Índex per 2022-08-31 a Star

SUPER Group, the logistics and mobility solutions group, is well positioned to deliver a strong performance in its 2023 financial year, chief executive Peter Mountford said yesterday. The release of strong results for the year to June 30 2022, in spite of challenging markets in Southern Africa, Europe, UK and Australasia, seemed to be reflected in the share price, which closed 4.88 percent higher at R29.33 on the JSE yesterday. Mountford said they would continue to be affected by weak economic growth and challenging trading conditions, regardless of the countries or industries in which they operate. Strict expense and cash management would be critical to mitigate lower volumes, reduced rates and smaller margins, and the group would maintain a conservative and robust financial position,” chief financial officer Colin Brown…

The Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival is back for its fourth edition from September 30 to October 1 in Eswatini. The organisers said the festival was a family-friendly feast of culinary exploits, high-end fashion and Afro-centric music, celebrating the wealth, sophistication and elegance of African heritage. It also announced that celebrity media personality and food enthusiast, Somizi Mhlongo will provide an Afro-Fusion cooking demonstration, as well as host the Pick n Pay Luju Cook-Off Competition finale for up-and-coming cooks and chefs in Eswatini. “While he has always maintained that he is not a chef, Somizi has built a great reputation as a food enthusiast and kitchen influencer over the years. His recently released cookbook, Dinner at Somizi’s — I Am Not A Chef, is filled with…

It was an astounding night for local gospel stars who bagged awards at the 9th Annual Ingomas (Independent National Gospel Music Awards), where gospel luminaries, personalities and music lovers gathered to celebrate talent. Renowned media personality Tshepo Maseko hosted the event alongside gospel star Mmatema Moremi, who kept the audience entertained. Electrifying performances and big cheers erupting from the crowd added to the celebratory atmosphere as winners were announced. Pela Hao hitmaker David TheKing, who bagged two of the biggest awards on the evening – Best Male Artist and Artist of the Year – said it was God’s timing. “Let me take this time to thank God first for He’s forever faithful. The time is of no man but God, and I believe this is a perfect and appointed time…

TOMORROW is the first day of spring. It is a season of excitement as it is associated with rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal and resurrection. Over the years, Spring Day has been associated with the habit of playing with and wasting water as a way to welcome the season. This wastes a lot of precious water. We must do all we can to discredit and stop the unnecessary wastage. We must always remember that South Africa is a water-scarce country where every drop counts. We need to use water wisely as water has no substitute. We need to stop playing with water. We need to encourage children to treasure each drop of the precious resource. It is crucial for us to act and behave in a responsible manner and ensure that…

Arguably the most enlightened selections in a revamped Springbok team for Saturday’s second Test against the Wallabies are the new faces at No 10 and 14, where Damian Willemse and Canan Moodie get the opportunity to inject spark into a backline that has been a touch jaded of late. Along with Lukhanyo Am, Willemse has been the most impressive of the Bok backs this season, and even if injuries had not removed Handre Pollard and Elton Jantjies from the equation, Willemse should have been given the reins to run the game this weekend. And what an opportunity for Moodie to become the next big thing in South African rugby! The Bok coaching staff watched him closely in the United Rugby Championship (URC) and saw enough from his performances for…

Joan Mir, 2020 MotoGP champion, has signed with Honda for 2023 and 2024 and will team up with fellow Spaniard Marc Marquez, the Japanese team announced yesterday. The 24-year-old did not have a ride for next season as his current team Suzuki is quitting MotoGP. Mir will replace another Spaniard, Pol Espargaro, who will join KTM-Tech3/GasGas. Mir won the Moto3 title in 2017 on a Honda, but moved up to MotoGP with Suzuki in 2019 and won the title in the Covid-curtailed 2020 season. He also collected his solitary race victory that season in Valencia. Mir fractured his right foot in a crash in the last race in Austria, and will miss the next round this weekend at Misano in Italy. Mir will partner Marquez, who has six world titles,…

The Wallabies would have enjoyed most of the Monday review of their Rugby Championship win over the Springboks, but replays of their lineout may have left some of the forwards shifting uncomfortably in their chairs. The Wallabies won barely half of their lineouts in the 25-17 win over the world champions at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday, with most of the trouble occurring in the first half as hooker Folau Fainga’a’s throws repeatedly missed their targets. Fainga’a has often struggled at lineout time, but his inaccuracy has been costly this season, robbing the Wallabies of momentum when deep in attack. While the Boks were unable to make Australia pay in Adelaide, loose forward Jed Holloway said fixing the lineout was a top priority ahead of the rematch against the Springboks…

When Canan Moodie takes to the field against the Wallabies on Saturday, the Bulls star will become one of the youngest Springboks since readmission in 1992. Debutant Moodie will be 19 years and 304 days old when he starts for the Boks at the Allianz Stadium in Sydney (11.35am kick-off). He will creep ahead, according to SA Rugby, of third-placed hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle, who was just a few days shy of his 20th birthday when he made his debut against New Zealand in 2006. Moodie will be behind the youngest Bok in the post-apartheid era, Frans Steyn, who was 19 years and 181 days when he made his debut in the Green and Gold against Ireland, also in 2006. For the record – and in spite of what Google might…

STADIO Holdings, the private tertiary education company, reported a solid 24 percent increase in taxed profit in the six months to June off the back of an 11 percent increase in student numbers and 18 percent growth in new student enrolments. The group services the higher education market in SA through three private institutions – Stadio Higher Education, Milpark and AFDA. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes through contact, distance and blended learning. Chief executive Chris Vorster said in a telephone interview that the results were good and resulted from a strong demand in professional qualifications. “We have a high level of capital and are entering a growth phase,” he said. All outstanding debt was repaid in the six months and there was a revolving credit facility…

Arguably Africa’s biggest and most prestigious dance event, JOMBA! is back at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, UKZN, KwaZulu-Natal, following a two-year hiatus. The festival will see artists and performers from Mozambique, Switzerland, Reunion Island, India andSouth Africa showcase their works at JOMBA!’s first full live event since the Covid pandemic. “We are thrilled and relieved to be finally presenting our much-loved festival, live and in-person while keeping some works and events online to include those not able to attend,” said artistic director and curator Dr Lliane Loots. “One of the things we’ve really lost with Covid is interacting with one another; meeting in the foyer, seeing people you haven’t seen for a while, talking to other dancers, watching people exchange, artists connecting with one another, just an affirmation of community.…

BEING an e-hailing driver in South Africa is a dangerous and an unsafe occupation with many drivers complaining about incidents of intimidation and harassment at the hands of difficult customers, irate and sometimes armed taxi drivers. From being attacked by taxi drivers to theft of cellphones, hijackings and customers refusing to pay for their trips, many of the drivers who spoke to The Star said they operated under very difficult and challenging conditions. One of them is Soweto-based Uber driver, Trevor Mangena, who has been a driver for over two years. Mangena says in 2021 he was threatened by three alleged taxi drivers who after spotting him with a customer threatened him with violence and confiscated his car. He says they demanded he pay R2 500 for the release…

Taking place on September 3 and 4 at the Elkah Cricket Oval in Rockville, the festival is aiming to add even more to the consumer experience. The Kota Festival provides a platform for up-and-coming local chefs and outlets to showcase their wonderful offerings, while still ensuring a fun day for families and friends in and around Soweto! Sidwell Tshingilane, organiser of the Kota Festival, says visitors can expect to see over 40 different Kota outlets from all over Gauteng taking part over the weekend. “Together with our Kota outlets, we will be ready to serve you fresh Kotas that feature the usual tried and trusted fillings through to those with unexpected ingredients that will wow your tastebuds. There will also be a kids’ entertainment area, live performances throughout…

Renowned comedian and media host Donovan Goliath led a round-table discussion about the field of agripreneurship, which shed light on how young people can approach the business of agriculture. With many young people who often perceive agriculture as a complex field, this event had a panel of young business individuals who further unpacked it and reviewed the economic opportunities they can unlock. The discourse was held under the theme, “Realising Empowered and Enabled African Livelihoods through Unlocking Sustainable Agripreneurship Opportunities in Africa”. This was to also celebrate International Youth Month where Nestlé Needs YOUth announced the winners of its inaugural agripreneurship competition. The Nestlé Needs YOUth Agri Competition ran from June to July and called for youth agripreneurs to submit entries about their farming business. More than 600 entries were…

The draw for the MTN8 semi-finals was conducted on Monday evening, and there promises to be more interest in the event this year, given that it features three Gauteng giants in Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns. The semi-finals will also be played over two legs this year, with the first legs commencing on Saturday, October 1. Pirates and Sundowns will face each other, while Chiefs are due to face AmaZulu. As we have seen in the past, anything can happen in tournament football, and all four teams will be looking to go all the way in the Wafa Wafa competition. Pirates, Sundowns and Chiefs have all won the event in recent times, but Usuthu, led by coach Brandon Truter, are looking to end a trophy drought which now…

Serena Williams said she is “staying vague” over her expected retirement from tennis after reaching the US Open second round on Monday. “I have been pretty vague about it, right? I’m going to stay vague because you never know,” said the 40-year-old after beating Danka Kovinic 6-3, 6-3. Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam title winner, said earlier this month that she was “evolving away” from tennis, and that “the countdown” was on for her retirement after 27 years as a professional. Before Monday, the former world number one had won just one match on tour all year, and seen her ranking slip to 605th in the world. That kind of form prompted her to reveal that she was on the brink of retirement and hinting that this US Open…

Manchester United have reached an agreement to sign Brazil forward Antony from Ajax, the English Premier League club announced yesterday. Ajax said they have agreed a transfer fee of €95million. Including add-ons, the fee could rise to €100m. Dutch national news agency ANP said that if the deal goes through, it will be a record for an Eredivisie player, surpassing the €86m maximum value of Frenkie de Jong’s move from Ajax to Barcelona three years ago. Antony has scored 31 goals in 134 club appearances for Ajax and Sao Paulo, and two goals in nine senior appearances for Brazil. By moving to Old Trafford, the 22-year-old will be reunited with former Ajax manager Erik ten Hag, who has already brought defender Lisandro Martinez to United from the Dutch giants. “Since…

OLD MUTUAL increased results from operations by 87 percent to R4.1 billion in the six months to June 30 due to a strong operating performance, the exit from the Covid pandemic and even though it was the first time that Nedbank’s results were not included. The interim dividend was maintained at 25 cents. Life annual premium equivalent (APE) sales grew 15 percent to R6.2bn. Gross written premiums increased 9 percent to R10.9bn. The solvency ratio was robust, up by 300 basis points to 187 percent. The share price closed 8.17 percent lower at R10.57 on the JSE yesterday. BoFA Securities said in a note Old Mutual’s results “from operations (were) comfortably ahead of prior expectations. Positively, this seems a fairly clean update.” The…

Number of incidents has soared to 300 000 across SA, shows crime survey Statistics SA has raised the alarm over a “significant” increase in hijackings across South Africa in the past 12 months. Releasing the results of the Victims of Crime Report from the Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey (GPSJS) 2021/22 at a media briefing in Pretoria, Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke said there has been a marked increase in hijackings. “There has been a significant increase in hijackings between the 2020/21 and 2021/22 period … In the 2020/21 period there were 151 000, and now we have gone all the way to 330 000,” he said. According to the StatsSA survey, about 62.9% of those who experienced hijackings reported some or all of the incidents to the police.…

ActionSA Party president Herman Mashaba has memorialised the party’s former Western Cape chairperson, Vytjie Mentor – who died a week ago after a long illness – as one of South Africa’s bravest women. Giving the keynote address at a memorial service for Mentor at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cape Town, Mashaba led political colleagues and friends in eulogising the state capture whistle-blower and former ANC MP. Mashaba said Mentor had meant a lot to both ActionSA and himself. Mashaba said Mentor told him that her political conscience came from her mother who was involved in women’s development programmes. He said Mentor was elected to Parliament in 2002 and became the ANC’s parliamentary caucus chairperson. Mashaba said she was one of the ANC MPs placed on a special ad hoc…

THE scarcity of employment pushed Siphiwe Moyo to initiate Elinye Ithuba seminar programme to help equip people with the skill they need for employment. The creative force behind this programme is the international keynote speaker, facilitator and author Moyo, whose focus is on making a change for the South African youth. He told The Star what motivated him to bring the programme to life. “The programme just came about me observing youth unemployment programme in our country, particularly in the last year it just kept on rising. “So start thinking about what are some of the solutions you can put on the table. “And also just beyond your unemployment the category of people over the age of 35 who have also just given up hope because most of the programmes…

A march against unsafe and illegal abortions and pregnancy terminations was led by Gauteng Health MEC Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi and Deputy Health Minister Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo in Germiston. South Africa has legalised abortion, yet due to pop-up or outdoor marketing, some people still choose to have unplanned pregnancies. Due to how simple it is to acquire these services, most people choose unregistered, illegal providers. Women claim they are rejected or given the impression that they are being judged. They must be aware of how dangerous abortions result in fatalities or long-lasting problems. Additionally, they (health-care providers) must enhance the user experience and information access for everyone who is willing to go through this process.…

Despite what coach Jacques Nienaber might argue, the crisis at No 10 has finally reared its ugly head, revealing the Springboks’ soft underbelly in that position. The Bok mentor’s hand has been forced for Saturday’s second Rugby Championship clash against the Wallabies in Sydney (11.35am kick-off, SA time) after it was revealed at the team announcement that both Handre Pollard (knee) and Elton Jantjies (hand) are injured. Strangely, this might be a boon for the under-pressure Boks as neither Pollard nor Jantjies have been in particularly good form this season. Pollard had a nightmare in the 25-17 loss to the Australians this past week, while Jantjies has lacked match-fitness and game-time throughout the year. Up steps Damian Willemse to pull on the No 10 jumper this weekend, and he will…

Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe said he is hoping club-record signing Alexander Isak will be available for tonight’s Premier League trip to Liverpool due to delays over his international clearance. Swedish striker Isak, who joined from Real Sociedad for a reported £59-million, missed out on making his debut in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers as his work permit did not come through in time. “I still don’t know. I desperately hope so – it’d be great to see him involved,” Howe said yesterday when asked about Isak’s availability. “We’re in the hands of other people so we hope it gets done before the game. The cut-off is 75 minutes before kick-off, so it could go down to the wire. “We’ve had minimal training with him between games, but what…

There were just over 29 minutes gone at the Adelaide Oval last weekend when the Springboks were camping on the Wallabies’ tryline. Duane Vermeulen took a tap penalty that resulted in Australian wing Tom Wright being yellow-carded for going offside, but the Boks played on and were just about to score to level matters at 10-10. Once Vermeulen placed the ball back, Faf de Klerk arrived at the ruck and just had to quickly pass to an unmarked Ox Nche to score. Instead, the Bok No 9 waited about six seconds before he finally fired the ball out to the loosehead prop, which gave the defence time to organise themselves, and Nche was held up over the line by firstly hooker Folau Fainga’a and then scrumhalf Nic White. For me,…

The All Blacks are feeling pressure from all sides to rebound after their shock home defeat to Argentina, but are not far away from producing a winning performance, according to embattled captain Sam Cane. The All Blacks lost their first ever home Test against the Pumas in Christchurch over the weekend, and another loss to the South Americans in Hamilton this weekend would imperil their Rugby Championship title defence. “There’s that pressure, there’s the external pressure and there’s the internal pressure that we put on ourselves,” Cane said at training yesterday. “We’re not happy with how we fronted up last week, so (there’s) heaps of pressure.” While coach Ian Foster and the All Black staff have shouldered most of the blame for the team’s struggles, flank Cane has also been…