Indice dei contenuti per 2021-12-07 in Star

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za AYO TECHNOLOGY Solutions has strongly denied claims by a purported “whistle-blower” and disgruntled former employee in a Daily Maverick report that the company had misstated payroll costs before the release of its results for the year to end August, 2021. Zama Mlaba, a former member of the AYO finance staff, who had for much of this year been facing disciplinary proceedings at the company on other matters, alleged that the omission would have had the effect of AYO misstating its results by some R15 million. In a market announcement on the matter yesterday, AYO said Mlaba, who was dismissed for “repeated gross insubordination and insolence”, had claimed that this money came from undeclared payroll accounts for five months. BR put questions to AYO, as the allegations…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za JSE-LISTED firms have started consoli- dating their position on mandatory Covid-19 vaccines for the coming year as cases in South Africa continue to rise from the new Omicron variant, which has become the dominant strain. MTN Group and Sappi yesterday joined a growing list of companies that have adopted a mandatory vaccine policy for their employees starting from January. MTN, the largest telecoms network provider in Africa, said its new vaccine policy was a measure to meet its legal obligations in regard to providing a safe workplace. Employees will have a right to apply to be exempted from the policy on certain clearly defined grounds, but those who are not exempt and still refuse vaccination could be fired. MTN CEO Ralph Mupita said the policy will…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za DIAGRAMS drawn up by Competition Commission that claim to reveal evidence of collusion between 28 banks on currency trading by their participation in chat rooms did not go far enough to prove collusion between them, the tribunal heard yesterday. The Competition Commission has alleged, in a case initiated in 2015, that the banks participated in a “single overarching collusion” by participating in chat rooms where information on their trading in the rand/dollar exchange rate was exchanged. The commission accused the banks of manipulating the foreign exchange market by “fixing” the price of the rand for periods between 2007 and 2013. Legal counsel of Macquarie Bank, arguing for the allegations against the bank to be dismissed, told the tribunal yesterday that the commission’s case against the bank rested…

Given Majola given.majola@inl.co.za MICROS South Africa, a hospitality and restaurant industry solutions provider, has equipped the first two restaurants in the country with its new smart drive-thru point of sale solutions for fast-food outlets as it strives for a safer customer experience amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The system went live at the newly launched Pedros Flame Grilled Chicken outlet in Inanda, KwaZulu-Natal, along with an upgrade from an older system at Pedros Bonaero in Johannesburg. This promised to establish a faster, smarter and more efficient service restaurant experience. Micros South Africa managing director Reginald Sibeko said drive-thru ordering, historically seen as an ancillary (and optional) sale mechanism, was becoming increasingly vital to continue the sustainability of the food service sector, which was one of the hardest hit by the pandemic.…

Kedibone Modise The Stageworx School of Performing Arts is ending 2021 on a very high note. As part of the year-end celebration, the Stageworx is inviting the public to their two-day showcase, taking place at Nu Metro cinema at Clearwater Mall on December 11 and 12, The event organisers promise sheer entertainment and world-class performances as the students showcase their talent and extraordinary work accomplished during the year. The event features a series of screenings, including The Show Must Go On, a 90-minute non-stop music extravaganza, set to take viewers on a journey through the trials and tribulations of the life of a performer during the pandemic. Founder and principal of Stageworx School Of Performing Arts, Gemma Marinus, says: “Our showcase celebrates the success of our school during 2021…

Zainul Dawood zainul.dawood@inl.co.za TRIBUTES are pouring in for former South African deputy minister and Struggle veteran Ebrahim Ebrahim, 84, who died yesterday. ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe said Ebrahim was a patriot who served his country in different capacities with humility, dedication and distinction. Ebrahim was born in Durban and spent his youth with his grandmother Sarah Khan in Effingham, north of Durban. His parents moved from Johannesburg and lived in Candella Road near Sherwood. In 1949, he moved with Khan to Greyville. He was inspired by speeches of leaders such as Chief Albert Luthuli and Dr Monty Naicker. Ebrahim joined the movement in 1952, and through the National Indian Congress participated in the Congress of the People Campaign, which drew up and adopted the Freedom Charter in 1955.…

Nokwanda Ncwane nokwanda.ncwane@inl.co.za MINISTER of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Dr Blade Nzimande has expressed his concerns about “bogus” institutions awarding honorary doctorates to unsuspecting individuals, especially celebrities. Nzimande urged members of the public to always be wary and not accept such qualifications. Last week, social media was abuzz when it was revealed that entrepreneur and reality TV star Shauwn Mkhize, known as MaMkhize, was officially a doctor after being awarded an honorary doctor of philosophy degree for her “good deeds” by the Good Shepherd College of Religion, Culture and Training. Mkhize went as far as asking to be addressed as “Dr Mkhize” and subsequently changed her Instagram name to Dr Shauwn Mkhize. However, it soon emerged the institution that honoured the Royal AM football club president did not even…

Rafieka Williams rafieka.williams@inl.co.za CAPE Town adventurer Ryan Jacobs is taking on the mammoth task of becoming the first African person of colour to row the Atlantic Ocean on his own. The trip will see 35-year-old Jacobs rowing from Cape Town to the Caribbean, specifically Barbados. Jacobs has got the go-ahead from Guinness World Records to attempt to break the current record for sailing the Atlantic. This was set by Erden Eruç from Turkey, who rowed across it solo, non-stop – a distance of 9 314 km (5 029 nautical miles). He started in Namibia and ended in Venezuela, after a journey lasting almost 154 days. Jacobs said he wants to push the boundaries: “If I said I want to row the Atlantic from Cape Town to Brazil like other…

Herman Gibbs herman.gibbs@africannewsagency.com In what has been a watershed year for African tennis, Ons Jabeur has broken into the world top-1O rankings to become the first African player to do so in almost 40 years. Last month Tunisia’s Jabeur moved into the No 7 slot on the world women’s rankings, after cracking an initial top-10 slot at No 8 in October. The last time Africa featured a player in women’s top-10 rankings was in November 1997, when South African Amanda Coetzer shot to prominence. Coetzer was known as the ‘Little Assassin’ because of her small stature and her upset wins over world No 1 players like Steffi Graf, Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles and Martina Hingis. The only other African player ever to attain a top-10 world ranking is another…

England captain Joe Root said he did not feel comfortable naming his team for the first Ashes Test in Brisbane yesterday but he left little doubt that talisman Ben Stokes would be in it. All-rounder Stokes was a late addition to the squad after taking an indefinite break from the game in July to focus on his mental health, while also recovering from a second operation on a broken finger. Stokes, who tortured Australia with an unbeaten 135 at Headingley to pull off an improbable run chase in the 2019 Ashes, made light of his long lay-off by taking 2/31 and scoring 42 not out against the England Lions last week. “It’s really been good to see Ben back involved in the frame of things and to get into the…

International Tennis Federation (ITF) president David Haggerty said his organisation will not boycott China over the Peng Shuai affair as “we don’t want to punish a billion people”. The WTA, which controls the women’s game, last week suspended all tournaments in China amid what its chairman called “serious doubts” about the safety of Chinese player Peng, who accused a top Communist Party leader of sexual assault. WTA chair and chief executive Steve Simon said the move, which could cost the WTA hundreds of millions of dollars, had the “full support” of the tour’s board of directors. But the ATP, which governs men’s tennis, has refused to follow suit. Now the ITF, the world ruling body of tennis, has also rejected such a move. “As the governing body of tennis, we…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za CHICKEN prices are expected to soar over the festive season, figures from ChickenFacts and the National Agricultural Marketing Council indicate, impacted by the cost of chicken feed, droughts, avian flu, South Africa’s recent civil unrest, the prices of fuel and increased tariffs on chicken imports This as the price of chicken fillets in South Africa is below only that of Libya and Mauritius in a comparison with other African countries, which reflect a much lower price tag. In a peek at festive prices for poultry in different markets, figures adjusted for the exchange rate as of October 18, and for conversion from imperial to metric, point to a kilogram of chicken fillets in Thailand being at R31.84, in South Africa R72.48, Mauritius higher at R79.55, Nigeria R57.34,…

Tawanda Karombo IMPALA Platinum has approved $1.8 billion (R29bn) in capital expenditure for its Zimbabwe unit, Zimplats, which would develop a new mine and expand production at existing portals. Zimplats is a big investor in Zimbabwe’s mining sector, accounting for a bigger portion of the country’s platinum output. Implats also has an investment in Mimosa mine, which it jointly owns with Sibanye Stillwater. The new capex vault for Zimplats formulates part of its capital investment strategy “over a 10-year period beginning in 2021” with about $1.2bn already approved for implementation. The projects set to receive a boost from the new investment include maintaining current production levels through mine replacements and upgrades under which $516 million has been set aside for expansion of production levels through growth projects and…

Fifa have found a willing ally in CAF as it tries to muscle its way down world football's corridors of power with confrontational agendas. Top of the list is the matter of Fifa's pet project of a biennial World Cup to replace the tried-and-tested quadrangular version, which has survived the Second World War and remains the world's biggest sporting event. Recently, Giovanni Infantino, Fifa's Swiss-Italian president, attended CAF's extraordinary general assembly in Cairo. He was accompanied by Arsene Wenger, Fifa’s chief of global football development. During their presentations, the two Fifa officials went to great lengths to present a strong case for a biennial World Cup, insisting that increasing the frequency of the World Cup would help member associations reach their full potential. They argued that this project would extend…

I HAVE always loved visiting my friends who were living on farms. Among the green pastures or picturesque canola fields, or amid the silence of the wide-stretched Karoo, the air seemed to be fresher than in the city. But in New Jersey (and a few other places near cities) there is a different type of farm inside a massive but unremarkable warehouse in an industrial park overlooking some parking lots. Although it looks nothing like the wide open farms in South Africa, this is the headquarters of the famous Bowery Farming that is known for its innovative farming methods and technology. Bowery Farming is trying to change the future of agriculture. In a time of major climate changes, climate warming, overpopulation, crippling global droughts, water scarcity and restrictions, Bowery Farming…

Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za THE National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has appointed a team of prosecutors and investigators to deal with outstanding apartheid-era cases within three years. Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions, Rodney de Kock, will head the team after the NPA recognised and appreciated that the apartheid-era cases have taken a very long time to be addressed. National Director of Public Prosecutions, Shamila Batohi, yesterday said the NPA would hire prosecutors on contract for three years dealing exclusively with unresolved matters relating to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). She assured the country and the families of victims that the prosecuting authority had put in place structures to achieve this. She said the prosecutors would be hired on contracts for three years dealing exclusively with TRC matters. ”We will ensure…

Harvest Thwala Every parent wants the best education for their children, however, private education in South Africa does not come cheap. A recent report by Business Insider listing 10 of the most expensive schools in the country makes for frightening reading. The reports shows that it’s cheaper to complete a degree at some of the country’s best universities than a year’s study at top private schools. The top 10 list has individual school fees exceeding R160 000 per annum, and that’s cheap considering the country’s most expensive school charges in excess of R200 000 a learner. According to the report from Business Insider, KwaZulu-Natal’s Kearsney College is still the most expensive school. It is a medium high school for boys in a small town, Bothas Hill. Kearsney…

Cometh Dube-Makholwa | Midrand HOW I wish I could understand the continued resistance of the Eastern Cape communities to resist any attempt by any company to improve their economic conditions by exploring the possibility of introducing industries that could bring about needed change in employment opportunities. Are these people so concerned about preserving the aesthetic value of their environment that they would rather spend their lives far removed from their families as migrant workers in other provinces, happy to continue exploiting natural resources in those provinces while their province remains rich in unexplored natural resources; while their families remain in extreme poverty and starvation? What kind of reasoning is this? The current protests in relation to the Shell seismic survey remind me of a similar response to an…

Staff Reporter THE Northern Cape’s Tamelyn Bock was crowned the official winner of the inaugural Miss Wheelchair South Africa at a glitzy ceremony at the Artscape Theatre centre. Bock will represent South Africa at Miss Wheelchair World in Mexico in October next year. Miss Wheelchair South Africa in partnership with Universal Accessibility Hub (UAHub) was held on Thursday night with an aim to create an awareness around “Beauty without Barriers” and to change the perception, narrative, and image of disabled women in South Africa. While 25-year-old Bock was shocked when her name was announced, she was ready to take on the journey to remove barriers facing people with disabilities. She said she was “overjoyed to be the voice” for Miss Wheelchair South Africa. In her victory speech, Bock shared her…

Max Verstappen need not score another point to be Formula One champion if Lewis Hamilton also draws a blank in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, and the risk of a thrilling season ending in collision and controversy is real. The rivals are level on points after Sunday’s chaotic Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia but Red Bull’s Verstappen is ahead of Mercedes’ seven-time world champion 9-8 on race wins. Britain’s 1996 world champion Damon Hill is wary of history repeating itself and suggested the sport’s governing body should send a clear warning. “There is a precedent that was set in the championship in 1997 where (Michael) Schumacher’s points were taken away from him,” he told Sky Sports viewers in his role as a pundit. “So, if we do have a (collision) situation,…

Daniel van Tonder’s victory in the South African Open at the weekend saw him jump 72 places in the latest world golf rankings to bring the number of South Africans in the top 100 to eight. Van Tonder, who reached a career high of 72nd on the list after his share of second place at the Limpopo Championship in April, had slipped to 151st in the rankings, which was just one above the position in which he started the year. His dramatic one-stroke victory over Oliver Bekker at Sun City on Sunday changed his trend upwards again, and also secured his entry into the Open Championship at St Andrews in July next year. Bekker, for his efforts, also had a huge 95-place jump on the ranking list from 259th to…

India face a problem of plenty for their upcoming trip to South Africa having beaten New Zealand at home despite resting a number of regulars, but captain Virat Kohli said it was a “good headache to have”. The hosts were without Kohli in the first of the two Test matches, while batter Rohit Sharma, wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant and fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami were rested for both matches against New Zealand. Despite the absences, India came agonisingly close to victory in the opening match at Kanpur before thumping the world Test champions by 372 runs to wrap up the series 1-0. The success of fringe players has left Kohli’s India in a good space as they head to South Africa in a week’s time for a three-Test series.…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za NEDBANK said yesterday that it anticipates full-year profits would almost double for the year ended December. This was hard on the heels of Absa, which a few days ago saw profits more than doubling in 2021 compared with a year earlier. Nedbank said it now expected full-year headline earnings a share to increase by more than 90 percent and a 180 percent jump in earnings per share when compared with a year earlier. The strong profits from Nedbank come after Absa said on Friday it expected normalised headline earnings per share for the year to December to be more than double the 946.5 cents for 2020. However, Nedbank flagged that a severe fourth wave would impact its financial performance. “Risk to our guidance includes…

West Ham United defender Arthur Masuaku was the unlikely match-winner as the Hammers twice came from behind to shock Chelsea 3-2 at the weekend in the Premier League. The DRC international came off the bench and beat Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy at his near post on 87 minutes with a cross-cum-shot. Here, we look at Africans who starred in the major European leagues. ENGLAND ARTHUR MASUAKU (West Ham): Masuaku was one of the headline acts of the Premier League weekend, scoring a freak late winner in West Ham’s victory at the London Stadium, catching out Mendy at his near post. The 28-year-old took to Twitter with a cheeky message to address speculation about whether he had meant it. “So, was it a cross or was it a shot,” he asked.…

Viwe Ndongeni-Ntlebi viwe.ndongeni@inl.co.za For many people who have committed and worked hard throughout the year to staying healthy, maintaining that healthy lifestyle can be challenging during the festive season. Ditching your weight loss or weight management plans or letting go of your health-conscious habits over the festive season stresses body and mind. Of course, you want to enjoy yourself, and it’s certainly not the time to deprive yourself, but you can avoid the holidays becoming an extended binge by using strategies. Nathalie Mat, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for Association for Dietetics in South Africa, says: “Healthy eating during the holidays might take some thought, but it’s really manageable. Having access to healthy food is key. If there is healthy food in your fridge, you will eat it. “The same…

Kailene Pillay kailene.pillay@inl.co.za IFP founder and president emeritus Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi has again tested positive for Covid-19, his family confirmed yesterday. He first caught the virus in August last year. Buthelezi is said to be relatively asymptomatic and is in good spirits. “His only regret is being unable to attend the installation ceremony of the Chancellor of UCT, Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe, as intended on Friday,” family spokesperson Dr Bhekuyise Ngqengelele Buthelezi said in a statement. The traditional prime minister to the Zulu monarch has begun self-isolating at home for the mandatory period. His family said they were grateful to know that he had been double vaccinated and would be monitored by a capable team. “During this period of self-isolation, members of the media are kindly requested to respect our space.…

Ashfak Mohamed ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za THERE is no doubt that a large part of the Springboks’ success has been due to their ever-growing overseas-based contingent, but should the blanket open selection policy continue forever? That was the interesting question raised by Bulls director of rugby Jake White in the aftermath of prop Trevor Nyakane leaving Pretoria for Racing 92 in Paris. White actually felt that it was a good outcome for the Bulls – as Nyakane’s continued involvement at Test level meant that he hardly featured for his franchise. But the former Bok coach feels that the domestic teams will continue to suffer if national coach Jacques Nienaber is able to select any South African player based at an overseas club. The SA Rugby have flipped and flopped on the matter in…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za Another day, another deadline extension for the Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) Social Justice and Nation Building (SJN) report, which will now be delivered to CSA’s board of directors on Friday. It is the fourth extension granted to the Transformation ombud Adv Dumisa Ntsebeza and his team, indicating the mountain of work they’ve had to get through. The original date for the report’s delivery was September 30, but that date was changed to accommodate responses from those who had been named in the original phase of the Ombudsman’s oral testimonies which were conducted in July and August. The next deadline was November 30, which was extended by one week to December 6, with the extra four days the newest deadline for delivery. Ntsebeza had mentioned on a number…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za The re-revised schedule for the India Tour to South Africa will see SuperSport Park host the opening Test on Boxing Day, Cricket South Africa (CSA) confirmed yesterday. The New Year’s Test will be played at the Wanderers from January 3, while Newlands will host the third Test from January 11. That match could be a special occasion for India captain Virat Kohli, who, should he not suffer any catastrophic injury, will play his 100th Test at the renowned Cape Town venue. CSA and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed at the weekend that the series would take place after a few nervous weeks following the finding of a new Covid-19 variant by South African scientists. A number of countries banned travel to southern…

New Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick enjoyed a victory in his opening game in charge of the club with a 1-0 win against Crystal Palace, but while the points are the priority, there will be plenty of focus on the style of football the German delivers at Old Trafford. If the opening game was any clue – and Rangnick had only one full training session with his team – it may not be quite as exciting as billed. Rangnick has been hailed as a tactical innovator of the intense pressing game that has become popular among a number of top German coaches, but while United’s forwards did press Palace’s back line in the early stages that was not the most noticeable change. Rather Rangnick operated without wide attacking players…