Índex per 2021-07-23 a Star

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 M-NET CITY, DSTV CHANNEL 115, 8.50PM Keanu Reeves returns as the lethal assassin in this non-stop action thriller. John Wick comes out of retirement to help an old associate, pitting him against deadly killers. LAW OF THE HEART 2 TELEMUNDO, DSTV CHANNEL 118, 9PM Jovita tries to flirt with Pablo, who avoids her gaze. Meanwhile, Maria del Pilar tells Nicolás that she is worried about his safety. TOTAL WIPEOUT: FREDDIE AND PADDY TAKEOVER BBC BRIT, DSTV CHANNEL 120, 9.40PM More heroic hopefuls - including a pest controller, a slam poet and a train signaller - battle it out on legendary Total Wipeout obstacles.…

Bongani Nkosi bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za AN alcohol trading group has won an order to evict a downtown Joburg low-cost independent school from its premises for non-payment. The South Gauteng High Court in Joburg this week ruled in favour of the application by Oasis Liquor Wholesaler to evict Destiny Girls College from its premises in Doornfontein. Judge Pieter Meyer gave the school 30 days to vacate the premises or risk being ejected by the sheriff. The girls at the school look set to have no school to go to unless interventions are made. Oasis rented the premises to the school from December 1, 2017. The parties agreed rent would be R27 000 each month and that the school would also pay for electricity and water. Payment statements deposed before the court showed Oasis…

Mpiletso Motumi mpiletso.motumi@inl.co.za Cell C customers in the Eastern Cape, Free State and Northern Cape will now roam on MTN’s network at no extra charge. This is because 34% of its physical radio access network, to date, has been deactivated, while seamlessly migrating prepaid and Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) customers to roam solely on its partner network, MTN. Covid-19 and lockdown levels have meant people staying at home to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Access to quality, affordable connectivity is, therefore, more critical than ever. “Cell C will no longer own and build expensive network infrastructure, but has agreed to partner with bigger network mobile operators to provide its customers with access to a quality network. The partner mobile network providers will continue to invest in network roll-outs, and…

Bongani Nkosi bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za THE body responsible for legal reforms in the country has recommended the extension of maternity benefits to women working in the informal economy. Currently, only women in formal employment were eligible for at least four consecutive months of maternity leave. This is paid leave and the expecting mothers receive part payments from their employers and the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). It amounts to unfair discrimination that the maternal benefits were only extended to formally employed women, the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC) has said in a discussion paper it published this week. “A gap currently exists in the state’s social protection system, in that self-employed workers in the informal economy are excluded from receiving maternity and parental benefits when the mother enters confinement,” said the discussion…

Tapiwa Muskwe | United Kingdom I am deeply disappointed the ANC is failing to tackle the challenges and crises in South Africa. The ANC is a political party which is well managed and has strong leadership unlike the Zimbabwean ZANU PF political party. I am urging the ANC and its leadership to urgently address the deep issues that are threatening the peace and economic prosperity of South Africa. We cannot afford to have another failed country just like Zimbabwe, which has forced an estimated 5 million Zimbabweans to flee the country in search of better economic conditions in South Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa should not be arrogant and careless, and should demonstrate to the world that he has a high level of intellect, including honed emotional intelligence…

The jury may still be out in relation to responsibility for the riots, looting, protests and pillage that marred the run-up to Nelson Mandela’s 103rd birthday. However, there can be little doubt that fear of an end to the corruption with impunity, which kleptocrats enjoy in SA, was a key motivating factor in the minds of the organisers who fomented the nefarious activities at malls and elsewhere in KZN and Gauteng. The trail of state capture is long and twisted, with the majority of the corrupt still wandering free from prosecution. What will ultimately counter corruption and bring the criminals to book? Is the establishment of a dedicated Chapter Nine Integrity Commission to investigate and prosecute the rampant corruption in South Africa the solution? The current incarceration of Zuma is…

Almost 200 people dead and many others still missing. Billions of euros’ worth of damage. Communities devastated. Thousands of homes destroyed and their occupants traumatised. I am a flood forecaster who helped to set up the forecasting system that was used to predict the recent floods in Germany and surrounding countries. The European Flood Awareness System (EFAS), which I helped to set up, is part of the EU’s Copernicus Emergency Management Service. It provides early information on flooding to national and local authorities across Europe. I work closely with people there to improve and analyse EFAS data. Looking at the data, I could see early on just how serious the floods looked. Forecasts on Friday, July 9 and Saturday, July 10 for the Rhine catchment, covering Germany and Switzerland, had…

At least 20 civilians have been killed and tens of thousands displaced in heavy fighting between rebels and pro-government forces in Ethiopia’s Afar region, which borders war-hit Tigray, an official told AFP yesterday. “The heavy fighting is still continuing. So totally about 70 000 are affected directly and they are displaced. More than 20 civilians are dead,” said Mohammed Hussen, an official with Ethiopia’s national disaster response agency based in Afar. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into Tigray last November to oust the region’s ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a move he said came in response to TPLF attacks on federal army camps. Though the 2019 Nobel Peace laureate declared victory later that month, fighting has dragged on, killing thousands of people and plunging hundreds…

HONG KONG: Police arrested five people yesterday on suspicion of conspiring to publish “seditious material” with the intent of inciting public hatred towards the Chinese-ruled city’s government among children. Those arrested were members of a speech therapists’ union who produced books for children with wolves and sheep as characters in stories, which may have alluded to events in Hong Kong since pro-democracy protests began in 2019, media reported. Reuters could not independently confirm the details. Police said the five were two men and three women aged between 25 and 28. They did not identify them. The five suspects were arrested under a colonial-era law targeting sedition.…

Madrid: More than 230 migrants yesterday crossed from Morocco into Spain’s Melilla enclave just before dawn, the Spanish government’s delegation in the tiny territory said. In a statement, it said “a huge influx” of more than 300 migrants had tried to cross the frontier, at 6:50am with 238 of them successfully scaling the fence. The incident occurred two months after 10 000 people surged into Spain’s other North African enclave of Ceuta, exacerbating a diplomatic crisis between Madrid and Rabat.…

Ashfak Mohamed ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za BOTH Jacques Nienaber and Warren Gatland have rolled the dice with some of their pack selections for tomorrow’s first Test between the Springboks and British & Irish Lions, so who will win the set-piece battle? The front eight from South Africa and the visitors were not what many pundits expected, and in the Bok equation, the all-encompassing Covid-19 cloud has a lot to do with it. Loosehead prop Ox Nche and hooker Bongi Mbonambi have been in isolation for a while, and were not able to train with the squad for about two weeks until they rejoined the team this past Monday. They missed the two South Africa ’A’ matches against the Lions and Bulls last week, but have now been thrust into the middle of the…

ASHFAK MOHAMED ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za IT was “absolutely devastating” when both the South African men’s and women’s hockey teams were not allowed to compete at the 2016 Rio Olympics, despite winning the African championships. Sascoc at the time stated that they had to qualify through the Hockey World League instead, and neither team was able to go far enough in that competition. But both teams are at the Tokyo Olympics this year, and SA women’s team captain Erin Christie says it is “incredible” they are in Japan this time around. Christie, a 29-year-old physical science teacher at Rand Park High in Johannesburg, fully understands the enormity of the situation. “We feel like we’ve been given a second chance. And in saying that, we know that it’s not actually just about this team…

Liam Karabo Joyce liam.joyce@inl.co.za DJ duo Bandile and Banele Mbere have scored their own reality show. Popularly known as Major League DJz, the twins will welcome viewers into their personal lives next month. On Inside Life: MajorLeague DJz, fans will see Bandile and Banele like they have never seen them before, as they give audiences an exclusive and intimate look inside their lives. Monde Twala, senior vice president and general manager of ViacomCBS Networks Africa commented: “MTV Base is the youth culture home to African music stars and we are excited to showcase Major League DJz’s journey of iconic sounds. The limited 8-part series, produced by MTV Base and Soul Candi Studios, will explore their interests and unforgettable travels. Inside Life: MajorLeague DJz premieres exclusively on MTV Base (DStv channel…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za THE NORTH Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, has ordered a provisional sequestration of a man who owes more than half a million in arrears maintenance to his former wife. The man and his wife are identified only as Mrs and Mr M because under the law, they cannot be named. Before they divorced in 2018, the court ordered Mr M to pay monthly maintenance of R42 500 to his wife. He fell into arrears in 2018 and the amount owed to Mrs M rose to R564 700, after which she issued a warrant of execution against him for non-payment. He still did not pay, saying he could not afford to, and the amount owing continued to rise. The sheriff of the court visited Mr M at his Midstream…

FORMER president Jacob Zuma is back in his Estcourt prison cell after temporarily travelling to Nkandla to bury his younger brother Michael Zuma. He returned home for the first time since he was jailed for 15 months for contempt of the Concourt on July 8. He started serving his sentence after surrendering himself, and on July 11, his brother Michael passed away. Zuma applied to the Department of Correctional Services for compassionate leave, and when his application was approved yesterday morning he headed home. Yesterday, the Zuma family, led by Edward Zuma and MK vets increased their surveillance and stop-and-search processes. By morning, only a few vehicles and mourners were allowed to pass through the checkpoint set up hundreds of metres from Michael’s home, where the funeral was taking place.…

Mpiletso Motumi mpiletso.motumi@inl.co.za LEBO LION is a change agent. She is not afraid to live life on her own terms. “I’ve been an entrepreneur since I was a child because I have always been the type of person who identifies a need in the community, and I come up with creative ways to serve that need. I grew up in an entrepreneurial family, so it was encouraged for me to think that way.” Whether it was selling ice at her grandmother’s house or selling cookies at a bake sale at school, she was always trying different entrepreneurial ventures. “What drove my curiosity was wanting to understand people and being intrigued about how people buy things and why they have always been interested in the things they like.” Becoming Lebo Lion…

Mpiletso Motumi mpiletso.motumi@inl.co.za BONGIWE Mpanza, better known by her stage name Bonj, is a singer-songwriter who is making a name for herself as an artist. Her soulful sounds are a blend of stance music, soul and electronic. “I am hoping I was able to articulate this on my project, A Journal. I feel like I did. I chose this sound and decided to go this route because these are the sounds I grew up listening to. These are the influences through my journey as a writer and as a performer,” said Mpanza. The opening track of the 7-track EP is titled Fly Away. The song is a fusion of electro, pop, and soul music elements. She said the song also lends itself as a love song. “It is quite…

Peter Bachtis | Benoni THE catastrophe that engulfed the country a few weeks ago, is becoming a distant memory. No arrests, only wishful thinking about rebuilding demoralised and hurt communities and businesses. There is growing uncertainty about the desire of President Ramaphosa to confront the “Devil”, who orchestrated the attack, culminating in the destructive orgy never seen before. The tepid responses by the president, the hilarious responses of his ministers of Policing, Security and Defence, makes me wonder whether this atrocity against the South African economy wasn’t an inside job. Billions lost by looting and destruction translates to many billions more to be spent in rebuilding. Insurance companies, who have been sitting on stockpiles of cash, will now be ploughing billions into the economy, including institutions. Loans will…

THE wheels of justice may turn very slowly, but eventually there is a reckoning, even if many of the perpetrators of apartheid-era crimes have passed on. What is groundbreaking in the court papers that were filed in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria this week by the relatives of the Cradock Four, is that 12 of the 16 respondents are senior apartheid generals, heads of the security branch and members of the Cabinet. While the application is seeking relief from the National Director of Public Prosecutions, the SAPS commissioner and ministers of justice and police (in that it compels the NDPP to make a prosecutorial decision), it lists some of the apartheid regime’s top brass as potential suspects. It has been more than 35 years since the Cradock Four…

Bavesh Kana TB IS one of the oldest infectious diseases in recorded history. But there’s only one vaccine approved against TB. And it is 100 years old. The first dose of the Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine was administered on July 18, 1921. The Conversation Africa’s Ina Skosana poses key questions to Bavesh Kana, one of South Africa’s leading TB researchers. It has been 100 years since the BCG vaccine was first used. Why haven’t there been any breakthroughs since then? BCG has been used all over the world to protect against the development of TB. However, because TB has primarily been a disease of the poor, there has been insufficient investment in the development of new vaccines over the past century. BCG remains the only widely available vaccine for TB.…

TEHRAN: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani yesterday inaugurated a major onshore pipeline that allows the country to bypasses the Hormuz Strait for crude oil exports. The pipeline, with some 1 000km in length, will transfer the pumped oil from facilities in Goureh on the south-western shores to the Oman Sea port of Jask on the south-eastern shores of the country. The opening of the Goureh-Jask pipeline “gave a strong and firm response to all plotters particularly to the US,” Rouhani said at the online opening ceremony alluding to the US sanctions, which aimed at hindering Iran’s oil exports. “The US government waged war on us in two areas, one on oil exports, and the other on the supply of goods,” Rouhani was quoted as saying.…

LONDON: Britain yesterday sanctioned five people, one of whom spent millions of misappropriated funds on mansions, private jets and a $275 000 (about R4 million) glove that Michael Jackson wore during the Bad tour. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced new sanctions against five individuals involved in serious corruption in Equatorial Guinea, Zimbabwe, Venezuela and Iraq. “One of those designated spent millions of misappropriated funds, including on a glove that Michael Jackson wore on his Bad tour, another exploited public food programmes in Venezuela,” Britain’s foreign ministry said,” he said. Raab said one of the five people was Teodoro Obiang Mangue, who was the son and vice president of Equatorial Guinea. He had participated in “corrupt contracting arrangements and soliciting bribes to fund a lavish lifestyle.…

HERMAN GIBBS A DEPLETED South African Under-23 team bravely battled the odds, but tasted defeat in their Tokyo Olympics Group A opener after they went down 1-0 to hosts Japan at Tokyo Stadium yesterday. After a goalless first half which was dominated by Japan, South Africa managed to retain a clean sheet thanks to goalkeeper Ronwen Williams’ inspiring saves. In the days leading up to the match, SA suffered a spate of withdrawals for medical reasons, which seriously disrupted the team’s training opportunities. Japan were off to an enterprising start and managed early sorties deep into SA’s half. SA were slow off the mark, and given Japan’s penetrative raids, a goal seemed imminent. It could well have materialised in the fourth minute, but Japan’s Takefusa Kubo failed with a…

IT would be a brave call to decree who will leave Cape Town victorious on Saturday night, such is the uncertainty surrounding the first Test between the Springboks and British and Irish Lions. There are still many unanswered questions surrounding both match-day squads. Will the Boks be undercooked? Have they had enough time, Covid-19 and all, to prepare and be match-ready? Will the returning players - captain Siya Kolisi, Handre Pollard and Makazole Mampimpi - make the desired impact; and is that front-row honestly the best trio to start with? For the Lions, an equal measure of uncertainty abounds. We’ve seen much more of them in the past weeks than the Boks, and yet many are still unsure that the match-day 23 selected for the opening Test is indeed the…

MIHLALI BALEKA @Mihlalibaleka SO much for creative new kit designs season in and season out. Orlando Pirates have failed to take inspiration from that and get back to the pinnacle of African football, having last won the continental crown in 1995. But that promises to change in the next few seasons. Pirates are determined to end Mamelodi Sundowns’ dominance locally, and are eager to emulate arch rivals Kaizer Chiefs by reaching the CAF Champions League final. Chiefs reached their first Champions League final last term where they lost to Al Ahly. It’s been eight years since Pirates played in the Champions League final. That was their second final appearance after winning the 1995 edition. “With the new jersey, especially the away jersey with the mint colour, it brings freshness,” defender…

NGK referred to Competition Tribunal on price-fixing allegations EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za The COMPETITION Commission has referred leading spark plug maker, NGK Spark Plug Company and its South African subsidiary, to the Competition Tribunal for price fixing, market division and collusive tendering. The commission said yesterday that it was seeking an order from the tribunal to levy an administrative penalty equivalent to 10 percent of the annual turnover of either NGK, or its local subsidiary NGK SA. NGK is a global player in the market for the manufacture and supply of spark plugs to vehicle manufacturers. The commission investigated the company as part of its probe into 63 automotive components manu- facturers, which are alleged to have colluded in 310 separate instances involving 92 automotive components. The commission’s investigation…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za NON-PROFIT organisation Equal Education (EE) has welcomed a high court order compelling the government to develop new plans to provide meals to all learners who qualify for the national schools feeding scheme. The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria this week ordered the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and provincial education departments to develop new plans to feed the over nine million learners that depend on the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP), even when schools are closed because of Covid-19 or learners are at home because of rotating timetables. The court order came after EE and two Limpopo school governing bodies returned to court on June 29 to tackle the DBE and the MECs of eight provincial education departments over failing to ensure that the NSNP reaches…

Mpiletso Motumi mpiletso.motumi@inl.co.za QUICKLOC8, a technology start-up company, is making artificial intelligence (AI) a reality for the taxi industry. The company is partnering with local taxi owners and associations by providing practical and innovative solutions to modernise the industry by allowing it to be a safer, more reliable and competitive transport option. The camera app was created solely for the taxi sector. It will also enable taxi operators to bring their business up to speed in the modern era of fourth industrial revolution while ensuring passengers adhere to Covid-19 regulations. With AI now firmly in the driving seat, the app, which is linked to an AI-embedded camera installed in a taxi, can change how the industry operates, ultimately modernising its operational efficiencies. When government regulations changed in the light of…

JOHN Whitlock | Germiston South Africa is not only one of the most violent countries in the world, as witnessed by our latest “deadly insurrection”, but also tops in the rape and gender violation department – let alone lawlessness. What many people don’t know is SA has one of the highest rates of fatherlessness in the world. Statistics South Africa General Household Survey found a shocking 61.8% of children under the age of 18 live without their father. Some fathers are physically present but emotionally absent. Fatherlessness is one of the main reasons for almost every societal ill facing the country’s children, as well as a prominent contributor to South Africa’s many problems. The following are just some of the issues linked to the absence of fathers. Single…

The release of former president Jacob Zuma to attend his late brother Michael Zuma’s funeral in Nkandla yesterday has raised concerns from the opposition about how the government needs to balance the rights of individuals and apply the law consistently. Department of Correctional Services policy does in fact allow for individuals to be released to attend the funerals of their loved ones or family members. However, some parties’ concerns about this were based on the fear that this would create a security risk in KwaZulu-Natal as the situation had not stabilised following the events of last week. In the normal course of events this would not have led to parties raising concerns about the release of any person from jail to attend a family member’s funeral, but the nature and…

YANGON: Angered by doctors’ support for anti-junta protests, Myanmar’s military has arrested several doctors treating Covid-19 patients independently, colleagues and media said, as the health system struggles to cope with a record wave of infections. Since the military overthrew the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in February, the ensuing turmoil and protests have thrown Myanmar’s Covid-19 response into chaos, as activists say scores of doctors have been arrested for their prominent role in a civil disobedience movement. Myanmar yesterday registered over 6 000 new Covid-19 infections after reporting 286 deaths a day earlier, both record highs. Medics and funeral services say the real death toll is far higher, with crematoriums unable to keep pace. To help people who either refuse to go to a state hospital, because…

DAMASCUS: The Syrian army shelled the Idlib region yesterday, killing seven civilians, three of them children, in its third deadly bombardment of the rebel bastion in a week, a monitor said. Several people were seriously wounded in the village of Iblin. The army has stepped up its bombing of the north-western enclave since Saturday when President Bashar al-Assad took the oath of office for a new term, vowing to “liberate those parts of the homeland that still need to be”. The same-day strikes killed 14 civilians, seven of them children. Controlled by an alliance dominated by Al-Qaeda’s former Syria affiliate, the region is home to nearly 3 million people, two-thirds of them displaced from other parts of the country.…

BAMAKO: Officials in Mali say that they have opened an investigation into the attempted assassination of its transitional president Assimi Goita during Eid-al-Adha prayers at the Grand Mosque in the capital Bamako on Tuesday. Prosecutor Bourama Kariba Konate said an inquiry had been opened “to shed light on this event”, reported the BBC. On Tuesday, Goita siad he was doing “very well” and downplayed the attack. The attacker was immediately overpowered by police, according to local media reports. According to news broadcaster Al Jazeera, authorities in Mali said on Wednesday that it was not clear whether the attacker was a member of the armed groups who have been operating in Mali and across the border in Burkina Faso and Niger. They were also uncertain whether the attacker was a military…