Tabla de contenidos para 2022-11-10 en Star

LEADING alternative stock exchange A2X Markets has grown the number of securities listed on its platform by 55% this year alone. This as it has grown its trade value 40-fold from just R657 million in 2017 to more than R26 billion in its fifth year of operation, despite the many industry regulatory and infrastructural challenges that exist for smaller incumbents. A2X said in a media release yesterday that the potential savings it made available to the financial market to be in the region of R500m per year. This was driven by cost-effective trading fees and the ability to capture price improvement, as a result of the buying and selling of shares at a better price, when brokers transact. “The current savings amount of R500m is set to increase…

The Department of Health in Gauteng has still not found evidence against suspended Tembisa Hospital chief executive Ashley Mthunzi following his two-month suspension “to allow further investigation”. It is believed that Mthunzi was the “fall guy” for the province’s previous leadership who had “interests” at the hospital. Since Mthunzi’s suspension, a myriad instances of corruption which took place before his tenure have come to light. In October, former Tembisa Hospital employee Lindiwe “Dabs” Nkosi submitted an affidavit to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) pointing out a new trail of corruption at the hospital. The Star has seen an affidavit that was penned by Nkosi on October 5, 2020, wherein she says that tenders were given to an ANC Free State provincial executive committee member in 2020; a Mpumalanga multimillionaire also…

COP27 is happening at the ultra-elite luxury island of Sharm-El Sheik, just 500km from the Great Pyramids and that massive lioness with the head of a Cleopatra. Nice. Now let’s move to what’s happening at the conference just across the Peninsula and check out exactly what it is pursuing. Mother Earth used to have a great balance. It had a habit of cooling down during the night after an exhausting hot day and returning all that heat back to outer space. Everybody was very happy for billions of years, including penguins and polar bears. But man suddenly appeared and discovered oxygen, fire, Sikh-Kabab, Ford motor cars, General Electric fridges and a whole Massmart of other appliances that emitted excessive amounts of the evil carbon dioxide. Up to now, no good…

I am heartbroken because of the situation in Zimbabwe, particularly the infrastructure which is totally dysfunctional. Zimbabwe is no longer a great nation with potential because almost all infrastructure is in need of repairs or complete overhaul. There are no desks, chairs, beds, mattresses even blankets and sheets in major hospitals in Zimbabwe. Government school buildings are in disrepair and some classrooms have no lights or windows. The parks in cities and towns are like jungles. There are no ambulances to carry the patients and the sick to the hospitals. The streets lights are all vandalised and no one cares to repair them. Some bridges are collapsing and roads have been stripped of their tar. The buildings where manufacturing at great scale took place two decades ago are all abandoned.…

Joburg’s premier waterfront dining and lifestyle venue Altitude Beach is celebrating its three-year milestone since its establishment and continues to go from strength to strength as one of the major experiences in the country. Located in Fourways Mall in the heart of the north, it is known not only for its grand appeal, but also for its aesthetically pleasing surroundings. With Altitude Beach being a hub of entertainment, they have also hosted an endless list of Mzansi’s A-listers for different occasions. Jo Bodiba, manager of Altitude Beach, unpacked their journey, explaining how it has not always been smooth, but the rewards have been fulfilling. “We are definitely the sexiest venue in Joburg. We do not have an actual beach, but with the vibes we bring, it’s always an occasion.” She…

New health research has found that there is still a high discrepancy between clinical diagnoses and post-mortem findings in the country, similar to studies conducted globally. Most of these discrepancies are related to lung conditions. This is according to a study published in the latest issue of the South African Medical Journal (SAMJ), conducted by experts at the University of Pretoria (UP), who wanted to establish the discrepancies between clinical diagnoses and post-mortem findings in anatomical pathology autopsies. The academic/anatomical pathology autopsy is conducted to establish the nature and extent of underlying natural disease. The clinical diagnoses and post- mortem findings of cases referred to the Department of Anatomical Patho- logy at UP were evaluated and compared using modified Goldman criteria. A total of 288 cases qualified…

During the northern hemisphere summer of 2022, yet another round of extreme heat waves roasted Eurasia, North America and northern Africa – a stark reminder that these conditions are becoming the new normal. These events can have a devastating impact on wildlife. For instance, reports of large-scale deaths of birds have become regular in recent years, as we’ve seen in Patagonia, Argentina and Spain. These events underscore the need to understand the ability of birds (and other animals) to tolerate extreme heat. This information will be essential for predicting where and when future mortality events could occur. It can also tell us which species will be most affected. Intriguingly, when we conducted a study to measure how much heat 53 bird species in southern Africa could stand, we found that…

French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday announced that France was ending its Barkhane anti-jihadist mission in Africa after more than a decade, saying a new strategy would be worked out with African partners. “I have decided, in co-ordination with our partners, to make official today the end of the Barkhane operation,” Macron said in a keynote speech on military policy. The move was the “consequence of what we have experienced” in recent months and a new strategy would be worked out within the next half-year, he said. “Our military support for African countries will continue, but according to new principles that we have defined with them,” said Macron. He indicated that future strategy would be based on a closer co-operation with African armies to make France’s own deployment lighter and more…

NEW YORK: Meta Platforms said yesterday it would cut 13% of its workforce, or more than 11 000 employees, in one of the biggest tech layoffs this year as the Facebook parent battles soaring costs and a weak advertising market. The job cuts, the first in Meta’s 18-year history, follow thousands of layoffs at other major tech companies. “Not only has online commerce returned to prior trends, but the macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss have caused our revenue to be much lower than I’d expected,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. “I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that.” |…

CRICKET South Africa’s Director of Cricket Enoch Nkwe will hold one-on-one discussions with members of the Proteas’ T20 World Cup squad as part of a comprehensive review into what went wrong at the tournament in Australia. The Proteas were stunned by the Netherlands in Adelaide last Sunday, losing by 13 runs which resulting in them being eliminated from the tournament. Had the South Africans won that match, they would have qualified for the semi-finals of the competition. The review, which will be conducted by a panel, will take place over the next few weeks, and will be wide-ranging. It is not known if the now-former coach Mark Boucher, who headed to the US with his family immediately after the tournament, will form part of the review. “There will be a…

ACTIVISTS and analysts have expressed growing concern about South Africa’s increasing loans to fund its Just Energy Transition Programme (JETP) following more than R10 billion in loans from European countries. France and Germany have signed loan agreements for the two European nations to each extend €300 million, or a combined least R10.7bn, in concessional financing to South Africa to support the country’s efforts to reduce its reliance on coal through a just transition to cleaner energy sources. The announcement was made yesterday amid the ongoing UN Climate Change Conference, or COP27, in Egypt. The loans are provided by the French and German public development banks, AFD and KfW, directly to the South African government via the National Treasury. They are part of investment plans to the International Partners…

A PROPOSED paint deal between Kansai Paint, the manufacturer of Plascon, and Akzo Nobel (AkzoNobel), the manufacturer of Dulux-branded paint products, was scuppered by the Competition Commission in a bid to protect decorative coatings prices. The deal was announced in June as AkzoNobel sought to further strengthen its African footprint after reaching an agreement with Japanese, Osaka-based Kansai Paint to acquire its paints and coatings activities in the region. The commission, in a statement said yesterday that it had prohi- bited a proposed deal by AkzoNobel, an Amsterdam-based company that manufactures chemicals and chemical products, to acquire Kansai Plascon Africa and Kansai Plascon East Africa as it was likely to result in a substantial prevention or lessening of competition. The commission said it found that the proposed merger would…

Mihlali Ndamase recently took to Instagram to blast a few big brands for non-payment after she rendered her services to them. Now, in an interesting turn of events, one of the companies claim that she was in fact paid her due on time. Saint Champagne Bar & Lounge, a popular night club and lounge in Cape Town, pulled out all the receipts to prove that payments were made. The club issued a statement on Instagram in response to Ndamase’s naming and shaming Instagram post on October 29. The statement, written by the founder and CEO Toussaint Bashala, said all money owing to her was paid to her management team, Everything Creative Agency, who in turn seemingly failed to pay Ndamase. The statement confirmed R76 883 was paid in August as…

EFF blasts president for agreeing to ‘just transition’ to suit the West EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu has criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa for making commitments to transition South Africa from its coal use to renewable energy while developed countries still relied largely on fossil fuels. South Africa is one of the International Partner Group nations that have joined hands to bring an end to greenhouse emissions, but it seems South Africa is expected to make the first move while countries such as Germany have gone back to importing coal due to the failure of renewable energy initiatives. Ramaphosa made the recent commitments at the 2022 Conference of Parties – or COP27 summit – held at Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt this week. Last year, nations signed the Glasgow Just Transition Declaration…

Gauteng residents continue to have their hard-earned taxes spent irresponsibly. There are 15 cases relating to irregular, unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure under investigation by the Gauteng Provincial Government. The departments of e-Government, Health, Human Settlements and Agriculture and Rural Development reported cases of irregular expenditure. Unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditures amounted to R160 782 616.35. There is an investigation by the Department of e-Government regarding the procurement of the services of Guardian Proxy Services. The Department of Health is investigating allegations of procurement and human resources irregularities. Human Settlements is investigating an allegation of irregular provisions of security services regarding land invasion and the illegal occupation of houses. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is investigating the alleged irregular provision of security services in respect of land…

South Africa must be careful what it wishes for in connection with the much-vaunted panacea that, after the 2024 elections, the ANC will get less than 50% of the vote, making a coalition government desirable. The warning is fast becoming a cliché, but it must be repeated as such a scenario portends a looming disaster. This is not a concern about the ANC losing power, but the myopic view that opposition parties should concentrate on making sure the ANC loses power. What they each should be focusing on is their strengths and winning the elections on their own, so they can govern alone. It does not matter whether it is the DA, EFF or whatever party, for coalition governments, on the empirical evidence locally and regionally, are a mess. Consider…

EVEN amid the public outcry, and after protests, chants and hashtags on social media platforms, a woman is killed every four hours in South Africa. The Centre for Constitutional Rights says the femicide rate in South Africa is five times the global average. Last week, at the second Presidential Summit on gender-based violence and femicide in Midrand, President Cyril Ramaphosa said murders of women jumped by 50% this year and one in eight women are murdered by men in South Africa. We may never know the name, faces and stories of all of them, but one question that comes to mind is: Why are men killing women? In a report on gender-related killing of women and girls, the UN agency says: “The conventional understanding is that hate crimes against women…

Ingredients 2 large onion, finely diced Pinch ground nutmeg 2 tbs nutritional yeast (optional but gives a wonderful cheesy flavour) 2 tin unsweetened coconut milk 2 large bunch Swiss chard or kale 500g Portabellini mushrooms, sliced 1 cup fresh pomegranate rubies 1 cup coconut flakes, lightly toasted Olive oil or coconut oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste Method In a large frying pan, heat a little olive or coconut oil. Add the onion and sauté until soft. Season well and add the nutmeg and nutritional yeast. Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Wash and dry the Swiss chard. Roll up the leaves and roughly chop them Once the coconut milk has reduced slightly add the Swiss chard. Simmer for a few minutes until…

WITH the much-anticipated ANC national elective conference just over a month away, it looks like the contest for the party president will be a two-horse race between Zweli Mkhize and the current president, Cyril Ramaphosa. Both leaders recently received endorsements from the party’s leagues at the weekend. In KwaZulu-Natal, Mkhize is slowly, but surely garnering strong support as recent reports state that the party’s provincial leadership was adamant that over 90% of the branches had nominated him for the presidential position. ANC provincial secretary, Bheki Mtolo, affirmed that the party was more than confident that branches will confirm the decision by the regions that Mkhize must be the provincial nominee for the president’s position. In his address, Mtolo promised that the process would be transparent and open, and all qualifying…

Kathmandu: At least three people are reported dead in the Doti District of Far-West Nepal after a magnitude 6.6 earthquake hit the area in the early hours of yesterday. The Far-West region of Nepal recorded three tremors in 24 hours – two earthquakes and one aftershock, the National Seismological Centre (NSC) of Nepal stated. The tremors were also felt in India’s capital New Delhi and its surrounding areas. A magnitude 5.7 quake also shook Italy’s Adriatic coast yesterday, but caused no serious damage or injuries, according to initial reports. The quake was felt as far away as Rome on the other side of the country, and in the northern regions of Veneto, Friuli and Trentino. Three quakes also hit Fiji islands region but there were no tsunami warnings. |…

NKOSINGIPHILE Ngcobo has put his recent adversities behind him, stating that he wants to work his way to being a fully-fledged player at Kaizer Chiefs. Dubbed ‘the future of the club’ after his impressive exploits in the youth ranks, Ngcobo hasn’t lived up to that billing since his promotion to the seniors. That is mainly due to injuries, while changes to the coaching personnel haven’t helped him either, starting from his senior debut in 2019. But just when things were expected to look up for him, with Arthur Zwane taking charge, his situation turned sour. Ngcobo was sparingly used by Zwane in the opening stages of the term before he, unfortunately, lost his father midway through the first half of the season. “It’s a challenge for us as soccer players…

Sonia Booth’s marital drama continues to play out on social media as she she posted evidence of her husband Matthew’s affair. Since Monday afternoon, Sonia has been revealing Matthew’s affair drama which was uncovered, thanks to a private investigator and her car tracker. Now it appears even members of the public had seen Matthew out and about with his alleged mistress, revealed as Bongani Mthombeni-Möller. Sonia shared on Tuesday morning that after the whirlwind she finally had the strength to open her emails and came across one that detailed how someone spotted Matthew at a restaurant with his mistress. “Four weeks ago (October 15), my friends and I bumped into Matthew Booth and his supposed mistress at Kolonaki, Johannesburg. “We witnessed this man order Greek food that bedecked their entire…

A GROUP calling itself the Bakgoma Ba Mothapo Council is asking that acting monarch Kgoshigadi Refilwe Madipona Mothapo’s two children be subjected to DNA tests to establish their bloodline. In this round of the royal battle in the Polokwane High Court, the Bakgoma Ba Mothapo Council (the applicant), which describes itself as the inner circle of the Mothapo royal family, has brought an application for the bloodlines of Thato Paledi Mothapo and Mashoto Motheo Mareketle Mahlangu to be determined, in case they are appointed as chiefs. They want the two to avail themselves for DNA testing with a member of the applicant’s royal family. In papers before the court, Legodi Johannes Mothapo describes himself as the secretary of the applicant. He said the council has instituted another (pending) application in…

The various portfolio committees in Parliament have a duty to oversee and monitor all the departments within the civil service and many other institutions. The Zondo Commission specifically pointed out that Parliament had failed the country by not exercising its oversight role seriously and properly. I regularly attend the portfolio committee on employment and labour. Unfortunately, most of the members of all the oversight bodies are ANC members. The party tends to heavily support the directors-general of all the departments. It is rare for the party to put a government entity to terms. To this end, Justice Raymond Zondo was correct. Last week, I attended the portfolio committee on employment and labour, to hear its report on the third quarter performance of the department. All of us need to…

I bet you did not know that wild animals could dance. Look at the buffalo and the elephant in the room, doing the “tiekie draai”. Their moves are slick, as they shuffle across the Phala Phala dance floor. Seriously though, President Cyril Ramaphosa is ducking and diving as he attempts to find a plausible explanation regarding his Couch Bank and the sizeable sum of foreign currency that was deposited in its hollow fabric pillows. He has stalled, and continues to avoid the scrutiny levelled against him, for illegal foreign currency transactions. But the show goes on, with the buffalo doing a stylish Michael Jackson moonwalk, mesmerising the elephant into believing that it’s just an illusion. Ja nee, ou pal.…

Any hope our health-care services will improve any time soon is a figment of our imagination if we consider the long history of disparities in the budget allocation between the Department of Education and that of the Health Department, dating back to 1994. For the 2022/23 budget, the Education Department was allocated R235.74 billion, while the Health Department trailed with an allocation of R64.5bn. Clearly, no amount of explaining the damage and woeful state of our health services is receiving any attention. Many reasons have been advanced to explain why health needs a far bigger budget, but who is prepared to listen when those in government have an unshakable belief the education system, no matter how poor it may be, deserves to be prioritised? Only a change in government can…

WHAT had started out as a Saturday afternoon walk by a teenager with her then 2-year-old nephew and two friends, turned into tragedy after the teenager was hit by a train when she tried to rescue her nephew, who ran towards the tracks. The teenager, who was only identified by her first name Zanele, so as not to identify her under-aged nephew, was killed while the toddler was seriously injured. The mother of the small boy, identified as S in a North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria judgment, turned to the court to claim damages from Transnet. She said the goods train would not have hit her sister, 17, and her child if there were adequate fencing to prevent pedestrians from accessing the tracks. The mother also complained that there…

Nuclear energy supporters including politicians and activists sought to polish the industry’s spotty image yesterday, using the COP27 climate summit in Egypt to argue that atomic power offers a safe and cost-efficient way to decarbonise the world. Rising concerns about the swift pace of climate change and tight power supplies around the globe have softened some policymakers’ view of nuclear energy, an industry that has struggled for years to draw investment because of worries about safety, radioactive waste, and huge costs for building a reactor. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an intergovernmental organisation that seeks to promote nuclear power, opened an exhibit at the UN climate gathering of global leaders – a first in 27 years of the annual international climate negotiations – expounding the technology’s potential to fight…

Manila: An Australian man has been sentenced to 129 years in a Philippine jail as part of a child sexual abuse case involving victims as young as 18 months, a prosecutor said yesterday. It was the second conviction for Peter Gerard Scully, who is already serving a life sentence for an initial batch of charges involving the rape and trafficking of girls. Scully and his three co-accused entered into a plea bargain agreement. They had been charged with 60 offences. His girlfriend, Lovely Margallo, was sentenced to 126 years in jail. Two others were given sentences of more than nine years. |…