Table of contents for 2022-02-08 in Star

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za RACIAL and gender diversity continue to be key themes for required change on South African boards, according to an annual research survey on non-executive directors of listed companies that was conducted by professional services firm PwC. Of the South African non-executive directors (including chairpersons), most non-executive directors (50 percent) were white, with black Africans making up 40 percent. Indian/Asians made up 6 percent and coloureds 4 percent. The representation of black Africans and whites as non-executive chairpersons increased to 35 percent from 32 percent, and to 58 percent from 52 percent respectively, while the Indian/Asian and coloured categories decreased to 4 percent from 11 percent in 2020, and to 2 percent from 5 percent in…

Alyssia Birjalal alyssia.birjalal@inl.co.za American singer Janet Jackson exposes her tumultuous life in a four-part documentary coming to M-Net on February 17. The four-part documentary sees the All For You hitmaker travel back to her hometown, Gary, Indiana, to see where her journey began. Jackson discusses everything, including her Super Bowl appearance with Justin Timberlake in 2004, where he accidentally exposed her nipple, the controversy surrounding her late brother Michael Jackson, as well as becoming a mother later in life. Talking to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jackson said her favourite episode was the first because it talked about her brothers and other family. She said it was difficult to choose footage for the documentary because there was so much. “It’s hard to tell your story in…

Itumeleng Mafisa THE City of Joburg is to step up its security after the arrest of a 33-year-old woman who had stolen computer hard drives at the Metro Centre in the early hours yesterday. The suspect was spotted by patrolling security personnel while she was trying to break an emergency exit door. The guard requested back-up from the Joburg metro police. When this arrived, the building was searched from the second floor and she was found hiding behind a door of an office that she had allegedly broke into. She was arrested. The Star understands that the suspect could not explain what she was doing in the building after the officers questioned her. She was found in possession of computer hard drives, other computer tools and tools she used to…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za THE LATEST death of the Grade 11 King Edward VII School is not the first incident where a learner of the school was allegedly killed. In September 2007, 18-year-old Mfundo Ntshangase from Meadowlands, Soweto, was stabbed seven times by learners from another school at a party. The Grade 11 learner later died at hospital while his friend, who was also stabbed,survived. Four learners from Athlone Boys High School were arrested in connection with the crime. Ntshangase was about to turn 18 and had applied to study computer science at Wits University when he was killed. During the trial, the court heard that the youngster was stabbed twice in the chest with a large knife and he tried to run back into the house where the party was…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za THE GRIEVING family of the King Edward VII learner, stabbed to death outside a Sandton nightclub at the weekend, said the youngster’s fight with the alleged suspect started last year. Dante Kade Liang, 18, appeared briefly in the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court yesterday facing a charge of murder in connection with the death of Hlompho Mbetse, a 17-year-old learner from the King Edward VII School. The teenager was allegedly stabbed to death after a fight broke out outside the Madison Avenue nightclub on Wessel Road in Rivonia on Saturday night. National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane confirmed that Liang remained in custody and was due back in court for a formal bail application on February 14. ER24 spokesperson Ross Campbell said paramedics arrived at the scene at 10.45pm,…

Kennedy Mudzuli kennedy.mudzuli@inl.co.za Model Mapula Sidibe, 24, from Pretoria is topping the standings after the first week of voting in the semi-finals of this year’s Black Barbie ambassador contest. The voting opened last week and the Mabopane resident immediately took the lead out of almost 100 contestants. The public has until the end of the month to vote. Sidibe said: “Winning this title will give me a huge platform to continue serving people, especially orphans, victims and survivors of gender-based violence. I am a firm believer in women empowerment. Since Black Barbie by TK specialises in women’s clothing and empowerment, this will be a great platform to utilise my skills.” Sidibe has established herself as a commercial, fashion and beauty pageant model since she entered the modelling scene a few…

Dr Thabisi Hoeane | Pretoria THE Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla has noted a fifth wave of Covid-19 is likely before this winter. It is commendable of him to be so open and send warning signals on this issue, although of course this does not mean we should panic. This is precisely because he notes that this is “likely”. But what is disturbing is that currently two-thirds of patients with Covid admitted to hospitals are unvaccinated. This underlines the imperative that the campaigns move towards full vaccination. People remain unvaccinated for various reasons. This issue has moved beyond the “rights” of non-believers in vaccines to the terrain of the majority of the population who have vaccinated. Tough choices should be made. Why should I, having taken the trouble to…

THIS week, South Africa embarks on a 26-day population and housing census, which will provide planners with demographic and socio-economic data. It’s a massive undertaking for the country and is an exercise whose results are eagerly awaited by a myriad partners involved in planning, policy, academia, forecasting and business. If the separation of powers, the three spheres of the government and the chapter nine institutions, is what strengthens our democracy, then census-taking, led by Statistics South Africa, is what feeds information into our governance. But a census is much more than just a tool for a head-count. A population census is the most complex and massive exercise a national statistical office undertakes. In many ways, this is a unique exercise. Risenga Maluleke, the statistician-general, is required by law to initiate…

On the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris 2020 campaign, the Democratic duo who would go on to occupy the White House pledged to “reassert America’s commitment to asylum seekers and refugees”. Liberal critics chastised the administration last year for seemingly violating that promise by indiscriminately deporting thousands of Haitian migrants back to their violence-plagued homeland. Now the administration is facing the same criticism – this time for taking aim at a surge of Venezuelans funnelling across the US border. The deportations happen as illegal immigration lurches back across the politically polarised West. From the US-Mexico border to the Central Mediterranean, the early pandemic lull in irregular crossings has evaporated, leading to a rush of migrants. Irregular border crossings into the EU last year climbed to nearly 200 000, jumping 57% over 2020…

Rooted to the foot of the Premier League, Burnley are battling for survival on and off the field as they prepare for the visit of Manchester United to Turf Moor today. An American-backed takeover just over a year ago has so far failed to live up to hopes it would give manager Sean Dyche a more competitive budget to work with. Dyche is the longest serving manager in England’s top flight and has kept Burnley in the richest league in the world for six seasons. But beating the drop this season may be beyond the 50-year-old as a lack of resources catches up with the Clarets. For fans there are fears that Burnley are following the example set by United for the wrong reasons. A controversial leveraged takeover in 2005…

HERMAN GIBBS Comment This year’s celebration of African football will long be overshadowed by the tragedy that killed eight people at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon. It was Carlos Queiroz, the Mozambican-born coach of Egypt, who reminded Samuel Eto’o, the president of the Cameroonian Football Federation, that Africa’s devotion and love for football should be evident at the continental showpiece. “Football is about celebration, it’s about joy, it’s about happiness,” said Queiroz, in response to Eto’o, who warned his fellow countryman to prepare for “war” ahead of Cameroon’s semi-final against Egypt. No-one could have foreseen the tragedy which happened at the 60 000-seater Olembe Stadium in Yaoundé when hosts Cameroon played Comoros in a Round of 16 fixture. Initial reports into the cause of the tragedy revealed that…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za THE OCEANA Group has suspended its chief financial officer (CFO), Hajra Karrim, “on a precautionary” basis ahead of the anticipated completion of an internal audit investigation by law firm ENSAfrica into how it accounts for its US fishing interests. The fishing group said yesterday that it had started a process to appoint an acting CFO. At the end of January the company said it planned to release the investigation report around February 10. Oceana had warned the market last October that its results would be delayed due to a problem around its ownership of US fish-meal and fish oil processing company Daybrook Fisheries, which Oceana bought for R4.6 billion in 2015. The deal had included a 25 percent interest in US fishing company Wesbank, as…

THIS TIME LAST year, we wrote about how difficult forecasting was and then proceeded to outline five possible investment trends for 2021. Interestingly, we were confident that the pandemic would be controlled. In hindsight, this proved unduly optimistic, as was our view that global inflation was unlikely to become a significant issue. The chart on the right shows how Covid-19 cases have soared globally, while CPI (consumer price index) inflation has remained elevated across the 20 largest industrial economies. In hindsight, these two wrong calls were related as successive Covid-19 waves and lockdowns skewed demand from services to durable goods, and severely disrupted global supply chains, leading to broad-based and substantial increases in prices. We were on firmer ground in predicting that global growth would come back strongly. In 2021,…

Pop star Rihanna is keen to tie the knot, after recently announcing her pregnancy. The 33-year-old singer recently revealed she’s expecting her first child with the rap star, and Rihanna is already planning to tie the knot. A source said: “Rihanna is totally smitten with A$AP. They have a very close bond and Rihanna has always been quite traditional. “They will be married, for sure. She has told pals she wants to be with him for ever, and he has said the same.” The loved-up duo – who started dating in 2020 – don’t plan to marry before the arrival of their baby. But Rihanna sees A$AP as her “forever person” and she is looking forward to getting married one day. The insider told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: “There are…

Sonri Naidoo THE MUCH-anticipated launch of Pan-African Liquor Trader’s Alliance (Palta), which heralds a new era of collaboration among liquor traders across the continent, is expected to be launched in Nairobi, Kenya today and Kampala, Uganda, tomorrow. The alliance’s interim general secretary Eddiewren Mutumba explained that it was important for the organisation to collaborate with all stakeholders, governments, and relevant social institutions to ensure that they supported each other in creating safe spaces at outlets. “Palta seeks to be the voice for liquor traders across the continent with key focus on critical issues that affect liquor traders and their communities. “These issues are alcohol policy and excise tax ,alcohol harm reduction initiatives, and gender-based violence (GBV),” said Mutumba. National Liquor Traders (NLT) founder Lucky Ntimane said that this was a…

Betty Moleya betty.moleya@inl.co.za UNIVERSITY Ranking by Academic Performance (Urap) has placed Vaal University of Technology at the bottom of the top 21 of South African universities and UCT as number one in the country. According to the 2021-22 world rankings, 21 universities in South Africa made it on to the 3 000 lists with UCT in the top 250. Urap gathered data from about 3 000 higher education institutes to rank them by their academic performance. Data for 3 000 higher education institutes was processed and the top 2 500 of them were scored. Urap is a non-profit organisation established at the Informatics Institute of Middle East Technical University in 2009. UCT was ranked number 240 globally, taking the first spot in the country, followed by Wits University which was…

Cometh Dube-Makholwa | Midrand THE ballooning of medical negligence claims which reached R147.12 billion in the financial year 2019/2020, according to The Star, January 31, is proof of how dysfunctional our health services have become. Monetary compensation for patients who have suffered loss at the hands of health-care workers is internationally used as a deterrent to keep them on their toes. But in this country there are inconsistencies in the way the process is applied. For instance, there was a little girl in 2004 who had both legs amputated because of gangrene that was due to incompetence of the doctor. The mother only received R2.5 million for a girl who would keep adjusting her prosthetic legs throughout her life. Compare that with mothers who win up to R27m…

Harry Sewlall | Sandton DR Duncan Du Bois’ letter, “Covid jab: more bad than good”(The Star, Thursday) presents a fallacious argument for the anti-vaxxing brigade. His argument fails the test of logic. For a highly literate South African – judging by his avowed credentials – it is an insult to the memory of those who have succumbed to the pathogen. Du Bois begins by appealing to the authority of Johns Hopkins University where some scientists “concluded that the policies of lockdowns, social distancing and masks are ill-founded and should be rejected”. If a handful of scientists arrived at such a conclusion, it is not the considered opinion of the rest of the scientific world. In the early days of the virus, lockdowns minimised the impact of…

Restoring normal population mobility to “Covid-zero regions” like China will cause about 2 million deaths in a year and the key to controlling the virus is developing vaccines better at preventing infection, Chinese researchers said. China has sweeping restrictions to try to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant as it hosts the Winter Olympics in Beijing. Chinese scientists calculated the “baseline efficacy” of vaccines against infections and death, which they estimated to be 30% and 86%, respectively. | AFP…

THE Proteas Women on Sunday completed an impressive 2-1 victory over the West Indies in a four-match one-day international series at the Wanderers. Here, Stuart Hess highlights the things we learned about the South Africa squad ahead of next month’s ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 in New Zealand … Ayabonga Khaka A lot has been said and written about the brilliant new-ball combination of Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail, but this Proteas unit has a third element that provides a threat in the form of Khaka. She was outstanding in the series, claiming 10 wickets, making big breakthroughs, and bowling with confidence. Her length and ability to find swing and seam movement through the air and off the surface was a highlight and an area, especially given the likely…

The Stormers sure did a lot of things right in their 20-10 United Rugby Championship win against the Sharks at Cape Town Stadium at the weekend, and one of the most pleasing aspects was how they closed out the game. In their previous game against the Sharks at Kings Park, coach John Dobson’s team were far from their best. They were demolished in the scrums for a large chunk of the game and errors from both teams only added to what was a rather frustrating show. But last Saturday, the Stormers were well in control. They did much, much better at the scrums, even though the Sharks did manage to edge them. Their defence was the standout feature of their performance; they brought some good touches on attack, with Warrick…

Zaahier Adams zaahier.adams@inl.co.za “There is no bulls**t, no politics.” This was Simon Harmer’s feeling back in 2019 about the difference between playing cricket in the UK in comparison to South Africa. The world has certainly changed considerably in the intervening years. Covid-19 had not enveloped us yet, and everything that it affected, but more specifically for Harmer and his fellow Kolpak cricketers, England were still part of the European Union. And then ‘Brexit’ happened almost exactly a year ago on February 1, with the resultant effect that the door was now closed on many disgruntled cricketers from SA finding employment in the UK. Harmer was one of the lucky ones, though. Due to the unbridled success he achieved at Essex since joining the Chelmsford-based County in east London in 2017,…

Lehlohonolo Mashigo lehlohonolo.mashigo@inl.co.za THE EFF is gunning for Communications Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, a close ally of President Cyril Ramaphosa, after her name appeared in the state capture report. Ntshavheni was implicated in the report as having pushed-out Denel executives after it was alleged they were refusing Gupta family influence. “As one of the top performing state-owned-enterprises (SOEs) in recent years, Denel was corrupted by Ntshavheni and her fellow board members … facilitating the suspensions of then chief executive Raiz Saloojee, chief financial officer (CFO) Fikile Mhlontlo and company secretary Elizabeth Africa, the EFF said. These executives were paid “to leave the company to the tune of millions of rand to “ease the business interests of the Guptas”, it said. The EFF called on Ntshavheni to immediately step down and…

Itumeleng Mafisa THE MAN who has on two previous occasions unsuccessfully launched court applications against Deputy President David Mabuza has now asked the high court for permission to film court proceedings of a rehashed matter he has brought against the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency and 23 others, for the purpose of making a movie. Fred Daniels was left with his reputation in tatters after a magistrate in a Carolina, Mpumalanga, court found he was attempting to hide his own illegal activities by abusing court processes when he brought a frivolous application for a protection order against Mabuza. Recently, Daniels was forced to withdraw another fraudulent interdict which he had launched in the Johannesburg High Court against Mabuza, in which he claimed the deputy president hatched a plot to kill…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za THE SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) has approved the use of two more Covid-19 vaccines, including the Chinese Covid-19 vaccine, Sinopharm. Sahpra announced yesterday that it registered two Covid-19 vaccines, Pfizer’s Cominarty, which was registered on January 25, and MC Pharma on January 31, also referred to as the Sinopharm vaccine. “The registration of these vaccines is a vast stride in vaccine registration as Sahpra plays its role in the fight against Covid-19. Sahpra will continue to play its part in ensuring the quality, safety and efficacy of all health products, including all vaccines, to ensure that the public is protected at all times,” Sahpra CEO Dr Boitumelo Semete- Makokotlela said. The regulatory authority said Cominarty is an mRNA vaccine indicated for immunisation to prevent Covid-19…

THE dismissal of the SABC’s head of news, Phatiswa Magopeni, confirmed what we know – the political interference at the public broadcaster. Since inception, the media, especially broadcasting, has always been predominantly under the control and scrutiny of the state. Like the National Party during apartheid, the ANC has influence over the public broadcaster’s content. Magopeni’s arrival as the head of news production redeemed the SABC from being a mere lapdog of the ANC with the only intention to advance Luthuli House propaganda.We started to see the powerful slogan, “independent and impartial”, which was a promise to the public that the SABC would no longer be what it used to be under the Mandela, Mbeki, and Zuma tenures. It was clear that under Zuma, the SABC was an ANC propaganda…

It’s often worthwhile to ask how indigenous communities should relate to capital investments in their ancestral lands. Capital, by its inherent nature, is a hunter in search of environments where it can grow to achieve maximum profits for its shareholders. In the search, it can be robust in its rough edges and contours – and needs some taming. More often than not, capital’s interests may not be in sync with those of communities it finds on the land it intends to invest in. But this does not mean that indigenous communities that lack economic resources must throw out the baby with the bath water, as it were. Indigenous communities need an injection of capital for development to take place where they are, while capital needs land and any resources…

British Health Minister Sajid Javid said yesterday that reports that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s wife Carrie was interfering with his ability to lead were sexist, undignified and unfair. A book by Michael Ashcroft, a former deputy chairperson of the Conservative Party, alleged Carrie had negatively influenced the prime minister’s decision making. “A politician’s partner ... should be off limits,” Javid said. A spokesperson for Carrie said the allegations were a “campaign against her by enemies of her husband”. | Reuters…

Mihlali Baleka mihlali.baleka@inl.co.za Orlando Pirates co-coach Mandla Ncikazi says their win over AmaZulu FC in the Nedbank Cup last 32 on Sunday will serve as a huge morale booster in all the remaining competitions in the second half of the season. After a elongated hiatus due to the recently concluded Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, the domestic season returned last week via the Nedbank Cup, where the Buccaneers defeated Usuthu 1-0 in the main attraction of the week to progress to the last 16. The Buccaneers’ goal was scored by Deon Hotto in the 53rd minute, and this win was important as it laid bare Pirates’ ambitions of winning week in and week out in the final half of the 2021/22 season when three trophies are still up for…