Índex per 2021-10-12 a Star

GIVEN MAJOLA given.majola@inl.co.za SEPTEMBER tractor sales of 724 units were almost 30 percent more than the 561 units sold in same period last year, according to the South African Agricultural Machinery Association. The organisation’s chairperson, Karel Munnik, said that year-to-date tractor sales were now also almost 30 percent up on last year. “Twenty-one combine harvesters were sold in September, 10 units more than the 11 units sold in September last year. On a year-to-date basis combine harvester sales are now almost 30 percent up on last year.” Munnik said that market sentiment continued to be positive and commodity prices were holding up. “The early rains have led to some farmers, particularly in the east, beginning to plant summer crops. Winter crop prospects are encouraging and this…

Viwe Ndongeni-Ntlebi viwe.ndongeni@inl.co.za AGEING is inevitable. But why not do everything you can to put it off as long as possible? Researchers say adopting healthy lifestyle changes now can help you age well and even add a few extra years to your life. It all begins with healthy living: eating well, exercising regularly, making sure you get enough sleep and, as mental health is just as important, engaging in activities that nurture both the mind and the soul. With summer on the horizon, there’s never been a better time to embark on a wellness and longevity journey. A good place to start is with mindful eating, meaning being aware of where your food comes from and what it contains, and tailoring your diet and nutrition to your needs. However, there…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za A NETCARE employee accused of dumping her dog on the side of the road will be taking legal action against the individual who “wrongfully maligned” her on social media. Last week, a Facebook post which has since gone viral was shared of a woman clad in a Netcare uniform, accusing her of dumping her dog on the side of a road in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni. The writer of the post said she confronted the Netcare staff member, who told her to mind her own business, loaded the dog and then sped off. The Netcare Group said the employee had come forward “to set the record straight”. Group human resources and transformation director Dr Nceba Ndzwayiba said Netcare had done an investigation into the matter. According to Ndzwayiba, the…

October 15 is Global Handwashing Day, a global advocacy day dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of handwashing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases. Being able to wash your hands is taken for granted in the developed world. It is a key element in the strategy to stem the spread of Covid-19. But what if you live somewhere with no running water? It is without a doubt, that handwashing with soap is a do-it-yourself vaccine that, when practiced properly and regularly, prevents infections and saves lives. But what does that mean for South Africans who do not have access to a regular supply of clean water or access to hygienic sanitation? Official statistics show massive improvements after 1994 democratic dawn, to accelerate…

Charlize Theron finds admiration from her kids more rewarding than Hollywood acclaim. The 46-year-old actress revealed that she is more concerned about impressing her daughters Jackson, 9, and August, 6, than receiving awards. Discussing her role as the voice of Morticia Addams in the animated movie The Addams Family 2, Theron told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “I can tell they are quietly pretty chuffed their mom is Morticia. “As a mom who, like all mothers wants their kids to think she’s cool, it’s a feeling no Oscar can replace.” The Oscar-winning star explained that she noticed many parallels between the Addams Family and her own brood. Theron said: “I love the relationship between them, their values. We need to find kindness and understanding for others who might not look or…

Shareholder activists in South Africa have disapproved of lengthy tenures for directors on boards of listed public companies. They have exerted pressure on long-serving directors to resign. Boards with many long-serving directors are regarded as entrenched, hence the rising calls from activists that they should be refreshed. Director tenure attracts attention worldwide. The concern is that directors lose their independence by becoming too close to management if they serve for too long on company boards. This pertains, in particular, to external directors, also known as independent non-executive directors. Non-executive directors are not involved in the day-to-day management of the company’s business and are not full-time salaried employees. They are independent if there is no interest or relationship that is likely to unduly influence or cause bias in their decisions. Independent…

The trial of 14 people accused of plotting to assassinate Burkina Faso’s former president Thomas Sankara started on Monday, more than 30 years after he was gunned down in one of the most infamous killings in modern African history. Sankara, a charismatic Marxist revolutionary known as “Africa’s Che Guevara”, was killed in 1987 during a coup led by his former ally, Blaise Compaore. The main defendant Compaore was charged in absentia. He is in exile in Ivory Coast and has denied involvement. | Reuters…

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has demanded France’s “total respect”, following a row over visas and critical comments from Paris about the North African country. Algeria recently recalled its ambassador from Paris and banned French military planes from its airspace, which France regularly uses to reach its forces battling jihadists in the Sahel region to the south. The moves came after a bitter row over visas, followed by media reports that French President Emmanuel Macron had told descendants of Algeria’s 1954-1962 war of independence that Algeria was ruled by a “political-military system” that had “totally re-written” its history. The office of Algeria’s president responded by saying the comments, which have not been denied, were an “interference” in the country’s internal affairs. On Sunday, Tebboune spoke publicly for the first time about…

Morgan Bolton morgan.bolton@inl.co.za Fred Zeilinga has joined the Emirates Lions squad for the last of their United Rugby Championship tour matches in Europe on Friday (8.35pm kick-off). The 28-year-old flyhalf will act as cover, and could even start this weekend against Ulster if the need at pivot so requires, after the long-term injury to Jordan Hendrikse against Scarlets two Saturday’s ago and the more recent injury to Eddie Fouche last week created a crisis at 10 for the Joburg-based team. Moreover, it is a stroke of luck for coach Ivan van Rooyen and Co. Until last week, no South African was permitted into the UK without a required and expensive 10-day quarantine period due to this country being red-listed because of Covid-19. Yesterday, SA was officially removed from that list,…

Zaahier Adams zaahier.adams@inl.co.za VETERAN coach Boebie Solomons believes Bafana Bafana tactician Hugo Broos is changing the mentality of South African football in a positive manner. Solomons, who was a top-flight coach for almost 30 years with Santos, Wits and Maritzburg United, among others, believes Broos has arrived in South Africa with the right mindset. Broos has led Bafana to the top of their 2022 World Cup qualifying group with seven points after three matches heading into their home tie against Ethiopia at FNB Stadium today (6pm kick-off). “The mentality change has been important. Sometimes there is a lot of negativity around things, and it takes someone else from outside to come in and say the same things,” Solomons said. “I think the way he has used a lot of the…

England’s cricketers will be able to go to the beach and play golf under protocols agreed for the upcoming Ashes tour, which Cricket Australia (CA) chief Nick Hockley said yesterday was never seriously in doubt. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) gave “conditional approval” to the trip late last week after months of negotiations over concerns around tough Covid-19 rules for players and their families. Hockley said both teams should be able to live normal lives in public, within reason, during the five-Test series that is due to start in Brisbane on December 8. “Our protocols are very measured to ensure people have a really great experience and a good quality of life,” Hockley told the Sydney Daily Telegraph. “In a large part, it comes down to just people…

GIVEN MAJOLA given.majola@inl.co.za FNB CONTINUES to invest significantly in creating new platform-based capabilities and solutions to ensure that it stays ahead of changing market dynamics and evolving customer needs. To meet the shift from cash to digi- tal and card payments, coupled with the phenomenal growth of eCommerce, FNB said it had expanded its payments ecosystem with two industry leading SME solutions: the FNB WebStore and the FNB Android Speedpoint®device. The solutions aim to offer a simple and cost-effective way for businesses to accept payments from customers. FNB chief executive Jacques Celliers said that over the last decade, the payments industry had seen a dynamic shift from the internet and smartphones, driving the adoption of mobile payments, the end of cheques as a form of payment, to the current…

Kelly-Jane Turner South Africa is off the UK’s Covid-19 “red list” and will recognise South Africa’s certificates for access into the country. Health Minister Joe Phaahla welcomed the move at the launch of the Covid-19 vaccination digital vaccination certificate on Friday. He said the department was delighted with the UK’s announcement to take South Africa off the “red list”. Fully vaccinated South Africans will no longer have to quarantine for 10 days on arrival in England. Phaahla said with the launch of the vaccination certificate, South Africans could expect more sport and recreational activities, entertainment and music festivals to open up for those who are fully vaccinated. The Health Department’s Milani Wolmarans, who is heading up the vaccination certificate system, said the system created a digital copy of proof of…

Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za THE government has reiterated the proper process to be followed in the appointment and remuneration of special advisers by Cabinet ministers and premiers. The Department of Public Service and Administration indicated that ministers and premiers are entitled to two full-time special advisers but national and provincial cabinets have the power to intervene and approve two additional full-time special advisers for ministers and premiers. President Cyril Ramaphosa and his deputy David Mabuza may appoint as many special advisers as they see fit. However, national and provincial cabinets may reduce the number of special advisers that can be employed by ministers and premiers. In a circular issue, titled appointment and remuneration of special advisers to executive authorities (ministers and premiers) in terms of the Public Service Act, Public Service…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za A FATHER and Covid-19 survivor has turned into an author after he wrote, published and launched his first book, within six months, about his story of beating Covid-19. Ekurhuleni-based father Nolan Pillay launched his first book, My Covid Journey, last month. The 170-page book chronicles his battle with the disease that has claimed the lives of more than 88 000 South Africans, and the techniques and mind hacks that helped him get through a 13-day stint in ICU earlier this year. Pillay told The Star yesterday that his Covid-19 journey began in January, when he had a metallic taste in his mouth. However, he didn’t think anything about it until he developed flu-like symptoms and stayed at home for about eight days. On the eighth…

Dr Thabisi Hoeane | Pretoria DA LEADER John Steenhuisen is correct to hold on to his views and express condemnation of the government for going awol, and praising as heroes the citizens who stood up and defended their communities during the recent unrest. But he is also horribly wrong for ignoring the blatant fact that some racist elements masqueraded as defenders of their communities and harassed and killed innocent people. Thus he cannot generalise and call all those who defended their communities heroes. He is further fomenting racial strife. What makes his stance doubly reprehensible is that first, he invoked the name of Nelson Mandela to justify his unacceptable views. Second, his unrelenting views were publicised even after the party had issued an apology regarding the posters it…

Peter Bachtis | Benoni ACCORDING to available statistics, 0005% of the world’s population died due to Covid-19 and a variety of underlying ailments. The fact is that before March 2019, the planet was dangerously overheating economically, coupled to the negative effects of pollution and the near destruction of the ozone layer. The Earth needed cooling down substantially, a kind of enema to cleanse it, bringing about a stillness as never seen before – no air travel, no human movement, little or no business activity… The results have been positive, defibrillating and resetting the hearts and minds of humanity. Our generation will never be the same again. Companies have closed, jobs have been lost and loved ones have died, taking away the insatiable desire for material things, and a…

THE Covid-19 pandemic is a global health emergency that has taken central position in service provision – pushing HIV to the periphery. This is an issue of concern in South Africa, a country that had made substantial progress in the prevention, treatment and care of HIV. As greater efforts were directed towards finding strategies of maintaining and mitigating Covid-19 and its impacts, HIV services were generally overlooked. A recent study by Dr Jienchi Dorward and colleagues from the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa found that the provision of antiretroviral therapy remained constant, while HIV testing and antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiations were adversely affected. Interruptions in HIV counselling and testing have had adverse impacts on the health of the infected persons as this delays their initiation…

Canadian David Card, Israeli-American Joshua Angrist and Dutch-American Guido Imbens yesterday won the Nobel Economics Prize for insights into the labour market and “natural experiments”. The researchers provided “new insights about the labour market”, showing “what conclusions about cause and effect can be drawn from natural experiments”, in which “chance events or policy changes result in groups of people being treated differently, in a way that resembles clinical trials”, the Nobel committee said. | AFP…

THE WOMHUB’S Economic Growth Accelerator (EGA), a programme de- signed to support women-founded businesses in what WomHub defines as the fields of “Stem” – science, technology, engineering, and manufacturing – by accelerating growth through leadership development and intensive entrepreneurial support, has received a boost from the South African Future Trust. The EGA consists of two tracks, of which the Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME) Track is an accelerator that supports women founders of SMMEs of steady growth companies in established Stem markets. It aims to support the growth of these companies, unlock their potential and enable them to grow and create job opportunities. The second track, called the Venture Track, supports women who have founded potential high growth businesses. It has been designed for early-stage founders who already have…

Viwe Ndongeni-Ntlebi viwe.ndongeni@inl.co.za During the Covid-19 pandemic, food prices have increased significantly, but you can’t go wrong with fruits and vegetables for your health and your budget. Shopping lists have changed over the years, and in the last year, with people buying ready-made meals and easy, quick food to prepare. The fruit and vegetable aisles are often overlooked because raw ingredients may require some effort to turn into a meal. But the benefits of fruit and veggies can not be denied. They are key to a healthy lifestyle and a critical part of health and development. This year’s National Nutrition Week kicked off on October 9, with the theme “Eat more vegetables and fruits every day”. The purpose behind celebrating this week is to spread awareness about good nutrition and…

Kailene Pillay kailene.pillay@inl.co.za IFP president emeritus Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi tied his party’s election campaign to the concept of social cohesion, as he campaigned in Phoenix, north of Durban yesterday. Phoenix has been a key area to campaign as political parties descended on the suburb with messages of unity. The area was affected by violence during the July unrest and 42 people are standing trial for the murder of victims in the area. The DA came under fire after it put up posters in Phoenix which read “The ANC called you racists” and “The DA calls you heroes” were slammed, with claims that they referred to the murder of 36 black South Africans in Phoenix. After an uproar, the posters were taken down by the party last week. Now, the IFP…

BONGANI NKOSI bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za PREGNANT school learners remained likely to drop out of school and some were forced by principals to leave school. Prince Mokoena and Adrian D van Breda, University of Johannesburg (UJ) academics, interviewed 12 schoolgirls in rural Mpumalanga for their journal-published study and detailed that pregnancy was the main cause of dropping out. Illness and immigration were two other drop-out causes that Mokoena and Van Breda found. The 12 learners interviewed by the academics from UJ’s social work department were aged between 17 and 22. They returned to school after dropping out for up to two years. They were in Grades 7 to 12 when interviewed for the study, published in the latest edition of the South African Journal of Education. Teenage pregnancy is a thorny…

MOHAMED SAEED | Pietermaritzburg I WAS watching an advocate being interviewed for the position of chief justice. I could not believe how the aspiring advocate could not give a clear reply to the question on the Plascon-Evans rule. According to an attorney friend of mine, the Plascon Evans Rule is law 101 and compulsory for acting and permanent judges. Sadly, the advocate could not really answer the question. What was even more amazing and concerning was that an advocate who displayed a lack of judicial knowledge and was indecisive about their answers was nominated for selection with the Judicial Service Commission. Regrettably, due to the dumbing down of our educational system, standards and quality are compromised. The learning and teaching system is in drastic need of reform. The…

Kennedy Mudzuli kennedy.mudzuli@inl.co.za YEARS from now, when the South African dance music book is written, it will not be complete without the name of Donald Thabo Seleka, commonly known as KingDonna. The 26-year-old pioneer in the house music industry is a passionate DJ and relentless producer. He was born in Boksburg, but grew up in Tafelkop village in Limpopo. “Since I’m Donald, most of my friends I grew up with used to call me Donna – even now they still do. So I decided to add King on it to sound more catchy,“ he laughs. He describes his music as African electronic, with a dash of tech. “Simply put, I turn my life into melodies. That is what sets me apart from my peers,” he said. “All melodies I…

Sonri Naidoo sonri.naidoo@inl.co.za A resident has expressed concern about the lack of proper Covid-19 protocols at the Talisman rehabilitation centre in Johannesburg. The inmate who wished to remain anonymous said since the outbreak of the pandemic, residents were not allowed to go out of the gate of the centre’s premises, while visitors were also barred from the property. Amid these strict lockdown rules, some residents have lost their loved ones, with only a few allowed to pay their last respects – and only if the deaths were not Covid-related. Others were denied the opportunity even in the event of death by natural causes, forcing residents to discharge themselves from the institution to attend funerals. The centre’s board chairperson, Cecil Kagan, has been accused of showing bias by allowing only some…

The UK said Monday that over 60 million euros promised to France to stop cross-Channel migrant boats was coming, after Paris complained that none had been paid yet amid a surge in the perilous crossings. British Home Secretary Priti Patel has threatened to withhold the package in light of record numbers of migrants arriving from France. But Damian Hinds, a minister in Patel’s department, said the money would be paid soon. A total of 15 400 people tried to cross the Channel in the first eight months of this year. | AFP…

For its supporters, nuclear energy is the world’s best and perhaps only hope to avoid catastrophic climate change. Opponents say it is too expensive, too risky and totally unnecessary. Standing between the two camps are those who see atomic power as a necessary evil that will buy the time needed to develop cleaner and safer alternatives. “We don’t have the luxury of choosing one or the other,” said Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which advises developed countries. It’s a hotly contested debate that continues to divide specialists and policymakers alike. Unlike wind, solar and hydropower, nuclear plants do not depend on often unreliable climatic factors. A combination of drought and low winds, for example, has been blamed for the recent surge in natural gas prices…

GOOD ON the Safa Referees Review Committee for suspending Jelly Chavani for six weeks following his inexplicable decision to award Kaizer Chiefs an injury-time penalty against AmaZulu. You can bet though that just about everyone associated with Usuthu would rather the referee was banned for good. And can you really blame them? Decisions as bad as those do not belong in the game, least of all in the highest echelon of our football. Should AmaZulu miss out on the championship, the Top 8, or worse find themselves in a relegation scrap, they will be justified for crying foul regarding the two points that they were robbed of at Kings Park last weekend. Benni McCarthy could well lose his job should Usuthu not deliver, while the likes of Thapello Xoki might…