Índex per 2022-10-19 a Star

FINANCIAL institutions and multi-lateral funding organisations need to rethink their bans on funding oil and particularly gas projects in Africa, as it will deprive the continent of much-needed economic development on its route to renewable energy self-sufficiency. This according to International Energy Agency deputy executive director Mary Wartick, who spoke at the African Energy Week in Cape Town yesterday. Lack of adequate financial support, infrastructure, technologies and up- stream, midstream and downstream activities have in the past hindered Africa’s oil and gas industry from reaching its potential. But the energy challenges in Africa are daunting. The conference heard that more than 600 million people, almost twice the population of the US, have no access to electricity on the conti- nent, while more than 900 million people, double the…

THE LARGE traditional banks have been monopolising the banking industry for as long as we have known, not just in South Africa but globally. We have trusted banks as intermediaries with our money and paid their fees, not because we were happy about it but more because there was no alternative. Over the past decade, banking customers have switched towards the digi-tal environment in their personal and business capacities – also demanding that their suppliers follow suit. This has compelled merchants to digitalise the way they do business to better meet demand, or see customers take their business elsewhere. At the same time, financial technology (fintech) companies have been at the forefront of disrupting various industries, strategically positioning themselves in the market to better analyse their customer needs, service their…

NEW AND PRE-OWNED vehicle distributor Combined Motor Holdings (CMH) Group, which yesterday posted robust interims, has projected tough economic conditions for South Africa in the next six months. “Rising interest rates, and worsening power cuts, which have slowed the momentum of new vehicle sales, are set to continue to bring despondency to the economy,” the company said. New vehicle sales were hampered by continued disruption to the supply chain due to a shortage of electronic chips, it said. Also creating a drain on consumers’ disposable income was the surging petrol price. “Ongoing, and more severe, load shedding has played havoc with business productivity, and necessitated costly investment in alternative power sources,” it added. The South Africa Reserve Bank has successively hiked interest rates in the past 12 months. This, as…

At JUST 10 months old, a girl who was born with a hole in her heart is growing stronger after a life-changing operation. Thacious Makwala is the latest beneficiary of the Heart to Heart Campaign. Cardiothoracic surgeon and co-founder of the Maboneng Heart and Lung Institute, Dr Erich Schürmann, said Thacious was born with ventricular septal defect (VSD), a large hole in the wall between the two lower chambers of the heart. “As the child grows, this type of defect tends to damage the arteries of the lungs and this therefore needs to be corrected as soon as possible.” Her mother, Precious Makwala, said her aunt, Dorcus Manganye, realised there might be something wrong with Thacious and took her to Dr CN Phatudi Hospital, near the family’s home in Pulaneng,…

The SA Post Office says people can make use of its same-day money transfer service, which is offered to and from neighbouring African countries. The countries where the transfer is offered to include Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Nigeria, Mauritius, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Mozambique and eSwatini. The post office said that the cost-effective, same-day money transfer service is available from any post office in South Africa to any post office in the destination country. “The transferred funds become available at the destination post office in the foreign country on the same day. “The service is offered through the Universal Post Union and managed by the International Financial System, a system that automates the processing and management of international money orders. The system complies with exchange regulations.” Commission on money sent to…

Officers from the Joburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) have impounded cow head skin, cooked cow head meat and pots in a blitz aimed at enforcing informal trading by-laws. JMPD spokesperson Xolani Fihla said officers from the by-laws management unit were enforcing informal trading by-laws at Randshow Road and Nasrec Road in Nasrec. “Any person who intends to carry on a business as an informal trader may apply to the council in the prescribed manner for a lease or allocation of a stand. No person shall carry on the business of an informal trader at a place or in an area declared as a place or area in which informal trading is prohibited or restricted,” he said. “Authorised officials may remove and impound any property of an informal trader they reasonably…

The Southern Sun Rooftop in Hyde Park boasts one of the most dazzling scenic views which are perfectly suited to hosting exclusive, relaxing outdoor pursuits. Esteemed guests and well-known local media personalities were summoned to grace the sensational launch of Valdo Prosecco. This famous Italian sparkling wine brand has been introduced to South African shelves with diverse bottles to choose from. It was a luxurious evening of bubbling Prosecco, a floating dinner, delightful Italian music and top-tier company with the presence of popular personalities like Nay Maps, Manthe Ribane and Chef Nti. With sparkling wine known to represent a great standard of sophistication, all present were dressed to the nines according to the Italian theme. This exclusive high-class affair saw an endless popping of bottles, with each guest given an…

Temba Bavuma, a T20 innings – take two. The South African captain will step out onto the Allan Border Field in Brisbane today (10am SA time) seeking form, confidence and a way to ease the pressure on himself and the national selectors ahead of the T20 World Cup. The Proteas play their first match at the tournament next Monday, against as yet undecided opponents. For Bavuma, today’s match against Bangladesh is the final opportunity to arrest chatter about his place in the starting team A total of 11 runs in four innings in India, including two ducks, has put the 32-year-old firmly in the spotlight. As captain, Bavuma will be given extra leeway to find his feet. However, with Reeza Hendricks and Rilee Rossouw in better form and able to…

The Springbok women’s team will not go down without a fight when they tackle World Cup favourites England in their final Pool C match in New Zealand on Saturday. Few will argue that England are firm favourites, and that is not even disputed by Bok forwards coach Eddie Myners. “We did target the Fiji game for a win when we planned our campaign, and we were hoping to get at least a bonus point from the matches against France and England,” said Myners. “Things have not worked out for us, and it is disappointing, but we still have one more go at it. We now need to beat England to survive into the next round. “Stranger things have happened, and we are certainly not going down without a fight.” The…

One of the few positives from the Bulls’ 31-17 loss to Munster last week was the impact David Kriel made as a second-half replacement, and he is keen to replicate that in Friday’s United Rugby Championship clash against Benetton in Treviso (6.30pm SA time kick-off). The 23-year-old utility back started off his senior Pretoria career as a fullback, and has featured at outside centre and wing. But now it seems as if he has found the sweet spot at inside centre, where he also started in the 35-21 loss to Glasgow recently. He scored a try and created another in an impressive cameo against Munster in Limerick, and is excited about getting his hands on the ball against Benetton. “The adaptation to 12 is really an exciting one for me…

PICK N PAY posted strong sales results at its supermarkets, particularly at Boxer stores, which, with cost and prices cuts, and by driving change through their new “Ekuseni” strategy, resulted in the interim dividend rising 25.3% to 44.85 cents in the six months to end August. Chief executive Pieter Boone said in a telephone interview that the results were pleasing, considering the headwinds the group faced, including rising food and internal inflation, particularly on energy costs such as having to keep the stores open with generators through load shedding, which cost the group R110 million in the six months. Group turnover was up 11.5%. After normalising for disruptions in the base period due to the civil unrest, and Covid-19 liquor restrictions last year, turnover increased…

TRANSNET workers have been left divided over the partial end to their two-week long strike after the majority union signed a multi-year wage agreement whilst the minority union remains on the picket lines. This comes as the United National Transport Union (Untu), the largest union at Transnet representing close to 54% of workers, on Monday ended their picket after agreeing to a backdated three-year wage offer of a 6% hike, with an increase in the housing allowance. This has brought to an end the stay away by Untu members as they went back to their posts yesterday to help Transnet clear the backlog of cargo stuck at its ports. However, the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu), which represents a third of Transnet’s workers, called Untu’s wage agreement with…

HIP hop artist and activist DJ Ready D and his family suffered huge losses when a fire swept through their Cape Town home. DJ Ready D (real name Deon Daniels), and his wife Malikah Daniels say they are grateful to be alive as the blaze wiped out their assets on October 16. Speaking to IOL Entertainment, he said: “The weather was perfect and me and Malikah were sitting outside and relaxing, we then decided around 11am that we want to go out. “I was getting dressed when I got the smell of burning wires, but thought maybe it’s someone braaing. My son and Malikah came inside the house and could also smell the same thing. “We noticed the blaze coming from the garage’s roof and everything started falling on Malikah’s…

The case against former Bosasa bigwig Angelo Agrizzi has been postponed to January. The case was heard in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court earlier yesterday. Agrizzi stands accused of offering gratification on behalf of Bosasa to former parliamentarian Vincent Smith, in exchange for his influence, as the then chairperson of Parliament’s oversight committee on Correctional Services. According to Investigating Directorate, it is alleged Bosasa scored contracts totalling just over R1 billion from the Department of Correctional Services between 2004 and 2007. Agrizzi is also facing charges of fraud and corruption over suspected prison tenders, estimated to be worth R1.8bn, Bosasa and its subsidiaries allegedly received. This matter was being heard in the Pretoria High Court and has been postponed to December 2. However, the question of whether Agrizzi is fit…

FORMER Tembisa Hospital employee Lindiwe “Dabs” Nkosi has submitted an affidavit to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) pointing out a new series of facts in connection with the allegations of corruption at the hospital. The Star has seen an affidavit written by Nkosi on October 5, 2020 where she says tenders were given to an ANC Free State Provincial Executive Committee member in 2020, a Mpumalanga multi-millionaire also in 2020 and Hangwani Morgan Maumela, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s nephew. Maumela, who lives a stone’s throw from Ramaphosa’s home, has mansions across the country and a string of luxury cars. Nkosi sought to clear suspended hospital CEO Ashley Mthunzi, saying the widespread “political tenders” were dished out as from 2019 and were maximised in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic hit South…

The High Court in Polokwane has sentenced 45-year-old David Matjila of Burgersfort to life imprisonment for the murder of his girlfriend, Farina Valencia Mahlake and his son, Kgoitsane Mahlake. Limpopo National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said that on the night of August 14 last year, Matjila went to Appiesdoring Burgersfort, where the two were staying. “Upon his arrival, an argument ensued between the couple. “Later, the accused (stabbed) his girlfriend 10 times in the neck and further stabbed his son 12 times in the heart with a sharp object,” said Malabi-Dzhangi. Matjila then left the two deceased lying in a pool of blood. The bodies of the two were discovered the following day. “During the trial, Matjila pleaded guilty. In his plea, he stated that he saw a…

According to Affinity Health, a leading provider of high-quality health care, the fountain of youth isn’t a myth: You can slow the ageing process by adopting healthier lifestyle choices. “Ageing is a natural part of life, and it brings with it wisdom and experience. But who wouldn’t want to slow the clock down a little bit? While ageing can’t be stopped, some anti-ageing practices can delay signs of ageing,” says Murray Hewlett, CEO of Affinity Health. 1. Consider your diet choices Did you know that a diet high in inflammatory foods accelerates ageing? Telomeres are structures found at the end of chromosomes that give protection throughout the process of cell division. Telomeres function as an analogue clock; the shorter, the older the cell, and an inflammatory diet shortens telomeres prematurely,…

As the global economy slowly recovers from an unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic, communities around the world are counting the extent of the social, economic and infrastructural devastation that has been left behind. Contrary to initial estimates, the pandemic has not been the great equaliser. Although we are dealing with the same virus, its impact has been especially devastating to the livelihoods and well-being of those who have already been pushed to the margins of society, particularly low-income households on the periphery of our cities, small towns and rural villages, where the poor and marginalised are concentrated. We understand the eagerness to imagine a post-Covid-19 society, but the truth is that the pandemic only worsened what was already an untenable socio-economic reality for the majority of South Africans. The decimation of the…

Karim Benzema said he had become more ambitious with age as the Real Madrid and France striker won the Ballon d’Or on Monday, and dedicated his trophy “to the people”. Benzema, who turns 35 in December – the day after the World Cup final – is five months older than Lionel Messi was when the Argentine won the most prestigious individual award in football for the seventh time last year. He is the oldest winner since England’s Stanley Matthews won the first Ballon d’Or in 1956. “Winning this trophy was always in the back of my mind, but what has changed since I turned 30 is ambition,” Benzema said after collecting the prize in Paris. Benzema was 21 when he joined Real Madrid from Lyon in 2009. He has come…

Rookies Richards Bay and Cape Town City have both enjoyed a glorious sequence of unbeaten streaks in the DStv Premiership, but that could end tonight at the King Goodwill Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi (7.30pm kick-off). Second-placed Richards Bay have surprised this season since their promotion from the first division. After 11 Premiership matches, they have produced eight clean sheets and have conceded only three goals. At the time of writing, 10 of the 16 teams had already conceded 10 or more goals. City have enjoyed an unbeaten six-match Premiership streak after losing their opening three games. They have not been able to duplicate that form in the CAF Champions League preliminary round, and as a result, they bombed out of the continent’s elite club competition. They will live to fight…

The SA Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric), on behalf of the banking industry, released its annual crime statistics for 2021. The stats revealed that banking on digital platforms, including on app, online and over the phone, now exceeds all other transaction channels in South Africa and is also the safest. According to Sabric, digital banking fraud incidents decreased by 18% overall from 2020 to last year. The stats said the biggest decline in fraud incidents occurred in mobile banking fraud and, while the number of incidents declined, there was a 45% increase in the total gross losses in digital banking in the reporting period. “Digital banking products are far safer than in-person banking and enable people to transact from anywhere safely. But criminals have adjusted their social engineering tactics to…

Woman farmers have called on Police Minister Bheki Cele to help, saying they are suffering from violent attacks by criminals who target their livestock. The women farmers made this appeal at the African Farmers’ Association of South Africa (Afasa) conference at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban on Monday. A farmer from Mpumalanga, Maria Madisa, said though women were keen to make a mark in farming, they were under constant pressure from criminals. She appealed for more police to be deployed in farming areas in order for them to feel safe. “Aside from the police, the minister should consider providing firearm training to women farmers so that when we are under attack we are also able to defend ourselves,” said Madisa. Her sentiment was echoed by a…

Zimbabwe was known as the breadbasket of Africa until 2000 and exported wheat, tobacco and corn to the wider world. However, today Zimbabwe is a net importer of foodstuffs from the Western world. Many farm owners and farmworkers have been killed during violent takeovers. Land reform has had a serious negative effect on Zimbabwe’s economy and contributed heavily to its collapse in the 2000s. The corrupt Zanu-PF took all the farms from white farmers, but they have failed to maintain them, due to insufficient knowledge around how to use technology to improve farming, high levels of unemployment and low levels of interest in farming. It is highly traumatic and hard to understand that Zimbabwe is endowed with rich, fertile soils, yet Zimbabweans are leaving their country in record numbers in…

Even though Mamelodi Sundowns are on course for a sixth consecutive Premiership title, defender Thapelo Morena believes his team will have their work cut out as they prepare to host Marumo Gallants at Loftus today. What Morena believes will make Marumo Gallants especially hard to play against is the fact that they are once again led by Dan Malesela. “Dan Dance” controversially left the club at the end of last season after having led them to a runners-up finish in the Nedbank Cup. He has since returned and replaced Romain Folz. “It will be challenging because coach Dan Malesela went back there and will implement his style of football. It will be very challenging,” Morena said. “We know that we have to lift up our socks and put our minds…

Manchester City’s first defeat of the season has given the rest of the Premier League hope that the title race is not a foregone conclusion as Tottenham and Chelsea seek to close in at the top of the table tonight. The arrival of forward Erling Haaland to supplement Pep Guardiola’s squad, which has won the English top-flight four times in the past five years, made City even stronger favourites to win the league again. However, Arsenal have opened up a four-point gap at the top of the table, while Spurs have kept pace with the defending champions. Arsenal and City were supposed to be facing off this midweek in a top-of-the-table clash. But that match has been postponed due to rescheduling caused by the death of Queen Elizabeth II last…

TS Galaxy chairman Tim Sukazi has encouraged all 32 clubs in the PSL to launch a ladies team, especially after Banyana Banyana’s recent success. In 2009, Sasol and Safa created the Sasol League as they wanted to nurture women’s football and provide a feeder to the various national teams. That initiative was successful, with some of the players moving abroad, while others have represented Banyana as well. The league holds an annual National Championship play-off to crown the crème de la crème among the nine provincial champions. That was followed by the launch of the national women’s league – the Hollywoodbets Super League – by Safa in 2019. The finalists of the Sasol National Championship play-offs get promoted to the Super League, which is superior and slightly professional. Despite these…

Last week against Glasgow Warriors, it looked like the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place for the Sharks, who had their Springbok players for the first time, while director of rugby Neil Powell has also taken up his position. Bok captain Siya Kolisi came on off the bench like a man possessed, while Eben Etzebeth played all 80 minutes as if unto the Kings Park Manor born. Kolisi said it was a joy to be involved after a long period away from his provincial team. “It was good to have Neil involved as he takes a lot of pressure off the coaching staff – he manages everything off the field, and does the planning for the future, and that allows the coach (Sean Everitt) to focus on the…

The Lions attack had few opportunities during their European sojourn earlier this month, but in their most recent outing at home against Ulster, it raised a hardening carapace – splendid to look at – albeit still with a vulnerable underbelly. The Lions put together some scintillating play against Ulster, especially in the second half, scoring some cracking tries in the process. They also kept the visitors guessing with their variety, switching between bullying runs from the forwards, and more fancy options from the backs. The interplay between the two units was also quite enjoyable to watch. The Lions came desperately near to closing out the game with victory, had it not been for some naive defending while down one player, and some sloppy game-management towards the end of the clash.…