Índex per 2023-01-09 a Star

DRIVEN by passion and believing in hard work, Norman Chirumiko has not allowed his epilepsy to be a misery. He makes a living by making and selling beds and picnic blankets for dogs. Born and raised in Cosmo City, he started his business in 2015 after losing his part-time job. Chirumiko said he knew he had to make a plan and not let his disability stand in his way. He said his mother had always been his greatest inspiration as he learnt a lot of things from her; she taught him to never give up. He said as someone living with a disability, it was very difficult to get a job, especially if you did not have a qualification. He then saw the need to start his own legacy using…

pensioner Pinky Mohloyiwa, 71, opened a fruit smoothie bar outside the Dr Molemela Stadium in Mangaung, Bloemfontein, where the ANC’s 111th anniversary was being held. Mohloyiwa said she started her business years ago, but was able to fully focus on it after she went on pension last year. “As a nurse, I’m all about wellness, health, and encouraging people to be healthy, and that is why I decided to come here and sell my freshly made smoothies,” she said. “My vision is to expand and some day own a mobile container that I can move around with, because that would make things much easier for me and my business. “I work alongside my son here, who is also passionate about health, and this is how I sustain my family. I…

People all over the world welcomed the New Year with joy and hope. They danced, kissed, toasted with champagne and partied till the early hours of 2023. Many cities across the globe lit up the night sky with spectacular displays of fireworks and laser lights. But Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un did not want to join the world in joyous celebration of the New Year. They were not children to play around with fireworks and laser beams but grown-up men who played with the real things like missiles, rockets and killer drones. Ukrainians woke with a fright in the early hours of New Year’s Day to the wailing sound of air raid sirens and deafening explosions and had to scramble for shelter in the dark…

We often hear how politicians are corrupt. However, nobody is telling the public how journalists are corrupt. Who will guard the guardians? Who will hold journalists accountable? It is the journalists who are standing before the truth, stopping the truth from being told. It is journalists who are responsible for this visible division in South Africa today. When there is an allegation of wrongdoing about the politician they love or do not love, the same story or event will encompass conflicting facts and later die down. The field continues to face challenges due to external factors, such as business and political interests. It does not need a rocket scientist to know that powerful, sometimes corrupt politicians and businesspeople secure the ownership of various media houses to control the minds of…

Orlando Pirates have been unable to arrest their downward spiral after they suffered three Premiership defeats on the trot. Looking at their last three Premiership performances, they have been overshadowed by bad luck but not necessarily under-performance. On Saturday, in Cape Town, it was a combination of both as several key players underperformed. The Ghost must be thinking the football gods are against them. In the run-up to the match, Pirates lost the services of their No 2 goalkeeper Siyabonga Mpontshane. This followed a long-term injury to their classy Ghanaian keeper Richard Ofori, the club’s No 1 goalmouth custodian. In their absence, Pirates were forced to hand former Chippa United shot-stopper Sipho Chaine a debut, and it turned out to be a nightmare performance between the sticks. For the entire…

TOKYO: The heirs of a former owner of one of Vincent Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” paintings, which is currently owned by Sompo Holdings in Tokyo, has filed a lawsuit in a US court seeking the return of the painting they claim was sold amid Nazi persecution of Jews in Germany. Sompo Holdings has countered the appeal, saying the company will vigorously defend its ownership rights to the painting. According to the complaint filed in the federal court in Illinois, the former owner, who was Jewish, was forced to sell the painting by the Nazis in 1934. | The Washington Post…

Kaizer Chiefs’ title aspirations suffered a huge blow after losing 1-0 to Sekhukhune United on their anniversary on Saturday, but coach Arthur Zwane remains optimistic. Chiefs ended 2022 on a high as they won back-to-back league games, including beating Orlando Pirates, to be fourth on the log. Zwane’s men were expected to continue with that purple patch on Saturday night as they hosted Sekhukhune at FNB Stadium on their 53rd birthday, but Chiefs came up short. An early second-half strike from Vusimuzi Mncube sunk them. A win would have taken them up to third after fellow title competitors Richards Bay and SuperSport United lost. Instead, they remaining fourth on the log, 13 points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, but Zwane is optimistic his side will find consistency in the coming weeks…

Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro says he can’t explain his side’s poor conversion rate in front of goal after his men suffered yet another defeat, this time a 2-1 loss against Cape Town City on Saturday. The Buccaneers’ latest loss means they have now lost three consecutive league matches after going down to Kaizer Chiefs before the World Cup break and Mamelodi Sundowns after the resumption. The Sea Robbers’ failure to score in the second stanza against City saw them extend their barren run in the second half of games to 15 matches, a first in the club’s history. “There’s no explanation for that. If you want to go deep with the analysis, then we have to speak about the chances we create and not the amount of goals…

HOPES that the new year would finally see the Covid-19 public health pandemic finally behind the global community have been dashed, as one case was identified in the country and after the World Health Organization (WHO) announced an increase in cases of an Omicron sub-variant across numerous countries. Through gene sequencing carried out by researchers at Stellenbosch University from a December 27 sample, scientists in the country announced that XBB.1.5 variant had been identified. It has been nicknamed the “Kraken variant” by some for its ability to spread, and it comes in the wake of health stakeholders saying they hoped 2023 would be the year the pandemic would finally be put behind the world. The WHO said the XBB.1.5 sub-variant had not only increased, but had been identified in more…

various Gauteng clinics and hospitals continue to face delays in the collection of medical samples since the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) appointed Zamlangeni Holdings as its new delivery services partner. The NHLS has remained mum on the situation. Former Hartmann Emergency Care (HEC) employees have once again accused Zamlangeni Holdings of failing to collect medical and blood samples from some clinics and hospitals in Gauteng. It is alleged that at some point Covid-19 samples were mixed with other samples, which compromised the integrity and quality of these samples following days of non-collection from some clinics. The NHLS appointed Zamlangeni Holdings as its new service provider to replace drivers from HEC who have been left jobless since September 2022. A Zola Clinic lab assistant, who wanted to remain anonymous, told…

PRETORIA businessmen and the City of Tshwane have joined forces to fix potholes on a stretch of the KwaMhlanga Road between Mamelodi and Cullinan, north-east of Pretoria. Since the road is a busy route, Frikkie van der Walt, Wessel Snyman and Xander Snyman saw it as a good opportunity to step in and assist with the filling of potholes, as they own a maintenance business called Rent a Brother project. With the help of their team, they have filled up 500 potholes in five days, with 18 tons of tar and machines from the Tshwane Road Works Department. Snyman said that the Cavalier Group backed the entire project financially. “Potholes are very dangerous especially for motorists; they can cause instant accidents and damage cars. “We really feel happy and thankful…

While the ANC and its top leaders celebrated the party’s 111th birthday at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium in Mangaung, some party members slipped out of the stadium to spend time at a nearby tavern. Some of those sitting at the tavern seemed completely drunk even before the ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa had delivered his annual January 8 speech. Historically, the January 8 statement is meant to set the tone for the party’s ambitions and government business for the year ahead. For those sitting at the tavern, the January 8 statement formed part of the end of the December holidays and the return to ordinary life today, with most employees across the country returning to work. Some sang Struggle songs while drinking beer while others danced and enjoyed a…

THE president’s new cabinet will no doubt be a revelation to all South Africans ... renewing the ANC’s zest for leading ... his new mantra. For three decades we have waited for the wisdom of the president, to take us in his confidence, and tell us just how badly his party has stuffed up. His new menagerie will be interesting, and will no doubt have a cross-section of interesting politicians. We will have the parrots, the parakeets, the blue cranes, the hornbills, the weavers, the go away bird, and the mossies. We will be expecting miracles, as the renewal war cry permeates the land ... the echoes loud and clear from the lofty parapets of the Union Buildings. I think the president has a good marketing team, similar to Barack…

Three years after the novel coronavirus emerged, a new variant, XBB.1.5, is quickly becoming the dominant strain in parts of the United States because of a potent mix of mutations that makes it easier to spread broadly, including among those who have been previously infected or vaccinated. XBB.1.5, pegged by the World Health Organization as “the most transmissible” descendant yet of the omicron variant, rose from barely 2 percent of US cases at the start of December to more than 27 percent the first week of January, according to new estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Health Department has confirmed that the ‘Kraken’ variant, has been detected in South Africa. More than 70 percent of cases in the Northeast are believed to be XBB.1.5. While…

HONG KONG: Hugging her boyfriend goodbye, student Yuri Tan was among hundreds excitedly heading north across Hong Kong’s border with mainland China yesterday as pandemic travel restrictions were mostly lifted, finally allowing separated families to reunite. “I am going back because I don’t have to undergo quarantine anymore,” an elated Tan said, clutching luggage containing a few boxes of fever medication for family. Tan, 23, was planning to travel to Shenzhen just across the border from Hong Kong and then take a connecting flight to her hometown of Yangzhou in eastern China, a journey that until recently would have meant weeks in mandatory isolation first. China lifted quarantine rules for all international visitors yesterday, ending almost three years of self-imposed isolation. On the same day, the border between mainland China…

BRUSSEL: The European Union has lowered the extraction rate from its underground gas storage facilities (UGS) because of warm weather and almost doubled the volume of electricity generation from wind power plants, data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) and the WindEurope association showed. European UGS are filled by 83.21% as of January 7, losing 0.02 percentage points a day. Gas reserves in European UGS remain high at 90.5 billion cubic meters – 35bn cubic meters higher than the average figure over the past year. The EU also boosted energy generation at wind farms – now at 28.4% of total daily volume, it said yesterday. | Sputnik…

Divine intervention and commitment were at the heart of Sekhukhune United’s shock 1-0 win over Kaizer Chiefs at FNB Stadium on Saturday. After the match, Sekhukhune’s elated coach Brandon Truter did not claim responsibility for the triumph but instead praised his players and God. “So, I just say thank you to the guys for the three points,” said Truter. “Thank you to God and give him all the praises. We are a praying team since there are so many believers in this team as well. “That is where we take power from, and I can just say thank you and all praise to God. “This team is still a work in progress, but I’m just happy with the efforts. The guys stuck to the plan as well and then we…

THE North West Division of the High Court in Mahikeng has dismissed an urgent application to declare the appointment of Lesego Seametso as municipal manager of the City of Matlosana local government municipality in that province. Ngoako Malatji, a lecturer and programme champion at Wits, also asked the court to declare unlawful the municipality’s contract with Seametso after he (Malatji) did not succeed in being appointed as manager. Malatji argued that the Department of Local Government, Human Settlements, and Traditional Affairs ignored a report from the selection panel that conducted the interviews, which gave him the highest score among the three candidates. “During May 2022, the Matlosana Local Municipality advertised the post. Of the number of candidates that applied, no more than three were shortlisted and interviewed. “Following the interviews,…

POLITICAL analyst Dr John Molepo has advised Limpopo Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs MEC Basikopo Makamu to open a case of defamation, to disprove claims that he had sexual relations with a woman purported to be a radio presenter. The sex claims rocked Makamu this past weekend when WhatsApp conversations between two women appearing to be fighting over his affections were leaked via social media, in the process implicating the MEC in the unfolding sex scandal. Among the allegations are that Makamu gave the alleged presenter R50 000 for shopping. Molepo said the social media scandal reflected badly on the Limpopo provincial government and the ANC, which deployed Makamu to his post as MEC. “The ANC has just returned from its conference and January 8 celebrations with President…

History is repeating itself. In December 2019 a deadly virus emerged in Wuhan, China, dubbed Covid-19. The World Health Organization and China downplayed the outbreak, which cost the world $114 trillion and killed 7 million people. Today, China is in trepidation, as a rampaging new wave sweeps across all of its major cities and threatens to engulf Asia in a viral tsunami that has become unstoppable. Apocalyptic scenes emerging from China are a flashback to the 1918 Spanish Flu that decimated a portion of mankind in a three-year tsunami. It is imperative for us, as members of humanity and as a species, to focus and reflect on the trail of incredible damage that the new wave that is engulfing China is leaving in its deadly wake. Right now, extraordinary and…

It is sad to see how cheap sloganeering has come to dominate South African political debates at the expense of concretely grappling with realities. This is especially so within political parties, with the most contentious issue being privatisation. Instead of thinking creatively about resolving the problems of this country, many people are still caught up in a discredited and serious time warp, ideologically wedded to what are not solutions. Most of the time this posture is fuelled by serious ignorance of world history because its adherents seem to think “nationalisation” is a miraculous solution, a magic wand that will lead to change. But empirically this is a very challenged view. Many African states and many countries globally have gone this route and they are still economically stagnant. Let…

On the eve of the South African BRICS Chairmanship scheduled for this year I would like to point out that the world is now undergoing an irreversible transformation to become multipolar and, as I believe, more equitable and fair. I would like to quote the extracts of the speech of the President of the Russian Federation Mr. Vladimir Putin, which he addressed during the BRICS last year summit: “Only honest and mutually beneficial cooperation will make it possible to look for proper and successful ways out of the crisis situation in the world economy that has arised out of the selfish actions of individual states that use financial mechanisms to shift responsibility for their own mistakes in macroeconomic policy to the other. Russia and South Africa are effectively cooperating within…

DAKAR: THIRTY-eight people died and about 80 were wounded in central Senegal after two buses collided in the early hours of yesterday, said President Macky Sall, who announced a three-day mourning period, starting today. The crash, one of the deadliest in the country’s recent memory, was on one of the main east-west arteries 220km east of the capital, Dakar. The accident occurred after the tyre of one passenger bus burst, sending it into the path of another coming from the opposite direction, a statement from the prosecutor said. In 2017, two buses collided, killing 25 people. | Reuters…

Jakarta: Tourists are concerned about Indonesia’s new criminal code that includes a ban on extramarital sex, reported NHK World. The revisions of the colonial-era penal code are leaving some in the tourism industry worried travellers may be deterred from visiting as the tourism sector is still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. Indonesian President Joko Widodo approved the revision earlier this week. It will apply to both citizens and foreigners in the country, including tourists, reported NHK World. | ANI…

Wayne Parnell is as far removed from a Pretoria local as you can get. The Proteas all-rounder is a social media influencer of note, often snapped in his funky street gear, dyes his hair all shades of silver, and is married to a Cape Town model. But for the next month, Parnell will call the capital of the nation home as he leads the Pretoria Capitals in the upcoming Betway SA20. And he knows that one way to get the locals on his side is to get the team winning from the outset, especially as they are accustomed to success with the Titans in South Africa’s domestic competitions. “Obviously everyone wants to win that beautiful trophy, but there is a process that needs to be put in place first and…

Glasgow Warriors (10) 24 Tries: Cancelliere (2), Steyn, Jones Conversions: Horne (2) Yellow Card: Bean Stormers (12) 17 Tries: Dweba, Blommetjies, Pokomela Conversions: Libbok The Warriors and the Stormers dished up an entertaining United Rugby Championship clash yesterday, one that oscillated between exciting play and physical confrontation. It was indeed a clash of styles, with Glasgow more willing to spread the ball to expose space in the wider channels, while the Stormers used their power game to stay in touch with their hosts. As early as the eighth minute, an industrious Warriors attack cut the Stormers defence open, wing Sebastian Cancelliere and centre Huw Jones interlinking with pleasing play for the No 14 to cross the whitewash. Cancelliere, in particular, was a handful throughout the encounter and kept the Stormers…