Índex per 2023-10-18 a Star

Launch of Amazon e-commerce in SA may force local e-commerce players to reduce their fees SOUTH African businesses now have an additional e-commerce and online retailing platform after Amazon, the giant US company that is spreading across the globe, launched a local sellers platform to rival takealot.com in a rapidly growing and multibillion industry. Takealot.com, currently the biggest player in South Africa’s online retailing, owned by JSE-listed Naspers, had some 14 million visits to its e-commerce platform last year, 90% of whom were registered in South Africa, data from Statista shows. South Africa’s e-commerce giants include, among others, Takealot, Makro, Superbalist, Bash and Loot.co.za. RMB research sees the value of e-commerce transactions in South Africa surging by 150% to R225 billion by 2025. This is the industry that…

ON OCTOBER 19, 1977, scores of journalists and black consciousness leaders were detained and banned by the apartheid regime in an attempt to silence those exposing atrocities. This day was called Black Wednesday and commemorated on October 19 as a reminder that the media freedom revered today was hard won. The day is now marked as an important platform for discussions on media freedom and the extent to which media freedom improved from all those years ago. The right to press freedom and freedom of expression is an important cornerstone of democracy – it is a neces- sary ingredient for our development, empowerment and for climate justice. More than 20 years later in 2019 the Co-operative and Policy Alternative Centre (Copac), based at Wits University, staged a protest outside…

DESPITE shareholders in Shoprite expressing concern over remuneration disparities between employees and executives, the South African grocer paid CEO Pieter Engelbrecht about R64.7 million, while chief financial officer Anton de Bruyn bagged R21.1m and is set to earn more in remuneration next year. Engelbrecht’s total remuneration for the full year to end July 2, 2023, compares to the R63.5m he earned for 2022. He is set to earn the same amount in 2024, with fixed remuneration making up 29% of this and 71% being variable pay. De Bruyn, on the other hand, earned R18.5m and will be paid more in 2024. The company’s share price dipped 1.45% to close at R234.80 on the JSE yesterday, but is up 5.4% compared to a year ago. Shareholders in the company complained…

Award-winning actress Manaka Ranaka will later this month be stepping into the boxing ring to battle it out with Zodwa Wabantu. Celebrity boxing matches are becoming a thing in Mzansi. Rapper Cassper Nyovest ignited quite the frenzy when he first took on controversial YouTuber Slik Talk and rapper Priddy Ugly. Ranaka, who portrays the character Lucy on SABC1’s Generations: The Legacy is amped up for the big night and has been exchanging banter with Wabantu online. In one video, Ranaka challenges Wabantu telling her to come into the ring with her G-string, proclaiming she isn't afraid of the racy dancer. “@zodwalibram laaaaaaaaaleeeeela👂🏽 Skhokhorinko angijimi and angikusabi. shem!!! I'm challenging YOU.” Wabantu said she’d be stepping into the ring wearing a G-string and Ranaka might find herself in it. The celebrity…

ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa said the frequency of load shedding is expected to improve during the fourth quarter. Ramaphosa said the country has turned a definite corner as far as load shedding is concerned, and levels. He was speaking during his closing address at the three-day ANC national executive committee (NEC) meeting in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni, on Monday. “This is due to the return of Kusile units, embedded generation by private households and businesses, and demand management which will be adding much-needed capacity to the grid,” he said. Ramaphosa said the NEC advised Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan to urgently attend to the hardships that many people are subjected to through the overloading and sabotage of transformers in the townships. He said concern was expressed that some communities have faced…

Drugs, crime, poverty and prostitution have become the order of the day in one of the temporary shelters housing victims of the deadly five-storey Marshalltown building fire that killed 77 people in August. Yesterday, The Star visited the Hofland Recreation Centre in Bez Valley, near Kensington, where more than 200 victims, including children and women, have been staying for the past 46 days since the incident. A caretaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the security personnel meant to guard the place had fled, leaving no one to protect the centre during the day and at night. “This is not a shelter, but a recreation centre. We were told that the victims would be here for 72 hours and they would be sent to an appropriate facility, but…

Snake handler Jason Arnold was able to identify a Mozambique spitting cobra by its hiss before seeing it in a bathroom in the Clare Estate area of Durban recently. One evening, Arnold was called out for what was described to him as a “very large” snake in the bathroom and he had no idea what kind of snake it was going to be. The family had closed the windows and the bathroom door, trapping the snake. “I did not ask for any colour description or size description or anything. They just said ‘very large’ and I said, all right, I’m coming,” Arnold said. He entered the bathroom cautiously and from the hiss it was making, Arnold could tell it was a spitting cobra – they have a very distinctive hiss,…

Limpopo police arrested six people including a businessman from Gauteng, in connection with the murder of a 61-year-old man during a business robbery at Marapong. The murder took place at around 1am on Monday, according to Limpopo provincial police spokesperson, Colonel Malesela Ledwaba. “The six suspects, aged between 30 and 40, were arrested on the same date, following an intelligence-led operation comprising members of crime intelligence unit, task team and K-9 unit detectives in collaboration with private security companies,” said Ledwaba. Preliminary investigations indicate five assailants broke into a gas cylinder store, and while they were stealing gas cylinders the owner heard some noise and went in the yard to investigate. “He apparently confronted the intruders who in return strangled him and thereafter loaded several gas cylinders into three motor…

In an era marked by complex global challenges, ranging from climate change to geopolitical tension, the call for a robust, equitable and resilient global governance system is not just timely but imperative. A short while ago, I had the privilege of sharing the collective wisdom of the Africa Focus Group in New York, an essential part of the Global South Perspectives on Global Governance Reform Network. This network is a confluence of intellectual powerhouses from Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, united in the quest for a more balanced and inclusive international order. The insights garnered from our discussions underscore the urgent need to reimagine the architecture of global governance; it is a call for crafting a multilateral system in which Africa can participate fully…

POLITICS and sport, it is generally believed, do not mix. The assumption is that once they get on to the pitch, players do not give a hoot about what the politicians say. And, so, it is unlikely then that the direction of tomorrow’s Carling Knockout clash between TS Galaxy and Mamelodi Sundowns will be influenced by the recent pronouncements by Rockets chairperson Tim Sukazi on Sundowns’ involvement in the African Football League. Or will it? Sukazi was outspoken against the new continental competition the other day at the official launch of the new domestic Cup tournament. Sukazi said – in a nutshell – that the AFL had the potential to dilute the Premiership in the same way that Super Rugby did the Currie Cup, as he supported the PSL’s decision…

FOR those wondering where the Proteas of old at the 50-over World Cup were hiding themselves, they need not bother to look any further after yesterday’s calamitous effort against the Netherlands. The Proteas, who had departed tradition by playing with controlled efficiency and no little chutzpah in their opening two matches in India, returned to their former World Cup selves by being stunningly awful. They were bowled out for 207 in response to the Netherlands’ 245/8, in the process suffering a 38-run defeat. In a match reduced to 43 overs due to pre-match showers, and on a surface that kept all the batters honest, the Proteas were caught cold in the hills of Himachal Pradesh by a fervent Dutch outfit that have now repeated their Adelaide party trick from the…

AFRICAN countries need to convey to the Cop 28 global conference that climate change should not be weaponised against countries that have energy poverty, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said. Speaking at the Energy Africa conference in Cape Town yesterday, Mantashe said there were countries in sub-Saharan Africa where electrification reached only 12% of the population. An energy transition did not mean the same thing in this country, as it did in a country where there was 100% electricity accessibility. He said de-emphasising energy poverty in favour of decarbonisation was bad for the environment, as poverty would degrade the environment in the longer term. African countries needed to convey to Cop 28 that the use of gas, a less damaging fossil fuel, needed to be fast-tracked in Africa.…

WHILE Eskom is turning a performance corner, it has to contend with a massive growth in South Africa’s population, which has increased by 10.3 million since 2011, Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) revealed last week. StatsSA released the results of its Census 2022, showing that the popu- lation increased from 51.7 million in 2011 to more than 62 million in 2022; a growth rate of 19.8% in the intercensal period. That is the reason why Eskom is not coping; we need to double the energy generation capacity and build more power stations to keep up with population growth. The Achilles heel of South Africa is the energy crisis. While policy makers and the government ignore the need to build more power stations and respond to the alarming market demand…

THARISA would delay commissioning its Karo mine in Zimbabwe by up to a year to June 2025, due to current weak platinum group metal (PGM) prices and an uncertain global economic outlook, the miner said yesterday. Tharisa is building the 194 000- ounce-per-year Karo PGM mine at a cost of $391 million (R7.4 billion) on Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke, about 100 km south-west of the capital Harare. The mine, which is close to Impala Platinum’s Zimplats operations, was due to be commissioned by July 2024. “Given the current PGM basket price weakness and uncertain global economic outlook, we have taken the measured decision to extend the Karo Platinum timeline out to commissioning by June 2025, with the opportunity to accelerate the timeline as markets become more favourable,” Tharisa…

SOUTH African agribusinesses are adapting to the country’s challenging business environment, says Johann le Roux, the CEO of Zeder, which yesterday declared a 10 cents per share dividend for the interim period to end August 2023. This after buying out minority shareholders in Capespan for R550 million. Shares in Zeder rose by 5.43% to close at R1.75 on the JSE yesterday, while it is 3% up in the past 30 days. The 10c per share special dividend announced yesterday for the interim period under review was in addition to another special dividend of 5c per share paid on August 28. “Even with an improved climatic cycle, macro conditions remain challenging. “There was, nevertheless, a slight improvement in the recent Agribusiness Confidence Index, implying that agribusinesses are cautiously adapting…

October is Pride Month in South Africa. It is the month when we remember queer people who paved the way and those who advocate for queer rights. Queer people have come a long way, and witnessing them being represented in comics is a step in the right direction. “Queer representation in local comics is more than just entertaining and empowering. It’s changing perceptions and giving a voice to those who have long been marginalised. “With each new issue, these comics are rewriting the narrative and ensuring that the diverse stories of the LGBTQIA+ community are told and celebrated,” says brand strategist and pop culture enthusiast Martin Headger. In celebration of Pride Month, we look at a few ways queer representation in pop culture has made an impact in South Africa:…

Prince Simakade’s letter to Buthelezi on lack of interest in throne surfaces The apparent long-standing division within King Misuzulu’s office played out in the open yesterday after both regiment commanders, Prince Vanana Zulu and Prince Simphiwe Zulu, allegedly prevented the king’s spokesperson, Prince Africa Zulu, from updating amabutho on the representations by attorneys in court. The incident, which nearly caused a commotion between Prince Africa and the two leaders, took place just outside the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, after the adjournment of the Zulu kingship case. When Africa shouted Zulu! Zulu! preparing to give updates, Prince Vanana started a war cry song apparently in defiance of Prince Africa, then started moving with amabutho towards Prince Africa. They moved towards the court entrance and while this was happening, Prince Simphiwe…

Durban sculptor Andries Botha and his team recently unveiled three wooden, lifesized elephants, that will make their way to Belgium this week. The elephants were created in the Sydney Road studio of Botha with the assistance of sculptors Bhekazi Ngcobo, Jessica Bothma and Mzulungile Nabhu. The elephants consist of a giant elephant, a juvenile and a baby elephant constructed from straps of African hardwood bolted to a framework. Botha paid tribute to the relevance and significance of a healthy ecosystem and the roles all wild animals played in securing this sustainable future for humanity. In this regard, elephants were an ancient reminder of African legacy, heritage and identity, Botha said. “As the largest land-based mammal, their presence and survival demand particular challenges to our ever-expanding industrialised landscapes and the inevitable…

Ingredients For the crumb 1 loaf Sasko Low GI Wholewheat Brown Bread, dried in oven and blitzed to breadcrumbs 125g Sasko cake wheat flour 2 eggs, beaten For the fritters 200g madumbe (potato), peeled and boiled 200g imbuya (wild African spinach), steamed, excess water squeezed out 200g sugar beans, cooked 1 onion, grated 1 garlic clove, crushed 80g feta cheese, crumbled 2 eggs, beaten 30ml fresh parsley, chopped 30ml fresh mint, chopped 50g Sasko cake wheat flour salt and pepper, to taste canola oil, for frying For the sauce 250ml plain yoghurt 15g fresh parsley, chopped juice of 1 lemon salt, to taste Method In a bowl, mash the madumbe and sugar beans together and add the imbuya, onion, garlic, feta, eggs and herbs. Add the Sasko cake wheat flour…

Music is like words to the soul, just like words are to the mind. We are the generation that witnessed multiple generations of musicians turning to excess drug use and coping mechanisms that led to their destruction. Addressing mental health concerns and using music as therapy to remove stigma is a responsibility we all have. The power of music is crucial for our mental health and well-being, as it brings positive energy to our state of mind. The beginnings of written-down music was liturgy (worship), which was discovered to have had a connection with the idea of our meditative state. It’s more like having the ability to heal wounds that medicine cannot cure. Music is the language of the spirit, and the soul becomes gradually intertwined as it uncovers the…

It will not surprise if the Springboks are considering a flyhalf switch-up for Saturday's Rugby World Cup semi-final in Paris against the old foe England. The discourse among Springbok supporters had focused on Manie Libbok versus Handre Pollard when the latter was brought into the squad earlier this month. Now, it's only a question of how both can be used together to give the Boks the best chance of winning matches and eventually the trophy. Their combination worked perfectly this past weekend as the reigning world champions edged out France 29-28 after a 50m-plus Pollard penalty gave the Springboks the lead. But it was Libbok's speed in the backline, his vision on the attack and accurate box kicks that sparked the running rugby with which South Africa countered the dangerous…

AS SOUTH Africa’s economic growth struggles to trend upwards, with the weight of load shedding suppressing the optimism in its industries and while we wait for solutions to magic themselves out of thin air, it seems the planners of the country have let us down in their foresight to plan adequately and implement infrastructure that will solve the load shedding fiasco. President Cyril Ramaphosa was first appointed to the energy action task group in 2014, when he was Deputy President. If anything, the problem has worsened under his oversight and planning. The problem that poor planning has created is a bottleneck in the transmission grid. There are many renewable projects that want to connect, but they are in a queue, waiting for the transmission grid’s capacity to be expanded. This…

THE PAST 18 months have been the best period for the global and African banking sector since at least 2007, with rising interest rates boosting profits, according to McKinsey & Company’s 2023 Global Banking Annual Review released yesterday. While the banking sector in South Africa generated around $5 billion (R94.28bn) in profits over the last year and while its return on equity (ROE) recovered, it remained range-bound at 14% in 2022 and 2023, as the sector’s balance sheet continued to generate value below cost of equity. This as Africa’s banking sector generated $22.3bn in net profits in 2022, with an average growth of about 8% annually since 2021, the review noted. Africa also outperformed the global trend with ROE of 15% recorded in 2022 and 16% in 2023,…

Award-winning theatre-maker Sylvaine Strike proves her Midas touch once again as the director of Damon Galgut’s The Promise. The production enjoyed its world premiere in Cape Town in September and it is staging on The John Kani stage at The Market Theatre from tonight until November 5. The Promise centres on the Swart family living on a small farm just outside of Pretoria. They promised a small piece of land with a tiny house on it to Salome, a Sotho woman who had worked for them her entire life. While the property is worthless to them, they refuse to part with it and honour their promise. As members of the family start succumbing to death, one by one, the remaining family ponder the turn of events in relation to a…

Two Joburg City Power technicians have been robbed of their valuables while on duty in Discovery, Roodepoort. City Power has condemned the incident, saying the two female officials had reported the case to the SAPS after they were robbed of their valuables while on duty in Wemmer Street. City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the women were robbed by two men driving a white Datsun Go vehicle, registration number HN94YK GP. “The constant attacks on our technicians are unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Mangena said. “The work our technicians do is an important service to our communities, and they work tirelessly daily to ensure residents have access to electricity, either by attending to unplanned outage calls, essential maintenance work or auditing meters,” he said. “This year alone our…

Debt review is a statutory or legal process that provides debt relief to over-indebted consumers. The programme, provided for under the National Credit Act 34 of 2005, helps over-indebted consumers restructure their debt into affordable monthly payments. After complaints from consumers, the National Credit Regulator has announced that it would be launching an investigation into several debt review companies that were acting unethically and taking advantage of people in financial trouble. Charnel Collins, the CEO of National Debt Advisors, said there was a need for consumers to distinguish between the good and the bad when it came to debt review services. “Consumer complaints have highlighted several troubling practices within the debt review industry, including the use of pressure sales tactics by some companies, which exploit individuals’ financial vulnerability to push…

THE CITY of Tshwane is exploring options of using abandoned buildings in the metro to house homeless people. This after the national census results showed the capital city had the highest number of homeless people in the country. According to the results, Tshwane was ahead of the City of Johannesburg, accounting for 18.1% of the 55 000 homeless people across the country while Joburg accounted for 15.6%. The municipality has had its hands full with the growing population of homeless people, grappling with finding them alternative accommodation instead of them sleeping on the streets. Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink was now exploring ways to accommodate the homeless but added the cash strapped municipality could not afford to build more shelters for the homeless. The Pretoria News recently reported the homeless centre…

It IS yet another sigh of relief for scores of holders of Zimbabwean Exemption Permits (ZEPs) after the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, dismissed Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi’s application for leave to appeal the earlier judgment which declared his decision to terminate the programme unconstitutional. A full bench (three judges) found an appeal was “destined to fail” and pointed out that the order it issued in June (which the minister wanted to appeal) was only temporary relief. The court at the time ruled that the existing ZEPs shall be deemed to remain valid for another year. They remitted the matter back to the minister for reconsideration during this time, “following a fair process that complies with the requirements”. Hot on the heels of this judgment, the minister announced…

Angus Gibson, an icon in the world of film and entertainment, was honoured by industry giants for leaving a lasting influence on the entertainment and film industry. Gibson was celebrated by the alcoholic brand Don Julio SA for his ability to convey intriguing South African stories via a lens that many can relate to and find themselves in. The legendary director has received numerous awards and plaudits for his work on shows such as Yizo Yizo, Zone 14, Ayeye, Heartlines, Isibaya and, most recently, the first season of Shaka iLembe, which will be returning to screens soon. Gibson’s illustrious career in television spans from 1985, when he co-founded Free Filmmakers, a progressive film collective rooted in authentic storytelling. During this tenure, he went on to co-direct the Oscar-nominated biography of…

McDonald’s South Africa has distanced itself from the McDonald’s operations in Israel, as calls for boycotts on the fast food chain mount as a result of the Hamas-Israel war. In support of Palestine, many people, including South Africans, have taken to boycotting certain brands believed to be affiliated with Israel. If not boycotting, consumers try to reduce spending on them. But in a statement yesterday, McDonald’s South Africa assured citizens it is a strictly South African operation. “McDonald's in South Africa is a local enterprise, with full ownership and operation overseen by local management. We are not affiliated with McDonald's operations in Israel, which is a locally-owned Israeli enterprise,” said the company. It said McDonald’s in Israel operates as a separate entity and makes its own business and communications decisions,…

There is no way that the Springboks will be thinking about the World Cup final ahead of Saturday’s semi-final against England at the Stade de France. That was the view of former Bok captain Bob Skinstad yesterday. The ex-loose forward – who spoke from London yesterday on a media call for the United Rugby Championship (URC), alongside URC CEO Martin Anayi – added that he was privileged to attend the SA v France and Ireland v New Zealand quarter-finals and that there was little to separate the four semi-finalists. In the other play-off on Friday, the All Blacks are favourites to knock over Argentina at the same venue in Saint-Denis. Siya Kolisi’s team will be fancied to easily get past an England side, who may be the only unbeaten nation…

The biggest battle for Barend Pieterse this past fortnight, since his start at the Emirates Lions, has been coming to grips with hair-raising jostling and frustrating volume of traffic in these mean streets. Th Big Smoke can be a gauntlet to run and in many ways it can be like a rugby game in deciding when to attack the space, when to make a defensive play and when to opt for territory or possession. “I don’t like the traffic here in Joburg,” he said with a wry smile during a media briefing yesterday, Emmanuel Tshituka chuckling heartedly next to him, “because I am not use to that anymore. That is the only thing I dislike.” Pieterse has been grafting at the Lions since joining the team after a stint with…

SORTING out the defence and being bolder in selection are two major changes that coach Jake White hopes will turn the Bulls into serious contenders again this season. The Pretoria side will begin their United Rugby Championship campaign against Scarlets from Wales at Loftus on Sunday determined to get themselves into a position for silverware once more. White knows that Bulls shareholders Patrice Motsepe and Johann Rupert want to see the Loftus trophy cabinet full at the end of the season, and they have backed him in the transfer market with a number of new signings on the pitch and in the coaching box as well. The biggest names to join the Bulls are Springboks Willie le Roux, Wilco Louw and Akker van der Merwe, while there are seasoned pros…