Índex per 2021-09-29 a Star

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za The INDUSTRIAL Development Corporation (IDC) facilitated R7.4 billion worth of investments into the local economy for the financial year to March, with R6.3bn from on-balance sheet funding and R1.1bn off-balance sheet funds managed on behalf of other government entities. The state-owned entity said despite a subdued economic environment characterised by an economic lockdown, the result of the Covid-19 pandemic, it had facilitated the creation, saving of 13 354 jobs. Chief executive TP Nchocho said the corporation had further approved a combined R950 million from its Covid Essential Supplies and Distress Funds to support businesses afeted by the Covid-19 pandemic. “The disruption in both the local and supply chains resulting from the economic lock down had a knock-on effect on our funding activities. This is…

Gerry Cupido geraldine.cupido@inl.co.za What you wear is a reflection of who you are, a visual expression of your personality, but the perfume you wear is an invisible yet everlasting expression of who you are. As Christian Dior once said: “Long after one has forgotten what a woman wore, the memory of her perfume lingers.” One can go as far as to say that people judge you by your scent. So often you would hear someone say that they simply don’t like a person or are not attracted to a person because of how they smell. According to Dr Alan R Hirsch, the founder of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, perfume choices are influenced by personality. He concluded this after administering personality tests to 18 631 people and…

ZELDA VENTER zelda.venter@inl.co.za A MOTHER of four has been going through hell of being married for more than 15 years to a man she has never met in her life. However, her ordeal came to an end when the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria declared the “marriage” she was entered into in February 2006 invalid. Elize O’Brien has been struggling for years to try to convince Home Affairs that she had never met Khaled Elshahhat Ally Elsharakawi and that she was definitely not married. The Reiger Park, Boksburg, woman told The Star’s sister paper, the Pretoria News, that although she was relieved to now be “divorced” from “her husband”, it was not the end of her problems. She was jobless and lived in poverty, as she could not apply…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za THE SOUTH African film and video industry has been devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, with the contribution of the industry to the economy shrinking by 59%. The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) recently released the findings of the third Economic Impact Assessment Study (EIA), which measures the economic contribution of the South African film and video industry to the country’s GDP between April 2016 and March 2021. The 2021 assessment also included the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the industry. “For us, doing this study meant making real and tangible, the total economic contribution of the film industry, illustrating how it plays a critical role in the socio-economic development of the country. “The last year has unfortunately set the industry back…

I AM heartbrokenabout the continued human rights violations in Zimbabwe that are inflicted on anyone who has or appears to have a different opinion to the ruling party Zanu-PF led by the clueless, careless and corrupt President Emmerson Mnangagwa. The pro-democracy campaigner and MDC Alliance youth leader Makomborero Haruzivishe has pleaded his innocence of been convicted for inciting public violence by whistling. He is considered a top criminal hence has been monitored in a saximum security prison where he is now being strangled (choked) at night by inmates suspected to be government agents. The Zimbabwe prison system has failed to adhere to its mission statement which includes to ensure the safety to prisoners, their constitutional provisions and rights. There are many prisoners who died in the prisons and no…

Staff Reporter AN ACCIDENT involving a tanker and two vehicles has claimed two lives. The accident occurred on the N1 North near William Nicol Drive yesterday. According to Joburg Metro Police Department spokesperson Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar, one of the cars, which appears to be a VW Golf, caught fire and was burnt out. ”The driver burnt to death and the passenger of the car died in hospital. The driver of the other car, a silver VW Polo, was taken to Sunninghill Hospital,” he said. The tanker was empty at the time. Meanwhile in Tshepisong, Roodepoort, 16 people were injured, three critically, when a taxi and a light motor vehicle collided yesterday. According to an ER 24 statement, the taxi was found capsized on its side a short…

A 1970 tape of John Lennon singing a hitherto unheard song called Radio Peace and expressing frustration at his Beatles image to a group of Danish schoolboys went under the hammer yesterday in Copenhagen. The tape was recorded on January 5, 1970 when the ex-Beatle spent winter in Jutland, western Denmark with his wife, Yoko Ono. Four boys writing for a school newspaper, braved a snowstorm to interview him. The tape and photos was to fetch up to 40 000 euros, Bruun Rasmussen Auction House said. | AFP…

LAST Friday, the Emirates Lions fired a tracer round at all the United Rugby Championship teams’ scrums, and this Friday, they will hope to quake the boots of their upcoming opponents with a similar showing against the Scarlets (8.35pm kick-off). If there is one area where the Joburg-based team can give themselves a hearty pat on their back, it is at the set-piece. Despite all the discipline woes, the defensive issues, the game-management fails, decision-making failings, and a less-than-ideal second half against Zebre last week, the Lions scrum has looked mighty throughout the season. Against the Italian outfit in their 38-26 opening-round victory, they dominated their hosts. On closer inspection it comes as no surprise. During the Rainbow Cup, they had a 90% success rate at scrum-time, conceding only…

Buhle Mbonambi buhle.mbonambi@inl.co.za Photographer and visual artist, Marc-Gregory, has been telling stories through his work for many years. He has built his career through his unique concept, where he morphs photography into works of art. And now, he has released a coffee table book that features images from his latest exhibition, In Good Company. In Good Company is a fine art photographic collection and coffee table book where Marc-Gregory has profiled 32 South African personalities he believes embody greatness. It is the culmination of a two-year journey in which he has sought to inspire South Africans to believe in themselves and each other by creating a unique storytelling journey. Personalities featured in In Good Company include Pearl Thusi, Boity Thulo, Gert-Johan Coetzee, Thuli Madonsela, Jeremy Loops, Dr Shakira Hoonara, Thapelo…

Reuters PRADA deconstructed dresses at the Milan Fashion Week on Friday, using elements including trains and corsets, in a spring collection that explored seduction through clothes. Co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, who joined the Milan-based, Hong Kong-listed luxury group last year, added silk trains on miniskirts, put corset lacing on the front of jackets, and mimicked brassiere cups on knitwear. The spring/summer 2022 collection, called “Seduction, stripped down”, also featured long back-baring dresses in pink, lime, and tangerine, that were cinched at the waist. Short dresses were also slit behind and had trains, while biker jackets were given a worn look, and paired with the brightly coloured miniskirts. “We thought of words like elegant – but this feels so old-fashioned. Really, it’s about a language of seduction that…

Sinenhlanhla Zungu sinenhlanhla.zungu@inl.co.za THOUSANDS of Nazareth Baptist Church Ebuhleni branch followers took to the streets of Durban yesterday when they held a peaceful march from King Dinuzulu Park to Durban City Hall to submit a memorandum. The memorandum was indirectly addressed to the office of President Cyril Ramaphosa, as they believed their Constitutional right of being part of any religion was violated. The memorandum stated they were deeply saddened by the Durban High Court’s 2016 ruling that they should address and worship the late Vela Shembe, who died in 2017, following the death of their King iNkosi uThingo lweNkosazane in 2011. The memorandum stated that the court’s ruling took away their right to join and be part of any religious community as outlined by section 31. “The church long decided,…

The plea by the Department of Home Affairs that applicants for IDs – which number 400 000 around the country – should collect them appears to be an innocuous issue but is serious. That so many thousands of documents are lying in offices around the country poses a security risk of incalculable proportions if these documents end up in the wrong hands. And given the open secret that Home Affairs – admitted by its top officials – grapples with corruption within its ranks, should alarm society. These documents can disappear and be sold to all sorts of miscreants such as crime syndicates. Of course, the department cannot be blamed for the irresponsible behaviour of some people who apply and then do not collect their documents. It is also understandable that…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za THE Stellenbosch Hospital has been accused of negligence and trying to cover up a sexual assault after a 15-year-old girl was allegedly raped in a psychiatric ward. According to the family spokesperson, Bianca Booysen, the incident happened on September 17, but the family was only informed nine days later. The Western Cape Health Department has refuted this claiming the incident happened last Thursday. Booysen said: “The teenager was admitted on September 11 at the hospital after she tried to commit suicide. This past Saturday a doctor called the mother saying there was a sexual incident that took place. A nurse caught another patient raping her daughter and the parents must visit the facility on Monday. Bear in mind the father visited the hospital on Friday but…

At least 16 people were injured, including four seriously, in an explosion that tore through an apartment building Gothenburg, Sweden, yesterday, officials said. Emergency responders said the blast did not look like an accident, in a country that has suffered dozens of bombings linked to violent criminal gangs in recent years. The cause of the blast, which triggered a fire in the building, was not immediately known. Police said they believed an explosive device could have been placed in one of the doorways. | AFP…

HERMAN GIBBS BUSINESSWOMAN and club owner Shauwn “MaMkhize” Mkhize has become an instant newsmaker in South African football circles following her take-over of Bloemfontein Celtic and renaming the club Royal AM. There are a trail of events that have gone before that shows that show the Durban business tycoon was prepared to do anything to own a Premiership club. In October 2020, Mkhize bought GladAfrica Championship franchise Real Kings FC and later changed the name to Royal AM. About a year later, in August 2021, Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila issued a statement. It read, in part: “We are delighted to announce that Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila Football Club has of 13 August 2021 acquired the status of Royal AM Football Club in the GladAfrica Championship League. Thus, Royal AM Football Club will…

BANYANA Banyana showcased their strength in depth with a 2-1 win over Malawi in their opening Cosafa Women’s Championship match at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium yesterday. Banyana were without the majority of their overseas-based players who were crowned the inaugural 2021 Aisha Buhari Cup champions last week after crushing hosts Nigeria 4-2 in Lagos. Glasgow City defender Janine van Wyk was the only overseas-based player to return with Banyana to help the national women’s team claim their fifth consecutive Cosafa Women’s Cup. Coach Desiree Ellis has, though, an abundance of local talent to call upon in Gqeberha, particularly from Mamelodi Sundowns, who are set to play in the Caf Champions League in November. It was Sundowns forward Melinda Kgadiete who wasted no time in asserting Banyana’s dominance with…

Gerry Cupido geraldine.cupido@inl.co.za WHEN I become pregnant with my first child, I didn’t want to know the sex of the baby. This made shopping a challenge, when my options were pretty much either pink for girls and blue for boys. There was a clear and distinct difference between what girls and boys were meant to wear. Even the white garments – with white supposedly intended to be a “gender-neutral” colour – I would find different types of white clothes. White yes, but distinctly boy or girl. When I spotted a baggy soft denim onesie in the boy’s section of a little kiddies boutique, I finally found THE perfect outfit for my, then gender-free, baby. After spending hours in and out of major department stores, I ended up with a baby…

Samkelo Mtshali samkelo.thulasizwe@inl.co.za THE second day of the Special Investigating Unit’s Special Tribunal yesterday heard witness testimony before the Pietermaritzburg High Court paint a picture of the blatant and rampant flouting of tender regulations in the multimillion-rand security upgrades at Nkandla. The SIU is attempting to recoup R155 million from Minenhle Makhanya, architect of former president Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead that cost taxpayers in the region of R246m. An SIU witness testifying before the court, who cannot be named as the trial is being held in camera, yesterday gave a blow-by-blow account of Makhanya’s appointment as chief architect by the Department of Public Works, including that Makhanya was not on the department’s service provider database when he was appointed. The trial is not open to the public following a…

ITUMELENG MAFISA THE PUBLIC Servants Association (PSA) has called on the Department of Basic Education to hire education assistants permanently instead of keeping them on short-term contracts. The PSA said it was unfair that the educators were on short contracts, which were a waste of time and money. PSA spokesperson Reuben Maleka said he was shocked that there would be another intake of education assistants at a time when schools were preparing for the final exams. He said the assistants were needed to ensure that teaching ran smoothly, especially during the pandemic. The education assistant programme was launched as a response by the government to youth unemployment, which rocketed during the pandemic. The department announced it would recruit 287 000 education assistants towards the last quarter of the school…

SCIENTIFIC experts representing South Africa and the UK have met amid Pretoria’s disquiet over London’s decision to keep the country on the red list of countries facing stringent Covid-19 restrictions and high costs when entering the UK. Earlier this month, the UK government announced that eight countries, including Bangladesh, Kenya and the Maldives, will move from the red list on September 22, and the rules for international travel to England would change on October 4. In a joint statement following the high-level meeting on Monday, South Africa’s national Department of Health and the British High Commission in Pretoria said they discussed the latest trends around Covid-19, respective Covid-19 testing strategies, and the prevalence and risk posed to both nations’ vaccination programmes by variants of concern. “UK and SA experts…

FACTORS such as ignorance, risky behaviour, a lack of strong family structure, poverty and gender inequality contribute to the high rate of teenage pregnancy. Given the limitation of access to contraceptives, and inconsistent and incorrect use of it, coupled with the restricted access to termination and the shaming that follows it, teenagers are prone to fall into this vicious cycle, as stated by Jonas, Crutzen, Van den Borne et al, on the BioMedCentral site. According to researchers Odimegwu and Mkhwanazi, the characteristics of the men who engage with adolescent girls may be a major underlying factor. In some cases, it also includes sexual abuse, gender dynamics and coerced sex. It is a problem frequently viewed as a female adolescent one, which promotes a false narrative and impedes our efforts to…

Manje… namhlanje… according to the EFF and Julius, they guarantee RDP houses in Sandton and beyond… No more pit latrines… running water… and electricity for all. Grand plans which should have been implemented by his handlers, the ANC, during their less than stellar performance over the past 27 years. We have heard these empty promises before, yet no party has been able to actively execute their political promises. Will a political party please emerge that has the strength of character and drive to turn political promises into reality. No more hot air… no more BS! |…

Thabo Makwakwa thabo.makwakwa@inl.co.za THE DA is unhappy with the eThekwini Municipality’s decision to provide sponsorship to multi-millionaire Shauwn Mkhize’s soccer team Royal AM FC. The party, during the virtual sitting of the municipality’s Executive Committee yesterday, said it was not fair to spend taxpayers’ money on a wealthy Mkhize who had recently bought a R16 million Rolls Royce. The DA suggested Mkhize sell one of her luxurious cars to fund her own team. The city had requested Exco approve sponsorship for and partnership with Royal AM FC to the value of R15.7m over the next three years --- about R5.25m each year. DA caucus leader Nicole Graham rejected the proposal. “The Royal AM owners are incredibly wealthy and they made their wealth through the city’s tenders. To tell the people…

| Reuters | AFP As a severe power crunch roils China’s north-eastern industrial heartland, senior officials face mounting pressure from alarmed citizens to ramp up coal imports to keep lights on, factories open and even water supplies flowing. With electricity shortages sparked by scant coal supply crippling large sections of industry, the governor of Jilin province, one of the hardest hit in the world’s number 2 economy, called for a surge in coal imports, while a power company association said supply was being expanded “at any cost”. News organisations and social media carried reports and posts saying the lack of power in the north-east had shut down traffic lights, residential elevators and 3G mobile phone coverage as well as triggering factory shutdowns. A utility in Jilin even…