikely to be what the tourists had anticipated when they departed Johannesburg last week. “There’s been a bit of bounce. It’s been different to what people thought it would be,” South Africa fast bowler Lungi Ngidi said after the team’s two-day practice match. Last week Dean Elgar said the data the team had received prior to departure suggested a “slow and low” pitch at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, which will host both matches in the series. Perhaps no-one was listening to…