Índex per 2022-10-26 a Star

Holomisa submits explosive letter on alleged smuggler to probe panel UDM leader Bantu Holomisa has requested the Section 89 independent panel into President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm burglary to investigate allegations that a top adviser to the head of state, Bejani Chauke, illegally brought millions of dollars to South Africa. Holomisa made the request in line with the panel’s invitation for members of the National Assembly to submit any information that could be relevant to the investigation. This week, the politician submitted a letter believed to have been written by former spy boss Arthur Fraser as additional information to assist the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation – or the Hawks – with the Phala Phala probe. The document names one of Ramaphosa’s advisers as a person who was responsible…

The distraught family of kidnapped Nkangala municipal manager Maggie Skhosana are praying for her safe return and that of her personal assistant and driver, Gugu Mtsweni. Skhosana not only relies on her wheelchair to get around, she is reportedly also diabetic and there are fears for her health without her medication. There are reports that the alleged kidnappers have demanded a R5 million ransom for the release of the two. According to the Middelburg Observer, Morney Vos from Mike Bolhuis Specialised Security Services is heading a specialised task team working in conjunction with the police. Vos told the Middelburg Observer that investigators had received voice notes from both women, indicating that they might be safe for now and a R5 m ransom demand has also been received. It is also…

THREE cash-in-transit robbers have been handed 12 years’ imprisonment each in the Khayelitsha Priority Court for the 2013 robbery where they made off with an undisclosed amount of cash after robbing a Fidelity armoured vehicle. Siyanda Xawuka, 34, Dumisani Ngudle, 39, and Yongama Ndolombo, 35, were convicted and sentenced on Monday for robbery with aggravating circumstances, unlawful possession of firearms and illegal possession of ammunition. The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently, and all three convicted armed robbers will effectively serve 12 years’ direct imprisonment. They were among a group of men who overpowered armed Fidelity guards who were responsible for SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) payouts at a community hall in Nyanga on May 16, 2013. They disarmed the guards before fleeing in…

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of SA (HSFSA) says South Africans must count the high human, social and economic cost of strokes, with an average of 10 adults suffering a stroke every hour, and 225 people dying from heart disease or a stroke each day. The HSFSA said we need to remember the high burden of heart disease and strokes on citizens during Stroke Awareness Month. October is highlighted by the HSFSA as Stroke Awareness Month, Stroke Week runs from October 28 to November 3 globally, and October 29 is World Stroke Day. HSFSA CEO Professor Pamela Naidoo said the foundation wanted to raise awareness about the risks associated with cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and strokes among South Africans. “Obesity is a major contributing factor to all of…

The co-founder of the popular made-to-measure tailoring house Button Brothers, Palmer Mutandwa, in collaboration with alcohol brand Stella Artois, directed an unconventional fashion installation among the vineyards of Ground the Venue in Muldersdrift for his Spring Collection. A celebration of African heritage and lineage, it was showcased by mannequins wearing the designs “planted” among the vineyards. All fabrics were hand-selected by Mutandwa, who is popular for dressing some of Mzansi’s most prominent businesspeople and entertainers. Exhibiting the brand’s ethos and values, the collection is inspired by multiple facets, from structured utilitarian garments, as worn by front-line African leaders like Kenneth Kaunda, to more relaxed Cuban-style garments, which include the Guayabera (a men’s summer shirt). Mutandwa explained: “Fabric selection played a critical part in the range as we wanted to explore…

EDUCATIONAL psychologist Seago Maapola said reading with children developed a strong parent-child bond, and books that promoted cultural diversity had numerous other benefits. She highlighted that children might exhibit negative emotions and connotations about their ethnic identity when they were primarily exposed to a Eurocentric culture. “Exposing children to content and literature that includes diverse ethnicities can positively impact children’s self-image. It develops their confidence and pride in who they are and where they come from, and builds acceptance of others from a young age,” Maapola said. A benefit of reading as a family is that it promotes brain and language development, and develops emotions and strengthens relationships. Maapola said spending 15 minutes a day reading together can make the world of difference – cementing the parent-child bond and using…

Heartbreaking, all three must have looked very ill but were first taken to the clinic where one was declared dead on arrival. One was taken by the scholar transport driver home first, and died after two days in hospital. The third one collapsed and died at school. Clinics do not always have a doctor available all day. They also do not have the capacity, that is, enough staff, equipment and medication, to deal with all kinds of emergencies. Sadly, this country has lost many people who could have been saved. Clinics have an important role to play in health-care delivery, but are no place for emergency situations. I fail to understand why it is so difficult for people to grasp the difference between life-threatening situations and those who can first…

It is clear that some of the ANC and its voting partners in various municipal councils and Parliament have a shallow and narrow understanding and interpretation of Sections 19 (2) and (3) of the Constitution of the Republic. Even the oldest liberation movement in Africa could not save the ANC and its voting partners from the embarrassment of its narrow understanding of the Constitution. I support without reservation the call by civil society to reject all the political parties that voted in favour of this controversial and unconstitutional Electoral Amendment Bill in 2024. A campaign for the civil society organisations to petition President Cyril Ramaphosa not to sign the bill in its current form is also supported. One hopes Ramaphosa’s legal advisers will be able to persuade him not to…

STELLENBOSCH University has an irresponsible drinking problem. That much is evident. But that isn't the only problem they have – after yet another sordid incident in which a white student was reportedly caught urinating on the possessions of two students of colour. The campus has been blighted by at least three such occurrences this year alone. In the first high-profile incident, Theuns du Toit was expelled and now faces charges of malicious damage to property and crimen injuria. In spite of its strict disciplinary code and sanctions, however, the controversial incidents keep happening. On Saturday, a third youngster was suspended. It seems the students won't learn their lesson. And that might be because the university is not sending a clear enough message to offenders. Reacting to Saturday's incident, management said:…

Bangkok: A Thai plastic surgeon kidnapped while travelling in Mali has returned home after a ransom was paid. Nopparat Rattanawaraha – who runs a popular YouTube channel where he posts travel clips – said he was on a tour of Mali and Burkino Faso, both hit by insurgencies. The Thai foreign ministry said the 49-year-old was freed after a 5.5 million baht (R2.7m) ransom was paid, the Bangkok Post reported. Nopparat was found 25 days after his abduction.Video posted online yesterday appeared to show Nopparat arriving at a Bangkok airport. It it was not clear who had kidnapped Nopparat. | AFP…

SOUTH Africa’s business cycle index fell for the second month in a row in August as slowing global growth, and higher interest rates suppressed the leading indicator. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) said yesterday that the composite leading business cycle indicator declined by 2.3% month-on-month in August following a 1% fall in July. It was the second consecutive month of decreases in the index and the most in 13 months, as nine of the 10 available component time series were down, while only one component increased. The SARB said the largest negative contributors were a decline in the number of residential building plans approved and a narrowing of the interest rate spread. The positive contribution came from an increase in the volume of orders in manufacturing. Investec chief economist…

TRADE union Solidarity has said it plans to challenge Dis-Chem in court after the pharmaceutical giant missed the October 21 deadline to indicate whether it had withdrawn its controversial ban on employing and promoting white people. It undertook to serve its first legal papers on Dis-Chem this week. The union wrote to Dis-Chem earlier this month, placing it on terms to indicate whether the controversial racial policy had been withdrawn. If not the case, Solidarity reserved the right to litigate. Dis-Chem ignored this deadline, said Solidarity CEO Dirk Hermann. “The entire South Africa wants to know whether Dis-Chem has only withdrawn the controversial memorandum or the policy as well. Instead of providing certainty, Dis-Chem refuses to disclose information. “The question is simply this: Is there a ban on employing and…

Local creative and designer Masonwabe Ntloko is a firm believer in going after the opportunities one wishes for, a belief that has driven him to take bold steps to get what he wants. Ntloko prides himself on his work, centred on and inspired by where he comes from, music and fashion. This is evident in his remarkable craft, collaborations and partnerships. In conversation with The Star, he opens up about all his intentions and what he wants as a creator. “The one thing I was very intentional about was creating work, and moving away from being just a ‘pick-me creator’. When I say pick-me creator, I mean the whole idea of sitting and waiting for people and opportunities to come to you. I started putting in more energy and work…

Over the weekend, all the former presidents spoke on public platforms where they were critical of the current leadership. Unfortunately, there are those who view this as an attack on the sitting president, forgetting that no leader is beyond criticism. The president is presiding over a weak state and a party that is dying a slow death due to lack of leadership. So when leadership is being criticised, it’s not like one is being attacked. The country is where it is now because we failed to be critical of our leaders and this led to patronage. Leaders are now handlers who use patronage to control the masses and use them for their evil doing. Just this past Sunday, a meeting was disturbed, two people were shot and one died in…

How are austerity measures applied in our stagnant economy? Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) has recently established the SA Renewable Technology Centre. It is to collaborate with Komati power station in retraining and repowering its workforce in renewable energy. Emalahleni in Mpumalanga is the coal hub of SA. Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) has campuses around the coal-fired power station about to be decommissioned. Let the University of Johannesburg or TUT establish a main centre and work with satellite centres at the repurposed power plants. The laggard Eskom should have long thought strategically and diversified to renewable power plants, thereby saving taxpayers from the private sector euphemised as independent power suppliers and also maintained job security. There’s an urgent need to kick-start this programme and save SA from long…

Tehran: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi yesterday accused the US of “dragging their feet” instead of making a decision to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran. The deal with major powers gave Iran sanctions relief in return for restricting its nuclear programme. The US withdrew from the deal in 2018, but on-off talks have been held since April 2021 in an effort to revive it. Raisi’s comments follow demonstrations in Iran sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, on September 16, after “violating” Iran’s dress code for women. The US and other parties to the deal have imposed fresh sanctions on Iran over its reaction to the protests. | AFP…

MOSCOW: The Kremlin yesterday doubled down on its claims that Kyiv plans to use a “dirty bomb” in Ukraine, warning the West it was dangerous to dismiss Moscow’s position. Ukraine, the US, Britain and France have all rejected Moscow’s claims – voiced by several officials in recent days – that Kyiv could be preparing to detonate a radioactive device in Ukraine. In a briefing call with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said this was a foolish approach given the gravity of the situation. Moscow has provided no evidence for its claims. | Reuters…

With Qatar 2022 less than a month away, Independent Media will take an in-depth look at the history of the Fifa World Cup – the stars, greatest matches and biggest controversies, while looking at the past, present and future. Football writers Herman Gibbs, Mihlali Baleka, Eshlin Vedan and Smiso Msomi – from different generations – look at their best players to ever play in the tournament… Pele: Such was the weight of Pele’s contribution to Brazil’s cause that he was part of three World Cup-winning teams in 1958, 1962 and 1970. No other player has enjoyed this distinction, and in 2000, he was voted World Player of the Century. Diego Maradona: Maradona captained Argentina in the 1986 World Cup and led the team to victory after beating West Germany in…

A TRAGIC accident more than six years ago during a school trip to a farm in the North West, during which three pupils died after they went canoeing, will cost the Education MEC of that province dearly. The Mahikeng High Court ordered the education authority to pay the parents and guardians of the three children R375 000 in damages each. The department at the time paid each family R50 000 towards funeral costs. Three pupils drowned while on an official school excursion organised by the Rustenburg Technical High School in March 2016. At the farm Modderfontein, two of the pupils drowned when their canoe capsized, while the circumstances surrounding the death of the third pupil remains shrouded in uncertainty. The court, however, said evidence indicated that the third pupil drowned…

MASHOBANE Training and Mentorship Academy is assisting the youth in rural areas, marginalised communities of KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and surrounding provinces to fight unemployment through its mentorship programme. It is revealed that the mentioned areas are identified as the ones bearing the brunt of unemployment and lack of educational programmes, with the latest stats showing that the four mentioned provinces have recorded expanded unemployment rates above 50%, and women are most affected. The mentorship was inspired by the positive effect that founder Anastasia Machobane saw in the lives of her initial mentees. Machobane was also motivated by her mentors, who are still her mentors to date, and encouraging her to pay it forward. The programme has been running for six years, but was run on an informal basis…

Decades ago, spouses under a customary marriage enjoyed no legal protection in South Africa, but things changed drastically over the years and such unions were recognised in law. A husband discovered this after he simply entered into a civil union with another woman while still being married to his first wife. The wife, who hails from rural Limpopo, had no idea her husband was married under her nose until her son by coincidence found the marriage certificate in his father’s bag. The woman turned to the North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, where she was successful in an application to have her husband’s marriage to the second wife declared null and void. The applicant (who cannot be named as the matter involves their marriage) told the court that she was not…

Social media has changed the method of communication and is a great mechanism for accessing information, and instantly interacting with friends, colleagues and family. Considering that, I would like to remind readers to be cautious when sharing other peoples’ posts on social media such as WhatsApp or Facebook. It is not always wise to forward everything on social media. If you do choose to circulate a message or forward someone else’s post on social media, think and think again. Be certain that it is not defamatory or misinformation or derogatory. The author and anyone who forwards dubious and questionable messages could face the risk of a defamation grievance and possible legal action. The Constitution is clear on the right to freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is not absolute –…

THE Gauteng Department of Health is taking long to pay small businesses. This means that small businesses might struggle to pay their employees on time and have to close. According to the department, out of 122 018 invoices received for the 2021/2022 financial year, only 22 794 were paid within 15 days, 99 227 after 15 days and 62 235 after 30 days. This has resulted in R1.5 million being paid in penalties. The late payments put the delivery of services at risk, as suppliers may withhold their services. The DA will be putting pressure on government departments to pay suppliers within 15 days, as is the practice in the Western Cape. This will allow departments to negotiate an early-settlement discount.…

IN THE 2002 movie Minority Report (based on a short story by Philip K Dick), director Steven Spielberg imagined a future in which three psychics can “see” murders before they happen. Their clairvoyance allows Tom Cruise and his “Pre-crime” police force to avert nearly all potential homicides. Twenty years on, in the real world, scientists and law enforcement agencies are using data mining and machine learning to mimic those psychics. Such “predictive policing”, as it is called, is based on the fact that many crimes – and criminals – have detectable patterns. Predictive policing has enjoyed some successes. In a case study in the US, one police department was able to reduce gun incidents by 47% over the typically gun-happy New Year’s Eve. Manchester police in the UK were similarly…

Tehran: An Iranian man nicknamed the “dirtiest man in the world” for not taking a shower for decades has died at the age of 94, state media reported yesterday. Amou Haji, who did not wash for more than half a century and was single, died on Sunday in the village of Dejgah in the southern province of Fars, IRNA news agency reported. Haji had avoided showering over fears of “getting sick”, the agency quoted a local official as saying. But “for the first time a few months ago, villagers had taken him to a bathroom to wash”, IRNA said. A short documentary film titled The Strange Life of Amou Haji was made about his life in 2013, according to Iranian media outlets. | AFP…

FIVE Palestinians were killed in one of the largest firefights in recent weeks and another was killed later after Israeli security forces raided the flashpoint city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank early yesterday, Palestinian officials said. Shards of glass and scrap metal covered the cobblestone streets of the Old City of Nablus as shopkeepers tried to clear the debris in the aftermath of the raid which the Israeli military said targeted an explosives manufacturing site of the “Den of Lions” militant group. “During the operation, dozens of Palestinians burned tyres and hurled rocks at the troops. The troops responded with live fire toward the armed suspects who were shooting at them,” the military said. Two of the dead were identified as members of the Den of Lions, a…

Professional sport has never been for the faint of heart. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, where insecure seniors look to enforce their superiority over rookies. But listening to Faf du Plessis’ revelations over the past week about the way he was treated upon entering the Northerns dressingroom by former Proteas batter Daryll Cullinan was simply disgusting. Cullinan has long had a nasty reputation due to his aloofness, probably garnered from being hailed as “the next Graeme Pollock” since his teenage years. Former Proteas spinner Paul Adams also stated at the Social Justice and Nation-Building hearings last year that he was told, “Your gravy train has ended” and “You are a sh*t spinner” by Cullinan. However, Du Plessis’ allegations in his autobiography have cast Cullinan as a rather mean bully, whose actions…