Indice dei contenuti per 2021-12-17 in Cape Times

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za STEINHOFF International Holdings said it had reached agreement with Tekkie Town and Trevo Capital, two parties that had formerly opposed the global retail group’s R25 billion settlement proposals. Steinoff, whose retail businesses include Pepkor Holdings, Mattress Firm and Greenlit Brands Group, hopes to settle some R136bn in legal claims against it which will allow it to focus on debt of about R151bn, and continue its recovery, since the accounting fraud in 2017 that led to losses of more than R200bn. The group said on Wednesday that it had received “overwhelming support” from the three classes of creditors in meetings held in September for the settlement proposals. Steinhoff said Trevo Capital, which had opposed the proposals, announced on Wednesday that it supported the proposal, subject to certain conditions.…

Tawanda Karombo Harare IN A BID to boost the mining sector by expanding production of metals such as platinum and chrome, Zimbabwe is following up on projects that have not yet become operational, and curbing exports of unprocessed minerals. The Eurasian Resources Group-owned Todal-Bokai Platinum Project, located next to Anglo Platinum-run Unki mine, has been targeted, with the cabinet directing Mines Minister Winston Chitando to follow up on the company to ensure production. A former executive with Mimosa mine, jointly owned by Implats and Sibanye Stillwater, Chitando is President Emerson Mnangagwa’s point-man in efforts to bump the mining sector to a $12 billion (R190bn) industry. However, owing to Zimbabwe’s risk operating environment, there will be no new outside capital, according to a chamber of mines survey. Mnangagwa’s administration is…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za THE family of a 15-year-old girl who was raped at Stellenbosch Hospital where she was receiving psychiatric treatment has slammed the health department’s alleged continuous lack of transparency, after it remained mum about the exact action taken against staff members. Disgruntled protesters, including family members and activists, presented the State facility with a memorandum of demands in October, which included calls for the suspension of the hospital manager and other staff members. The hospital was accused of negligence and trying to cover up the incident, which the family believed occurred on September 16. The hospital allegedly informed the family on September 25 that the assault had taken place on September 23. The teenager was admitted to the facility on September 1 after she tried to commit suicide.…

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za WHILE Eskom’s move to avail land at its power stations to private investors for the generation of renewable electricity has been welcomed, environmentalists and civil society continued to raise concerns about the safety of extending the life of the Koeberg nuclear plant. Concerned citizens and members of the Koeberg Alert Alliance and the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (Safcei) protested on Bloubergstrand Beach yesterday over the safety of the plant. Koeberg’s 40-year lifespan ends in 2024 and Eskom is seeking to extend its operating life by another 20 years. Protesters said they were concerned about the lack of transparency from Eskom over Koeberg, including several recent unplanned outages, the amount of time unit 1 has been off-line this year and the loss of key staff. The…

Odwa Mkentane odwa.mkentane@inl.co.za ZINTLE Matshikiza has resigned from the ANC following the appointment of assault-accused Masibulele Tolofane to the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC). Matshikiza also made damning allegations that the party had a number of sexual predators in its ranks, saying a sex audit would “cripple the organisation”. Newly-elected ANC Women’s League, Young Women Desk leader, Matshikiza this week became the second person to resign from party in light of Tolofane’s appointment – he is alleged to have hit a woman over the head with a bottle at a branch general meeting in Gugulethu in August. Newly-elected ANC Youth League PEC leader Naledi Maponopono resigned from her position recently due to the appointment of Tolofane. Tolofane is expected back in court in January to face charges relating to the alleged…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za SAMAS-nominated singer-songwriter, Jarrad Ricketts and his wife, Kim-Lee are spreading the spirit of giving and have pledged their support to the South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR), which has again launched its “Give A Little Save A Life” campaign. The couple have become advocates for stem cell donation and will be encouraging supporters to donate, while challenging many of the myths around the process. The campaign aims to raise R300 000 for their Patient Assistance Programme this year and the funds will be used to cover the cost of donor recruitment, donor searches and related medical bills. The musician said he was surprised to learn that black people were grossly under-represented on the registry. “Hundreds of South African patients die every year from blood-related diseases, in many…

What are some good adult reading possibilities for teens? Here is a wide selection of mystery, romance, non-fiction and science fiction that teens will enjoy. The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, by Laurie R King Sherlock Holmes meets his match in the teenage Mary Russell. This is the first of a long-running series and a perfect next step for fans of the Enola Holmes books by Nancy Springer. Teens will especially enjoy the battle of wills between Russell and Holmes. Blanche on the Lam, by Barbara Neely In this first of a quartet, a black housekeeper named Blanche White becomes a prime suspect when there’s a murder in the house where she’s working. Teens will find interest in Neely’s exploration of the racism – both overt and indirect – experienced by Blanche even…

MY LIFE IN FULL Indra Nooyi Loot.co.za (R249) PIATKUS EVEN among the South African business community, the name Indra Nooyi may not be that familiar. From her upbringing in India, she rose to become chairperson and CEO of PepsiCo, and her remarkable personal and career stories make her autobiography My Life In Full compelling reading. The book’s first paragraph immediately had me hooked and eager to read on: “The women’s living room in my childhood home had a single piece of furniture – a huge rosewood swing with four long chains that were anchored into the ceiling when my grandfather built the house in leafy Madras, India, in 1939. That swing set the stage for a million stories.” There was little to suggest that that childhood swing would one…

Prabir purkayastha FIGHTING global warming is not just about providing a path to net-zero carbon emissions for all countries. It is also about figuring out how best to meet the energy needs of people across the world, while working towards net-zero emissions. If fossil fuels have to be given up, which has now become an urgent need given the current environmental challenges, countries in Africa and a significant part of Asia, including India, need an alternate path for providing electricity to their people. What then is the best alternate course for poorer countries to follow for electricity production – if they do not use the fossil fuel route – that is being used by rich countries? This in turn also raises questions about how much this alternative energy source route…

MANILA: Thousands of people in the Philippines fled their homes and beachfront resorts as Super Typhoon Rai slammed into the country yesterday, with a charity warning that the storm could hit coastal communities “like a freight train”. Rai, the 15th typhoon to enter Philippine territory this year, is also the strongest storm to hit the country this year. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 195km/h as it made landfall on the southern island of Siargao at 1.30pm local time, the state weather forecaster said. “This monster storm is frightening and threatens to hit our coastal communities like a freight train,” said Alberto Bocanegra, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the Philippines. “We are very concerned that climate change is making typhoons more…

MIAMI: Brooklyn Beckham has launched his own cooking show. The 22-year-old star has teamed up with Facebook Messenger on a new eight-episode weekly series called Cookin’ With Brooklyn, which fans can watch together via the Messenger and Instagram apps. The show will see him meet notable chefs like Nobu Matsuhisa, Nancy Silverton, Chef Roy Choi, before taking inspiration and using his skills to re-create dishes for the likes of brother Romeo Beckham, fiancée Nicola Peltz and friends Sebastian Yatra, Dr Woo, LilHuddy and 24kGldn.…

The deep-seated struggles of daily life in Haiti – worsened by the rising power of gangs – created conditions that added to the death toll in a tanker explosion that killed at least 75 people in the country’s second-largest city this week. “We have a population that lives in extreme poverty,” said Marie-Rosy Auguste Ducena, an activist with the National Network for the Defence of Human Rights. “That’s what prompted people to go out and collect gasoline from the tanker, they thought they could resell the fuel,” she said. Patrick Almonor, deputy mayor of the northern city of Cap-Haitien where the accident occurred, said the driver of the tanker swerved to avoid hitting a motorcycle taxi, causing him to lose control of the vehicle, which then overturned. “The driver immediately…

Hanoi: A Vietnamese court sentenced an activist to 10 years in prison for spreading information against the state on social media, lawyers said yesterday, the fourth dissident jailed by the communist regime in three days. Do Nam Trung, 40, is well-known for taking part in environmental and anti-China protests and opposing government corruption. He previously spent 14 months in prison after publicly advocating for democracy and human rights in the early 2010s. Vietnam’s hardline administration often moves swiftly to stifle dissent, jailing activists, journalists and any critic with large audiences on Facebook.…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za THERE was no proof that the investigations into the 2016 domestic match-fixing scandal was based on the race of the players, the Social Justice and Nation Building report found. Alviro Petersen, Thami Tsolekile, Ethy Mbhalati and Lonwabo Tsotsobe had all used the hearings to air their grievances over the match-fixing scandal that occurred in the 2015/16 RamSlam T20 tournament for which they were all sanctioned. “Having considered testimonies from both complainants and respondents who appeared before the Ombudsman regarding the manner in which the match-fixing investigation was conducted, the (Office of the Transformation Ombudsman) is of the view that race played no part in the investigation,” the report noted. “The OTO could not find any evidence supporting the contention that black players were targeted during the investigation.…

ESHLIN VEDAN THERE is no doubt that AmaZulu’s current form will be very embarrassing to coach Benni McCarthy. He is a proud coach with big ambitions. Usuthu are currently on a run of seven consecutive draws. They have drawn 12 games so far this season which is the most for any side in the South African top-flight. They are unlikely to be given an easy time in their upcoming clash against resurgent Marumo Gallants at the Peter Mokaba Stadium today (5.15pm kick-off). The Limpopo-based side started the season in poor form but their results have improved since the appointment of Dan Malesela as coach. Gallants are unbeaten in their last five league games, having won three in the process. Despite their draws this season, the one positive that AmaZulu can…

IT’S probably easy to look at Kaizer Chiefs’ barren run in 2021 and conclude “how the mighty has fallen”! But a thorough research, inspection and analysis will tell you that this year was actually good for the Naturena-based outfit. Of course, do not hear me wrong. The success of a football club is gauged by the number of titles they’ve won over a certain period. And that Amakhosi haven’t won a trophy in six years doesn’t align with their famous tag, “the Cup Kings”. Perhaps this year was some reminder of what they stand for – as the biggest footballing institution in the country. That they couldn’t finish in the top three after a late sneak into the top eight was disappointing from their end. But those tears were tipped…

Mihlali Baleka mihlali.baleka@inl.co.za MAMELODI Sundowns are the champions that they think they are. Their rise to dominance in local football has been no fluke, given that they’ve made rivals like Orlando Pirates look like average teams this calendar year. The Brazilians put the Buccaneers to their sword in four successive matches this year – thrice in the league and once in a cup competition. But the latter will be eager for consolation in their last meeting of the year in Hatfield tonight. That won’t come on a silver platter, though. The finest details or lapse of concentration that can lose or win a match for either side. Both sides are patient on build-ups, but quick on turnovers. Here are five duels to look forward to in tonight’s encounter (7.30pm kick-off).…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za AUSTRALIA-BASED asset management company 360 Capital Group has put in a third offer to acquire Irongate Group, formerly Investec Australia Property Fund (IAP), despite IAP management’s misgivings about their earlier offers. IAP said in a statement on Wednesday morning that it had received a revised non-binding proposal from 360 Capital Group and 360 Capital Reit to acquire, by way of a trust scheme, all of the securities in IAP which 360 Capital does not already own, for A$1.72 (R19.83) cash per security. It said the new offer reflected a 7.2 percent increase from the original indicative proposal, first made on October 15. The second offer, made last month, represented an increase of only 3.1 percent on the original offer which IAP’s management had rejected, as they said…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za UCT Philosophy Professor David Benatar has been dealt a major blow in his attempt to invoke the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to know “Who is the Black Academic Caucus (BAC)?” after the Western Cape High Court dismissed his case and made a punitive costs order against him. He had turned to the high court following several public rows between himself and the BAC, a recognised voluntary association set to challenge the slow pace of transformation at UCT that “continues to maintain hegemonies and reproduce colonial relations of power.” The BAC had claimed Benatar’s actions in the past were “racially inflective”. In his founding affidavit, Benatar referred to a statement issued by the BAC on September 14, 2015 regarding events which occurred at a meeting…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za ALLEGED underworld figure and murder accused Mark Lifman has once again been denied leave to appeal against his strict bail conditions, hindering him from taking up a new job in Turkey. This after his previous attempt also failed in the high court last month. Lifman appealed against the decision of the Western Cape High Court to have his bail conditions amended in order for him to take up an offer of employment in Bursa, Turkey, which would require him to travel “extensively” to and from Europe, South America and Africa. In his judgment on Wednesday, acting Judge Adrian Montzinger said Lifman “had not identified any material issue of a persuasive value that justifies a conclusion that an appeal would yield reasonable prospects of success”. Lifman, who…

OWN Correspondent A PHOTOGRAPHIC exhibition dedicated to the first woman cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova, was opened at the SA National Space Agency‘s (Sansa) Science and Space Centre in Hermanus. The opening ceremony on Tuesday was attended by the Russian consul general in Cape Town, Aleksei Malenko, and Sansa managing director Lee-Anne McKinnell. Tereshkova flew into space on June 16, 1963, on the Vostok 6 spacecraft. She spent two days, 22 hours and 50 minutes in space. During the flight, she orbited Earth 48 times. It was a true challenge; despite the physical difficulties, she made journal entries and took photos of the horizon, which were later used to detect aerosol layers in the atmosphere. In 2000, the influential British organisation the Annual Assembly of Women who have achieved the Greatest Success…

Bright Burning Things Lisa Harding Loot.co.za (R514) HarperVia IF you’re interested in a novel that gives authentic voice to a modern woman’s alcoholism, pick up this smart, sensitive book about Sonya and her 4-year-old son, Tommy, as they weather a very difficult year. Sonya’s first-person narration begins urgently: we see her alternately smothering and neglecting Tommy, staggering through life and subsisting on little, save as much white wine as she can carry home from the supermarket. Her habits, including drunk driving, have left her estranged from her disapproving sister, Lara, their widowed father and most of her neighbours. But others see Sonya’s erratic behaviour. When she makes a scene in a pizza shop, slapping Tommy, a stranger observes the incident. Afterwards, Sonya’s father shows up with an ultimatum: either…

LOOKING back at 2021, it is clear that this was another challenging year for universities, here and elsewhere. Most residential universities again had to abandon their plans to continue with in-person classes and opted for emergency online teaching and learning. But teaching and learning in the context of the ever-challenging Covid-19 pandemic was only one of the many challenging debates at tertiary institutions in 2021. Another was the ongoing debates about changing the visual landscapes of our university-campuses. As has been the case, especially since the start of the Rhodes Must Fall movement in 2015, symbols and name changes on our campuses have again made the news. At Stellenbosch University (SU), we have continued on our journey of visual redress to remove, contextualise and add symbols (including names) in the…

British hospitals, particularly in London, are struggling to maintain staffing levels due to the number who are having to isolate with Covid-19, a senior emergency doctor said yesterday. With the new highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus surging, Britain on Wednesday recorded its highest number of daily coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with a further 78 610 Covid-19 infections reported. “The acute problem is actually to do with staffing,” Katherine Henderson, an emergency consultant in London and president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, told BBC Radio. “Even if we are not seeing a big rise in hospitalisations yet, we are already seeing the effect on not having the staff to run shifts properly and safely. So we are worried about patient harm coming about…

NEW YORK: Eric Trump, executive vice-president of The Trump Organization and middle son of former US president Donald Trump, reignited conversations about Mueller’s Russigate probe while noting his family’s political naiveté during an interview with former National Football League quarterback Jay Cutler. “We weren’t smart enough to collude with Russia,” Eric Trump asserted, pushing back on debunked claims that his father’s 2016 campaign conspired with the Russian government to tilt the presidential election in Trump’s favour. “We went out there and we spoke from the heart, we weren’t smart enough to collude,” he observed during a recent appearance on Uncut with Jay Cutler. “But from the second we got into politics, the impeachments started, they wanted to take us out.” Eric Trump notably campaigned for his father in both 2016…

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: Nine people, including Puerto Rican music producer “Flow La Movie” died when a private plane crashed at the Las Americas airport in the Dominican Republic capital Santo Domingo, the aircraft’s owner Helidosa said. Helidosa “regrets the tragic accident on one of its planes at Las Americas airport … in which tragically all of the crew and passengers died”, the company said in a statement. Music producer Jose Angel Hernandez, who went by “Flow La Movie” and was known for hits like Te bote, was listed in the Helidosa statement as being among the victims.…

Paris: There are currently 488 media professionals imprisoned around the world, the highest number since Reporters Without Borders began counting more than 25 years ago, the NGO announced yesterday. By contrast, the number killed this year – 46 – was the lowest since it began issuing annual tallies, due to the relative stabilisation of conflicts in the Middle East. “The number of journalists detained in connection with their work has never been this high since RSF began publishing its annual round-up in 1995,” the NGO said. The number has risen by 20% over the past year thanks to crackdowns on media in Myanmar, Belarus and Hong Kong.…

Sihle Mavuso, Jonisayi Maromo and Loyiso Sidimba The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal wants its national executive committee (NEC) to approve the bid to join the legal battle to overturn the North Gauteng (Pretoria) High Court ruling sending former president Jacob Zuma back to jail. The resolution was taken late on Wednesday during a routine three-day meeting of the provincial executive committee (PEC) in Durban. This comes as Zuma and the Department of Correctional Services made known their intention to appeal the ruling. ANC insiders said the reason why the PEC wants to join the fight as a “friend of the court” is that they fear that should Zuma be jailed again, there is a possibility that the province will see a new wave of violence and looting. The spokesperson of the…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za MZANSI Restaurant, a vibrant buffet-style eatery owned by 22-year-old Mbasa Siyaka, who is passionate about job creation, has bagged the Cape Town Tourism Board Development Fund (BDF) award. The annual award, established in 2014, aids small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) with cash rewards, mentoring and other business-boosting initiatives to develop their tourism businesses. With the devastation of cancelled bookings owing to the Omicron variant and the red-listing of South Africa by other countries, Mzansi Restaurant said the award came at the right time. The eatery, which offers a mix of Western and traditional African cuisine, lost all its international bookings for the festive season, rendering it solely dependent on locals for support. “With the ease of lockdown restrictions, Mzansi Restaurant was hoping to be at the…

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za TO ASSIST survivors of Gender-Based Violence (GBV), all the cogs in the support system machine needed to turn together. This is according to Gerail Adonis, a counsellor at the coalface of the GBV epidemic and lifeline for many at the National Shelter Movement of South Africa’s (NSMSA) National Shelter Helpline. Adonis is the team leader of a group of four counsellors at the helpline, launched just over a year ago and run out of the Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children in Manenberg. The NSMSA receives an average of 17 calls a day and over the last year received almost 6 000 calls. Most of these were for shelter placements while some concerned protection orders and safety plans. The counsellors connect survivors with legal and other…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za HEALTH Minister Dr Joe Phaahla has called for “responsible behaviour” and “stronger compliance” with Covid-19 prevention protocols during the festive season as the National Coronavirus Command Council(NCCC) retained the lockdown restrictions at Adjusted Level 1. The National Health Department said it was directed by the Council to closely monitor the rising Covid-19 infections, hospitalisations, mortality and recovery rates, which were largely driven by the Omicron variant, contributing to the country’s fourth wave. According to scientific studies, the virus was spreading quicker than in previous waves, but the rates of hospitalisations and deaths remained relatively low, officials said. “We call upon all travellers, especially those who are unvaccinated or partly vaccinated and who come from areas declared hotspots, to get vaccinated before hitting the roads, in order…

Marsha Dean marsha.dean@inl.co.za AS SCHOOLS and numerous industries close their doors for the festive season, many people are expected to head to the beaches and swimming pools for some fun in the sun. As such, protection measures have been put in place, with the public expected to adhere to the rules set by lifeguards as well. Zack Waters, 16, spends his public holidays and weekends volunteering as a lifeguard at Clifton beach. He has been doing lifesaving sports for three years and has been a lifeguard for two years. Waters said his motivation was seeing one of his school friends receiving an award for it, which led to his decision to join. “I have made some of my closest friends through lifesaving and the Clifton lifesaving community is like a…

| Jennifer Still It takes a village Lockdown 2020 Reflections and Recipes THIS well-written collection of uplifting, humorous and poignant short anecdotes by the residents of Helderberg Village will often have readers laughing out loud. When Covid hit early in 2020 and reduced our daily routines to pacing around our own homes and not being allowed out for a run or a walk with our dogs, many people lost it completely. But we slowly learned how to live through the first series of strict lockdowns we had last year, and we regained our sense of humour and "pulled finger" to help ourselves, our families, neighbours and colleagues to panic less and see the sunlight through the cracks of our shattered expectations of what could be possible next week. I…

TO QUOTE South Africa’s director of rugby and 2019 World Cup-winning coach, the term “Sir” has little relevance in South Africa. Rassie Erasmus was dismissing criticism – of himself – from the 2003 England World Cup-winning coach Clive Woodward. The former England coach is now a Sir, having been knighted. Earlier this week, F1 driver Lewis Hamilton was knighted. To the English, and by that I mean those in the UK, Hamilton’s acknowledgement should have come a long time ago. There is irony in the fact that it came the week after he was finally dethroned as the F1 King of the World. Hamilton, pre last Sunday’s final race, had won seven World Championships, the equal of Germany’s Michael Schumacher. Yet there was no knighthood, and equally there was no…

CRICKET South Africa (CSA) has not done its image any good as the governing body of a sport that has a shady racist past. This much has been confirmed by the federation’s own Social Justice and Nation Building (SJN) hearings that were led by Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza. Ntsebeza this week released the long-awaited report following months-long hearings, and it points to an organisation that has allowed discrimination to fester in both senior and junior teams, at different levels. Ntsebeza said it would be irresponsible for CSA to ignore the evidence of the “victims” on the basis of rebuttals. That captains and senior players actively participated in allegedly racially motivated acts in the Proteas teams is a big mark against those who are in charge of the game. The report also…

Thirteen of the world’s 20 biggest urban areas are set to be in Africa by the end of the century, according to a report by World Politics Review. The report by the website that publishes in-depth news and expert analysis on global affairs says extreme demographic growth will affect nearly every human question one can imagine, from the future of the environment to global trade, economics and prosperity; conflict and large-scale human migration, both orderly and chaotic; the fate of the postcolonial African nation state; and the future of many rich societies. According the UN, projections predict that from its present population of nearly 1.4 billion people, the continent’s population will approach 4.5 billion by 2100, which is the staggering equivalent in population terms of two Chinas and one India.…

Trailblazing US black feminist Gloria Jean Watkins, best known as “bell hooks”, whose graceful, probing and wide-ranging books sought to empower people of all races, classes and genders, anticipating and helping shape ongoing debates about justice and discrimination in the US, died on Wednesday at her home in Berea, Kentucky. She was 69. The cause was end-stage renal failure, said her sister Gwenda Motley. Hooks had been on the faculty of Berea College since 2004, serving as distinguished professor in residence in Appalachian studies. A poet, memoirist, social critic and scholar, she wrote more than 30 books, mixing the personal and the political as she examined Madonna music videos, Clarence Thomas’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing, the representation of black Americans in film and the nature of love. Honing a voice…

Beijing: More than 20 people were trapped after a coal mine was flooded in the city of Xiaoyi in China’s Shanxi province, as a result of illegal mining, local authorities said on Thursday. The accident took place at around 11pm on Wednesday at the mine in Duxigou Village, Xixinzhuang Township, according to Xinhua news agency. An initial investigation showed that a total of 22 people were working underground. Rescue work is under way. The local public security department has detained three suspects involved and is searching for the mine owner, who has fled.…

NEW DELHI: India’s federal government has cleared a proposal to increase the minimum age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years, local media reports said yesterday. The decision to lift the marriageable age among women was made during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. Currently, the minimum age for men is 21 and for women 18. With the move, the legal age of marriage for women will be the same as men. Indian PM Narendra Modi mentioned the proposal during his Independence Day speech last year, saying: “To save the daughters from malnutrition, it is necessary they’re married at the right age.”…

BRENTFORD manager Thomas Frank has called for this weekend’s Premier League fixtures to be postponed to allow clubs to deal with Covid-19 outbreaks that are threatening to derail the season. Brentford’s match with Manchester United was called off on Tuesday after Covid-19 cases at the Old Trafford club and the Burnley v Watford fixture on Wednesday became the third game in a week to be postponed. Yesterday, the league postponed the match between Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur following a Covid-19 outbreak, British Media said. This is Spurs’ third game to be called off due to Covid-19 after their Europa Conference League match against Rennes last week and a league match against Brighton & Hove Albion over the weekend. Britain is battling record numbers of Covid-19 cases as the Omicron…

ESHLIN VEDAN KAIZER Chiefs defender Happy Mashiane believes that his side will be looking to gain revenge over Royal AM, a team that mauled them 4-1 in the last encounter between the teams back in September. “It was not a nice feeling losing against them. It was an embarrassment for us because we know that we are playing for a big team and cannot afford to concede four goals in a game at home. Going to them, we have to fight to ensure that the same thing that happened previously does not happen again,” said Mashiane. Chiefs recently experienced a crisis of their own. They were forced to miss their fixtures against Cape Town City and Golden Arrows owing to a Covid-19 outbreak within their squad. However, they returned to…