Índex per 2024-06-10 a Star

CORRUPTION Watch has said that its withdrawal of the case against former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe was not an exoneration, but a result of poor formulation of the charges as they preceded the final report of Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s State capture commission. This comes after the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, on Friday handed down Corruption Watch’s formal notice of withdrawal of the case against Molefe, which was done “by agreement between the parties” with each party to bear their own costs. Corruption Watch executive director Karam Singh on Saturday said the anti-corruption organisation would still go public with detail on the proceedings. Singh said they would explain that there were challenges sustaining the application against Molefe based on the way it was formulated since it was drafted prior to…

SOUTH Africa’s 2023/24 summer grain production is under pressure due to heat stress and dry conditions across much of the summer planting regions. The dry conditions are being driven by El Niño weather patterns, which have brought reduced rainfall and spiking temperatures during the latter part of February and most of March, which is a critical summer growing season. Grain sector’s challenges The recent drought conditions have significantly impacted South Africa’s grains sector, particularly affecting the production of summer grains. The Crop Estimates Committee reports a projected decrease in total grain and oilseed production by approximately 20% from the previous year. Specifically, white and yellow maize harvests are estimated to be 6.4 million tons (down 25% year-over-year) and 6.9 million tons (down 12% year-over-year), respectively. Grain prices have…

WHILE consumers paid more to buy chicken between February and April this year, farmers were paid less for this commodity, according to the latest Farm-to-Retail Price Spread report, published in May this year by the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC). The report found the real farm value share of chicken over this period decreased by 3.26%, while the real farm-to-retail price spread (FTRPS) of a fresh whole chicken increased by 1.76%. The NAMC analysed data sets to compare prices paid by consumers for food with the prices received by farmers for corresponding commodities. The farm value share is the value of the farm product’s equivalent in the final food product purchased by the consumers. The FTRPS is the difference between what the consumer pays for the food product at retail…

ESKOM’S former CEOs Matshela Koko and Brian Molefe on Friday could breathe more easily again after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) struck the tender fraud case against them off the roll. Is this a temporary reprieve or do the orange overalls still await them? Koko is on record that he does not have an orange overall that fits his size. Ever since he was under the corruption spotlight, Koko has been a public servant generously contributing his vast knowledge on matters energy more generally and zooming in on Eskom specifically. While the country has been in the dark for the past six years, these energy experts were stuck in the no man’s land of damaged reputation awaiting justice. As the saying goes, justice delayed is justice denied. This is justice…

From portraying a ruthless gangster to playing a brave policeman, Brendon Daniels has made a name for himself as one of South Africa’s top actors over the past two decades. And while he has starred in scores of English and Afrikaans movies, television shows and theatre productions, the 50-year-old is still as passionate as when he first broke into the industry back in the early 2000s in the stage production, Khoi Khoi to Toi Toi. “I’ve been freelancing for almost two decades now and I’m still as excited and invested as the day I began full-time in the industry,” he told Independent Media Lifestyle. Daniels’ most recent work includes playing Hercules on the hit Showmax series Spinners. The show, which also recently debuted on DStv’s newly launched channel 1Max, shines…

TWO former senior police officers acquitted on criminal charges relating to the 2012 Marikana massacre are each demanding R3 million from the SAPS and National Prosecuting Authority for loss of income. North West ex-deputy provincial commissioner in charge of operations at the time, William Mpembe, and Gideon van Zyl, formerly head of detectives in the province, want compensation for their prosecution following their arrest by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) for failing to report the death at Lonmin’s Andrew Saffie Hospital of mineworker Modisaotsile van Wyk Segalala on August 16, 2012. In March 2018, Mpembe and Van Zyl were charged alongside Brigadier Dingaan Madoda and Lieutenant-Colonel Oupa Pule with defeating the ends of justice, failure to report Segalala’s death in police custody to Ipid, and for lying to the…

An Indian court has refused bail to Anil Gupta and Ajay Gupta in connection with allegedly abetting the suicide of a businessman. Ajay Gupta, 58, and Anil Gupta, were arrested in Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand state, last month. The case concerns the death of Satinder Singh Sawhney, a 52-year-old building developer working on housing projects with the Guptas. His corpse was found at the bottom of an apartment block on May 24. Sawhney’s son said he left a suicide note in which he accused the two men of threatening him. The Times of India quoted director of prosecution Girish Pancholi as saying that Sawhney had accused Ajay and Anil Gupta of having “forced him to commit suicide” after filing “fake cases against him”. The two Guptas were detained the…

A cheating husband successfully appealed a decision by the regional court after the Mthatha High Court in the Eastern Cape ruled that he was entitled to half his wife’s pension fund. The former couple was married in community of property in January 1991 at Bizana. After 31 years of marriage, the husband served the wife with divorce papers, she did not oppose the divorce. However, she was adamant that the husband should not get half of her pension fund because he didn’t contribute to the joint estate, he married another woman without her consent and didn’t take care of their children. When granting the divorce in February last year, the magistrate ordered that each party should retain insurance policies, investments and debts in his or her name. Their home at…

Shortly after 1pm last Monday, a tornado cut a path from Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, to Utrecht, about 45km away with minimal damage done. However, the “wedge” type tornado that huffed and puffed in and around oThongathi later that afternoon blew many houses down, damaged schools and infrastructure, disrupted the lives of 7 000 households and killed 12 people, according to the Office of the Premier. A year ago, a tornado ravaged about 50 houses in Inanda, with no loss of lives recorded. Kevin Rae, chief forecaster, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) at the SA Weather Service, said historically, many South Africans had the opinion that tornadoes are fairly rare, or at best, uncommon phenomena. “Historic records dating back to the 1800s indicate that tornadoes occurred from time to time, especially over…

BUSINESSWOMEN showcased their products and services, supported and ministered to each other, and built heartfelt business relationships at the Confident Women in Business (CWIB) Expo on Friday. CWIB is a community of businesswomen who are passionate about their faith and businesses, and a forum to inspire, encourage and support women in business. Christian businesswomen at any stage of their career or in business, can showcase their products and services and build heartfelt business relationships. The expo took place at Loft At Nine in Menlo Park,. There were encouraging business talks, and a business development workshop.…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Maropene Ramokgopa as the acting Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture until a permanent appointment is made under the new administration. Ramokgopa is also the Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. Ramokgopa’s appointment on Friday comes after Zizi Kodwa resigned as minister and cabinet member on Wednesday, following his pending legal battle facing corruption allegations. Kodwa appeared in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court last Wednesday for allegedly soliciting bribes of R1.7 million, which he denied. In a statement, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, stated the president accepted Kodwa’s resignation. “President Ramaphosa accepted Minister Kodwa’s resignation and thanked Kodwa for his service to the nation in his capacity as Deputy Minister of State Security from 2019 to 2023 and Minister of Sport, Arts and…

There could be a few more one-Test Springboks added to a long list of players to have jogged out once for the national side, but there’s no doubt head coach Rassie Erasmus cast his net far and wide as the build-up to the 2027 Rugby World Cup starts for the Boks. As the four-time world champions start the next phase of their journey towards defending their title from today in Pretoria, Erasmus and his assistant coaches added 11 newbies to their first squad preparing for the opening Test against Wales in London on June 22. Just like in 2018, when the Bok coaching genius took the reins with a first Test against the Welsh in Washington, this one will likely see a few new caps added to the SA roster…

Carlos Alcaraz fought back to defeat Alexander Zverev in a five-set French Open final yesterday and become the youngest man to win Grand Slam titles on all three surfaces. The 21-year-old battled cramps to recover from 2-1 down in sets and win a gripping contest 6-3 2-6 5-7 6-1 6-2 after four hours and 19 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier. Alcaraz adds the Roland Garros crown to the Wimbledon title he won against Novak Djokovic last year and the 2022 US Open. He will head to the Australian Open next year with the chance to become the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam. Fourth seed Zverev, who settled a court case in Germany two days ago over domestic abuse allegations, is still waiting for a maiden major title.…

There will be winners, losers, and the unlucky whenever a Springbok squad is announced. Mike Greenaway looks at five names that were conspicuously absent from the 35-man that goes into a training camp today ahead of the Test against Wales on June 22. Sanele Nohamba As the URC progressed, Nohamba’s form for the Lions at both scrumhalf and flyhalf suggested he was a certainty for the match against Wales, and it can only be an ongoing concussion issue that has kept him out. His versatility and his knack of making things happen are invaluable. Nohamba’s time may yet come but he will be disappointed that he is not currently in the mix. Tyrone Green It is a while since the dynamic fullback thrilled Lions fans but followers of the…

THE NATIONAL Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) says it will focus on defending its case for approving energy company Karpowership’s electricity generation licences. This comes after Gauteng High Court Judge Leoni Windell on Wednesday dismissed with costs Nersa’s interlocutory application not to disclose confidential information to advocacy group Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) with the full, unredacted record of Nersa’s decisions to approve generation licences for Karpowership. The matter stems from February 2020, when Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe made a determination that 2 000MW of emergency generation capacity should be procured, and the three Turkish Karpowership projects were given the green light to provide 1 220MW of gas-fired generation capacity over a 20-year period. In April 2022, Outa and the organi- sation Green Connection objected…

SOUTH Africa has just returned from the polls that will usher in the seventh administration, which also coincides with 30 years of democracy. While no outright winner emerged from this election, which also spawned a plethora of new political parties – some of which punched above their weight in terms of the voters they managed to garner – there can be no doubt that South Africa, as a country, cannot afford to take the foot off the pedal in forging ahead with much-needed development. The next administration of the government will be formed by coalitions and marriages of convenience and expedience by political parties that may even have irreconcilable doctrines and political views. However, one can only hope and pray that the nation’s welfare will be the priority rather than…

THE UNCERTAINTY over how the new government of national unity (GNU) will look, the new Cabinet, speaker of the National Assembly and the role of the MK and the EFF in the future government, brought uncertainty to South Africa’s financial markets last week. Market nervousness was enhanced on Wednesday when Statistics South Africa announced that the economy shrank by -0.1% during quarter one 2024. This is the fifth negative growth quarter since quarter three 2021, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. After the release of the US non-farm payrolls on Friday, indications are the US Federal Reserve will have a later- than-expected start to lowering its Bank rate. Despite the nervousness, the shares and bond markets held steady at their previous week’s levels, with the rand depreciating only marginally.…

FOUR South African banks have sprung to the rescue of loss-making Sibanye-Stillwater after agreeing to extend debt covenant limits for the period June 30 to June 2025, giving the company immense respite in light of challenges that include poorly performing platinum group metal (PGM) prices and labour unrest across its operations. After sinking to a $2 billion (R37.67bn) loss for 2023, Sibanye-Stillwater has been retrenching across its gold and PGM operations, while it is also throttling capital, in addition to shutting down poorly-performing shafts. As at the end of December 2023, Sibanye-Stillwater had a debt of R11.9bn against the backdrop of a debt leverage that is below the required 2.5x covenant limit. Lenders in Sibanye-Stillwater, consisting of four South African banks and 11 international finance institutions, have now “agreed…

Cillian Murphy is suiting up to reprise his Peaky Blinders role as Tommy Shelby once again. Last Tuesday, Netflix confirmed that our favourite gangster will be making his comeback. The streaming giant shared the news on X, giving us a sneak peek at the script, written by the one and only Steven Knight and directed by the talented Tom Harper. Harper couldn’t contain his excitement. He told Deadline: “When I first directed Peaky Blinders over 10 years ago, we didn’t know what the series would become, but we did know there was something in the alchemy of the cast and the writing that felt explosive.” He added, “Peaky has always been a story about family – and so it’s incredibly exciting to be reuniting with Steve and Cillian to…

South African pop sensation Tyla thinks the Britney Spears comparisons are “getting boring now”. When the 22-year-old singer released the music video for her track Water last October fans were quick to point out the racy visuals were similar to Britney’s iconic I’m A Slave 4 U promo from 2001. Tyla didn’t appreciate the comparison then and she’s now getting frustrated with the continued references to Spears when people discuss her. During an interview with Dazed, she said: “Honestly, when people bring up these references, most of the time there was never a reference. “It’s never, ‘Make the video look completely like this’. It’s getting boring now.” The Overdue hitmaker emphasised that she and her team try to innovate with her music videos, and added she likes to surround herself…

The EFF has poured cold water on the United Democratic Movement’s proposed meeting with Chief Justice Raymond Zondo. Last week, the UDM leader General Bantu Holomisa wrote to Zondo asking him to convene a meeting with all 18 political parties that are represented in Parliament. In the letter, Holomisa said it was most important that all leaders of political parties represented in Parliament discuss the agenda of government, particularly as it pertained to the envisaged seventh administration. Holomisa said based on the outcome of the election, the process of establishing a Government Of Unity (GNU) could not be left to one party to lead and convene, adding that the matter needed a collection of many stakeholders in collaboration. “We believe that your esteemed office, as the custodian of the Constitution…

THE Department of Higher Education and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) have once again pleaded with student accommodation landlords not to evict or lock out students for failing to settle their monthly rentals. This comes as NSFAS has been battling to pay student allowances on time owing to a change in payment methods following the cancellation of some contracts. During a media briefing last month, NSFAS administrator Freeman Nomvalo confirmed that he had filed papers in court to cancel the direct payment contracts awarded to four companies to pay allowances into students’ bank accounts. The entities were Ezaga Holdings, Coinvest Africa, Narraco Corporation and Tenet Technologies, who were appointed to carry out payments to NSFAS beneficiaries amid technical glitches and costly bank charges. According to Higher Education Department…

A DISPUTE over the non-payment of R310 million owed by the Department of Defence (DoD) to the Armaments Corporation of SA (Armscor) has led to the suspension of Armscor’s services rendered to the department. Armscor provides travel services to the department, inclusive of the management of two travel offices as well as integrated travel solutions. The department is responsible for all travel costs and charges. On May 30, Armscor CEO Solomzi Mbada wrote to the acting secretary for Defence informing the department of its decision to suspend all travel services as the department had failed to execute its obligations as per the Service Level Agreement (SLA) between Armscor and the department. The letter read: “Despite numerous requests by Armscor to the DoD since 2021 and the continuous demands for payment…

WHEN tickets sold out within hours of being announced, it was anticipated that the Red Bull Symphonic Kabza De Small with Ofentse Pitse and the Symphonic Orchestra would be one for the books. The highly anticipated show took place on Saturday at the iconic Lyric Theatre in Gold Reef City, Johannesburg, and a second show was added yesterday due to overwhelming demand. The unique blend of modern Amapiano rhythms and classical orchestration has garnered significant attention on social media, with fans praising the singing of Amapiano legend Kabza. Njelic, Daliwonga, DJ Maphorisa, Young Stunna, MaWhoo, Nokwazi and Mthunzi were among those who gave outstanding performances. The event happened after he dropped a star-studded chant titled Kabza Chant, which also garnered a positive response. The vibrant song tells Kabza’s tale of…

AND now for the Olympics! There is just no rest for Gerda Steyn, is there? No sooner had she produced yet another incredible run to win a third Comrades Marathon title than she was switching her focus to the next goal. Such is the life of a phenomenal athlete. Steyn reigned victorious with consummate ease on Sunday, the Phantane Athletics Club runner crossing the finish line at the Scottsville Racecourse in a blistering fast time of 5:49:46 in the 85.91km distance. The time was faster than the 5:58:53 she set back in 2019 on the Up-Run, which was a little longer and thus won herself the best time. The “Smiling Assassin” also ran the race in the fastest average pace ever to help herself to close on a cool R2…

Bafana Bafana cannot afford to leave any stone unturned when they host Zimbabwe in their fourth group stage World Cup qualifier in Bloemfontein tomorrow night. Bafana will enter the Free State Stadium (kick-off 6pm) as favourites to beat the Warriors, given the contrasting fate of the two nations. The South Africans are like a well-oiled machine compared to the Warriors, due to the progress and stability under coach Hugo Broos in the past three years. They came close to qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as their only blemish was losing their last group stage qualifier to Ghana via a dubious penalty decision. Broos’ charges took that disappointment on the chin as they finished third in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, their best finish in the event…

After a number of injury disruptions, Bulls coach Jake White says he will have to be “brave” when picking the team for Saturday’s blockbuster United Rugby Championship semi-final against Leinster at Loftus Versfeld (4pm kick-off). Springbok star Kurt-Lee Arendse is the latest casualty after sustaining a fractured cheekbone in their 30-23 quarter-final win over Benetton, while Canan Moodie had an operation on a broken finger on Friday. White will hope that No 8 Cameron Hanekom is not feeling the effects of a massive tackle on Benetton replacement Alessandro Garbisi, after which he stayed down for a while before being replaced in the 60th minute. But there are finally some positive developments, with Springbok loose forwards Marco van Staden and Marcell Coetzee likely to return from knee injuries. “He’s going for…

AQUACULTURE is playing an increasingly important role in meeting the world’s food needs, surpassing wild fisheries in aquatic animal production for the first time, accord- ing to a report published on Friday. With global demand for aquatic oods expected to keep growing, an increase in sustain- able production is vital to ensure healthy diets, the United Nations’s Food and Agriculture Organisation said. In 2022, aquaculture yielded 94.4 million tons of aquatic animal production – 51% of the total, and 57% of the production destined for human consumption, it said. “Aquatic systems are increasingly recognised as vital for food and nutrition security,” according to the report, released as experts gathered in Costa Rica for talks on ocean conservation. “Because of their great diversity and capacity to supply ecosystem services and…

THE FOSCHINI Group (TFG) share price was the biggest gainer on the JSE on Friday, closing 11.3% higher after it reported a 33% uplift in its final dividend to 200 cents a share for the year to March 31. The share prices of the two other largest clothing groups on the JSE, Mr Price and Truworths, were also top gainers on the bourse, with their share prices ending Friday 5% and 5.16% higher, respectively. TFG chief executive Anthony Thunström said they had grown revenue aggressively at the expense of competitors and had managed costs tightly. The group has a portfolio of 34 retail brands, with more than 4 700 outlets in 23 countries on five continents, offering products including fashion and sport apparel, jewellery, cosmetics, electronics, homeware and…

GERDA Steyn won yet another Comrades Marathon in a best time yesterday and expressed her wish that her incredible running serves as inspiration for South Africans from all walks of life. Having broken her own record in the 56km Two Oceans Marathon earlier this year, Steyn won the 90km KwaZulu-Natal ultra between Durban and Pietermaritzburg with consummate ease to confirm her status as the queen of South African road running. She will next represent the country at the Paris Olympic Games in the standard marathon and the runner from Bothaville, in the Free State, said yesterday she wants to help her compatriots realise that nothing is impossible. “I want the challenge (of conquering the country’s two big ultras in the same year that she will compete at the Olympics). I…

Barely six months after Shebeshxt, real name Lehlogonolo Katlego Chauke, was in a car accident, it has been reported that he was involved in another crash, landing him in hospital. Several disturbing videos circulated on social media yesterday, showing the musician helpless on the ground, mostly covered in blood, as his new GTi is destroyed. It is alleged that he was on his way to a gig when this incident happened. Earlier this year, Shebeshxt was in an accident en route to Polokwane, and details of the accident were blurry. In the same month, he left his fans alarmed after claiming that certain people were plotting to kill him. Chauke posted on his Instagram account: “They hired people to kill me. Pray for me.” While people were still in shock,…

Leader of the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) Jacob Zuma says the formation of the party was to protect the ANC against President Cyril Ramaphosa. Zuma used a snake as an analogy, saying a man of the house must do everything even without a weapon to protect himself from a snake invading his homestead. Zuma, who was speaking during his visit to Inkosi Mqoqi Ngcobo of the AmaQadi clan in Inanda, north of Durban, at the weekend, added that Ramaphosa was removing them from the ANC because he wanted total control of the ANC. “As the man of the house, you must protect your home from a big snake. Even if you use your hand to do it, you must do it. By the time you kill the snake, you would…

A groundbreaking study published in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Nature Medicine last week showed that baby boys were more likely to achieve HIV cure/remission than baby girls. The study included scientists from the universities of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and Oxford, the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) at UKZN, as well as the Ragon Institute of Mass General and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Harvard, in the US. The observational study took place between 2015 and 2023 and included 284 mother-child pairs living with HIV in KwaZulu-Natal, the epicentre of HIV prevalence globally. The study assessed 284 children from the province for whom anti-HIV therapy was initiated at birth following in-utero HIV transmission. Sixty percent of the group were girls. Vertical transmission to baby boy foetuses was 50% less common than to girls.…

WE’VE arrived at a momentous time when celebrating 30 years of democracy is all but forgotten. So overpowering, yet immensely promising, has the last fortnight been, that almost all of us voters are consumed by what will our party political leaders and their closest advisers and avid supporters do. To coalesce or not to coalesce is on everyone’s lips. The claims and counter-claims, the screech of (those who should know better?) “We will not work with … ” when it’s quite evident that those who voted clearly decided the outcome. Our people have spoken as loudly as they democratically can, yet somehow, they still seem to be not listened to by those who punt their own interests. Our people want unity of purpose – if that’s possible in the Babylonian…

Proteas captain Aiden Markram believes his team’s crucial ICC T20 World Cup clash against Bangladesh today will be a “proper challenge”. Markram’s team have collected a maximum four points from their two matches and a victory over the Tigers will secure qualification for the Super 8 stage. Bangladesh, meanwhile, are also unbeaten after edging Sri Lanka in their only match so far and will be eager to take another step forward to the Super Eight, too. The Proteas have the advantage of having played both their previous matches at the Nassau County Ground in New York, the venue for the clash against Bangladesh, while the Tigers have moved to the Big Apple from Dallas. “If you look at conditions, and you look at a really strong Bangladesh team, it’s…

Iga Swiatek described her French Open triumph on Saturday as an emotional win and said she was proud to have handled the pressure of being the favourite to win a third consecutive title on the Parisian clay. World No 1 Swiatek steamrolled Italian surprise finalist Jasmine Paolini in straight sets, 6-2 6-1, to claim her fifth Grand Slam title, and fourth at Roland Garros, but said that being a perfectionist meant there had been an added challenge. “I'm a perfectionist, so there’s always pressure on me. I’m fine handling my own pressure. When outside pressure hits me, it is a little bit worse. But I managed it really well at this tournament,” Swiatek told reporters. “It was an emotional win because I felt a lot of stress yesterday and today…

It was a disappointing end to the United Rugby Championship (URC), but the Stormers still feel their season wasn’t all doom and gloom. After going down 27-10 to the Glasgow Warriors in Scotland on Saturday evening, head coach John Dobson believes the campaign yielded some success they can build on. They played without three key Springboks in their first away knockout encounter in the tournament and failed to adapt to the conditions, allowing the home team to pull away late in the game to seal it. It is the first time in the URC that the Stormers do not make it past the quarters. With the score 13-10, and with the wind at their backs, Dobson felt his side were still in the game, but errors and their inability to…