Table of contents for 2021-05-18 in Star

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za SOUTH32, the Australian-headquartered mining company yesterday flagged a loss of up to $175 million (R2.47 billion) from the sale of its South Africa Energy Coal (Saec) to Seriti Resources as Eskom gave its consent for the transaction. South32 chief executive Graham Kerr said yesterday that on completion of the divestment the group expected to book a loss on sale of between $125m (R1.7bn) and $175m, while the group’s net cash balance was expected to reduce by about $180m to reflect the recognition of the vendor support package being provided to Seriti. “For South32, completion of the divestment is an important milestone that will see us significantly simplify our business, reduce our capital intensity and improve our underlying operating margins,” said Kerr. South32 previously announced…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za REDEFINE Properties’s distributable income fell 21.8 percent per share to 26.2 cents in the six months to February 28, compared with a pre-Covid reporting period, mainly because of the impact of Covid-19 on the property sector and economy. However, the company was in a good position to benefit from an antici- pated uptick in property fundamentals in line with the expected vaccine roll-out in the latter half of the year, chief executive Andrew Konig said yesterday in a presentation. No full-year distribution guidance was provided, and the dividend was deferred until the end of the financial year because of the uncertain environment. Redefine shares dipped 4.36 percent to close at R4.17 on the JSE yesterday. “We did not take this decision lightly. It…

THE WINDSORS: INSIDE THE ROYAL DYNASTY M-NET SERIES, DSTV 115, 7.10PM The marriage between the prince and princess of Wales starts to fall apart and the queen begins to face the greatest challenges of her long reign. BILLIONS S5 M-NET CITY, DSTV 115, 8.50PM Axe makes big plays with an unconventional source of inspiration. Chuck goes to desperate lengths for family. A provocative drama. MOM VS. WIFE HONEY, DSTV 173, 5PM In a fresh take on a cooking show, the mother and bride-to-be of the groom-to-be each prepare a dish. While blindfolded, he’ll choose the one he likes best. YES! NIDO! BEENI!: ZAMBIA HONEY, DSTV CHANNEL 173, 7.30PM A team of Zambian event planners help men to plan a wedding proposal to knock the socks off their significant others.…

ZELDA VENTER zelda.venter@inl.co.za A MURDER-accused who insisted “the truth does not need any explanation” became fed up after his State-instructed lawyer failed to be present for his trial. The man opted to defend himself, but soon discovered this was not the best route to take. Jan Bezuidenhout was sentenced in the Vosloorus Magistrate’s Court to 15 years imprisonment for shooting and killing herdsman Bisani Tshukela. Bezuidenhout told the court while the bullet which took Tshukela’s life came from his firearm, he never meant to shoot him. He said the shot went off while the two of them struggled for the firearm. According to Bezuidenhout, Tshukela was herding his cattle through his property. Bezuidenhout then fired several warning shots before Tshukela wrestled him for the firearm. Bezuidenhout from the start of…

A 50-YEAR-OLD teacher accused of raping a 17-year-old former matric pupil from Mbilwi High School was remanded in custody by the Thohoyandou Magistrate’s Court yesterday. The teacher, Makhuvha Solomon Ntshidzeni, will formally apply for bail at the same court next Monday. He was arrested on Friday after the alleged victim opened a case last month, three years after she completed her matric at the school where the accused was employed. Yesterday Pretoria News reported that the educator allegedly sexually assaulted a pupil a number of times in 2018 by luring her to a lodge ostensibly to offer her private lessons. The incident has brought the school back into the spotlight after the case of Lufuno Mavhunga, who committed suicide following a video of her being assaulted by another pupil went…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za Joburg’s “reading runner”, advocate Marukgwane Moremogolo, has died following a battle with cancer. In April 2019, Moremogolo, who was also known as Maru, was pushed into the spotlight when he shocked spectators at the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon and ran the race while reading Zakes Mda’s The Zulus of New York. The Fat Cats Athletics Club runner ran while reading the book in breaks as part of a campaign to donate books in Atteridgeville and the Vaal area. Fat Cats Athletics Club announced yesterday that their “dear brother and friend”, who was affectionately known as “Advocate Maru”, “The Future Mayor” and the “Reading Runner” had died. “Maru unfortunately lost his battle to cancer in the early hours of this morning after being ill for a short time,”…

THE 11 justices of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of South Africa are supposed to be independent. They cannot be members of Parliament, of the government, or of political parties. They are required to be impartial and to uphold justice for all the people of South Africa, without fear, favour or prejudice. This was as a result of the pre-1994 multi-party negotiations that the judiciary should transform. The objectives of the transformation of the legal system are to overhaul old-order legislation, apartheid policies and legal precedent, and to ensure equal justice for all. Sections 174 to 178 of the Constitution deal with the appointment of judicial officers and the creation of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), whose crucial and primary function is to screen candidates. First, the JSC –…

Tony Walker What’s next in the latest Middle East convulsion? Will a ceasefire between the Hamas militant group in Gaza and Israel be brokered by Arab mediators in co-ordination with Western powers? Or will the situation continue to deteriorate? Are we witnessing the beginning of an intensifying conflict in which Israelis find themselves enveloped in a bloody confrontation with Palestinians across the occupied territories and, more threateningly, inside Israel itself? Will Israel become enmeshed in widespread communal unrest on its own territory in Arab towns and villages? In short, are we witnessing the early stages of a third intifada, in which casualties mount on both sides until the participants exhaust themselves? We’ve seen all this before – in 1987 and 2000. Then, as now, violence spread from territories…

Israel yesterday assassinated a senior militant commander in the Gaza Strip, the country’s forces claimed, triggering a fresh barrage of rockets on its cities. Israel’s Shin Bet security service and the military said in a joint statement that warplanes struck and killed Hasam Abu Harbid, commander of the Northern Division of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a militant group in Gaza that has been fighting alongside Hamas in the recent escalation. Abu Harbid “has consistently led rocket launches against Israel, as well as shooting attacks at soldiers”, the statement read, adding he was behind an attack last Monday in which an Israeli civilian was injured. He was a commander in the Islamic Jihad for the past 15 years, according to the statement. Shortly after the attack, a rocket barrage from Gaza…

If all goes according to plan, South Africa will have two boats in the Olympic sailing programme in Tokyo for the Olympic Games this year. That’s after Leo Davis secured a qualification spot at last week’s Finn Gold Cup in Portugal to join Benji Daniel and Alex Burger, who qualified in the 49er class last month. Davis had initially dreamed of representing the country at the Olympics in rowing but was eventually named as the reserve to the heavyweight pair that competed in Rio five years ago. After four years training with the high-performance squad under national rowing coach Roger Barrow switched boats in 2018 with a view to competing in Tokyo in sailing. Having successfully secured the continental qualification spot in the Finn class, the Cape Town sailor’s final…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za ADAPT IT said yesterday that an independent expert, Nodus Capital TS, had recommended to its shareholders to reject the Huge Group’s offer, citing that the offer is unfair and unreasonable to its shareholders. The Huge Group tabled an offer of 55 cents a share for the entire issued share capital of Adapt IT in January, valuing the provider of specialised software and digitally-led business solutions at R795 million. However, Adapt IT share price has since rallied, fuelled by the news of its proposed acquisition and reached a high of R7.20 when the Canadian- based software company, the Volaris Group, entered the race last month for its takeover, offering 650c a share. Nodus Capital was appointed by Adapt IT’s independent board in February to express an…

CALGRO M3, a leader in the development of integrated residential developments and memorial parks, returned to profitability in the year to February 28 after revenue, gross profit and the balance sheet improved. Chief executive Wikus Lategan said it was a particularly pleasing set of results, given that the group had faced enormous challenges during the financial years 2016 to 2018, following which hard decisions were made and executed in 2019 and 2020. “We’ve managed to reduce our debt and cut our fixed costs substantially by 40 percent, sell non-core projects and the residential rental portfolio, and ultimately improve liquidity,” he said. Debt was restructured, and only R70 million remained in capital market maturities in the next 24 months. The construction division was being outsourced. Overall revenue for the year decreased…

Itumeleng Mafisa THE National Union of Metal Workers of SA (Numsa) has approached the Constitutional Court to compel Parliament to save South Africa’s ailing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) from liquidation. The union has accused the ministers of Finance Tito Mboweni and Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan of trying to bring the SOEs into liquidation. Numsa said around 3 000 jobs had been lost at South African Airways, while at Denel at least 3 137 jobs would be on the line if the government refused to intervene to save It. “The National Assembly must decide whether Denel or SA Express (SAX) or other any other major state-owned company (SOC) should be wound up or liquidated. Parliament’s portfolio committee on public enterprises and/or Scopa (Standing Committee on Public Accounts) and ultimately the National…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za WOMEN and men will next week walk in heels from the Johannesburg CBD to Hillbrow is solidarity with sex workers set on decriminalising the trade. Activist, academic and artist Nomsa Mazwai is the founder of a non-profit organisation (NPO) called #FunkItImWalking, whose aim is to make the streets safer for women to walk at any time of the day and under any circumstances. The organisation has joined forces for the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Task Force (Sweat) and national movement of sex workers Sisonke in bringing the plight of sex workers to the forefront in a bid to decriminalise sex work. “Injury to one is injury to all. If sex workers are not safe, none of us are safe,” Mazwai said. She added that the organisation…

ZELDA VENTER zelda.venter@inl.co.za THE BRUTAL torture by a police officer to force an innocent man to confess to a gruesome killing resulted in his co-accused being falsely implicated, the Supreme Court of Appeal has said. This was the latest episode in the quest for justice by Eugen Mahlangu and the family of the now late Phanie Johannes Mtsweni, which has made a full circle in the courts. They each claimed R2 700 000 in general damages and R85 000 for loss of income in the North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria. They had served an eight months stint in jail before the real killers were caught and sentenced. That court, however, only awarded damages for the period from the date of arrest until their appearance, with the judge reasoning that they…

Mpiletso Motumi mpiletso.motumi@inl.co.za ZOZIBINI Tunzi may have passed on her crown to a new Miss Universe yesterday but to South Africans she will always remain the queen of the world. The 27-year-old beauty stunned during the pageant proceedings when she and fellow South African and former Miss Universe Demi Tebow hosted the preliminary rounds of the pageant proudly representing the country. Tunzi also co-hosted the National Costume show. Miss Universe South Africa finalist Natasha Joubert stunned in all her preliminary outfits but did not place in the top stages of the pageant. Tunzi gave her last walk as Miss Universe dressed in a black-and-white beaded show-stopper from local glam designer Biji La Maison de Couture. Tunzi shared an image from the event which was broadcast live on Sunday night in…

Dr Kenosi Mosalakae | Houghton THOSE who want to be well-governed must look among themselves with a microscope to find the best among themselves to run their affairs. It is within their competence to entice anyone to avail himself to run the country’s affairs if they recognise the potential of capacity, commitment, ethics, etc. It is not the sole prerogative of those who have organised themselves into political parties to be selling themselves to the population. Political parties arise from people with similar thinking herded into camps mostly around the charisma of some leader. Such camps are not necessarily bad or good. However, they do not differ from charismatic churches in their propensity to be predators on the vulnerable masses. It is precisely the expectation that those camps…

IT HAS been 40 years since the onset of the HIV/Aids pandemic. The International Aids Candlelight Memorial is a time not only to remember the many lives lost to Aids, but also to reflect on the stories of long-term survivors and caregivers. These stories must inform our practical response to HIV today, both in policy and for social equity. The wisdom of these stories can also improve our responses to Covid-19, future pandemics and other contemporary crises. Many early depictions of HIV/Aids focus on the experience of gay communities in the US, or the UK in the recent television series It’s a Sin. However, HIV/Aids has deeply affected, and continues to affect, many different communities in Canada. This includes gay, bisexual and queer men, who are still disproportionately affected by…

Twelve civilians have been killed in a contested oil-rich border region claimed by Sudan and South Sudan in what local government officials said yesterday was a massacre by nomadic herdsmen. The attack took place early on Sunday at a village some 64km east of the main town in Abyei, a disputed region under UN protection since South Sudan gained independence in 2011. Kon Manyiet Matiok, the deputy chief administrator of the Abyei Administrative Area, said armed Misseriya herders from Sudan stormed the village of the Dunguob before dawn. “They attacked the area from three different directions, and the result was the killing of 12 people,” Matiok told AFP, adding that seven people were hospitalised with serious injuries. “Abyei Administration and the entire people of Abyei condemn this brutal, barbaric and…

LA PAZ: Bolivian authorities said they struck a significant blow against cocaine producers in the country after the discovery and destruction of three “mega-factories” that they stated could produce up to 910 kg of crack a day. Police found the tarpaulin-covered, makeshift factories hidden in forestry reserves and national parks in eastern Beni province, central Cochabamba and south-central Santa Cruz, law enforcement ministries said. Longtime former Bolivian President Evo Morales himself a former coca farmer, increased quotas for legal cultivation of the crop. Those have been maintained by current President Luis Arce, but anything cultivated in excess of the agreed amounts is destroyed.…

HERMAN GIBBS The once-mighty Kaizer Chiefs are shaping up as the unlikely lone flag bearers for South African football on the African continent by the time the Caf Champions League and Confederation Cup quarter-finals are decided this weekend. Chiefs shocked friend and foe alike over the weekend when they overwhelmed Tanzanian giants Simba SC to the tune of 4-0, and the margin could well have been bigger. The 4-0 win marks one of the biggest yet by a SA team on the continent. Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates, both former Champions League winners, are the only two SA teams to record runaway wins in Africa. Over time, Sundowns and Pirates have enjoyed 5-0 and 3-0 wins over Al Ahly, the aristocrats of African football. The Egyptian giants have won…

Ashfak Mohamed ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za SPRINGBOK prop duo Lizo Gqoboka and Trevor Nyakane rightfully got most of the plaudits for their role in the Bulls’ second-half domination of the Sharks at the weekend. But spare a thought for locks Walt Steenkamp and Ruan Nortjé, as well as blindside flank Elrigh Louw, for how they got stuck into the Durban side in their 43-9 Rainbow Cup SA victory at Loftus Versfeld. Bulls coach Jake White noted afterwards that it was a “blessing” that they had their top locks available, as he mentioned that the Stormers were missing Salmaan Moerat, JD Schickerling and Marvin Orie for their 39-37 win over the Lions. The Pretoria side are actually also missing a key second-rower, Sintu Manjezi, who was influential in January’s Currie Cup final before sustaining…

Morne Steyn has made it into Springbok talks more and more over the last few months, so what does that mean for the other candidates? The last few weeks have dished up some interesting and encouraging displays as far as the national picture is concerned. There has been loose forward Pieter-Steph du Toit’s remarkable comeback after spending more than a year on the sidelines due to a complicated injury, a comeback which of course bodes well for the Boks ahead of the British & Irish Lions series. After all, how can we forget about the Stormers forward’s heroics in Japan and the massive role he has come to play for South Africa? Then there has been Damian Willemse steadily settling into his role at fullback for the Stormers, something that…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za SOUTH African manufacturing companies have backed calls to increase their production capacity instead of relying on imports in a bid to boost the forecast gross domestic product growth. A report launched yesterday showed that local manufacturing businesses could increase their capacity by substituting 20 percent of non- petroleum goods imports for domestically produced goods within five years. The report was launched by the Business Unity SA (Busa) in conjunction with the Business leadership SA (BLSA) after research and consulting firm Intellidex surveyed 125 businesses. It is particularly important as the government has placed localisation as a central cog in the machinery of policy to best assist South Africa’s economic recovery. Intellidex said the general sentiment among the 125 companies surveyed was that they support attempts to…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za PREMIER Fishing and Brands (Premier), one of South Africa’s largest black-owned and managed fishing groups, delivered a solid interim performance in the six months to February 28 and it further anticipated a good second half barring unforeseen events, chief executive Rushaan Isaacs said yesterday. A 5 cents a share dividend was declared. This was after “much work and dedication” by the group and its employees during a period in which operations and markets were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and a number of measures were taken to counteract this such as the multi-skilling of staff across operations, Isaacs said. The share price rallied 10.13 percent to 87 cents at the close on the JSE yesterday. Revenue increased 32 percent to R284m and gross profit was…

Jamal Grootboom jamald.grootboom@inl.co.za Talk show legend Oprah Winfrey shared her viewing process for The Underground Railroad starring South Africa’s own Thuso Mbedu. Taking to Instagram over the weekend, Oprah like many other viewers tuned to stream The Underground Railroad on Amazon Prime Video. Rocking in a chair alongside her “daughter-like” Sade, she shared how you need to take breaks while watching the show just to regulate yourself due to the show being a heavy watch. She said while watching it you should “pace yourself” especially after the first episode. She also congratulates the series director Barry Jenkins on a job well done. In the caption of the post, she praises Mbedu, calling her portrayal of Cora the “performance of a lifetime”. “I have been watching @theugrailroadtv all week and I…

BONGANI NKOSI bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za THE BASIC Education Department has assured schools piloting the “three-stream model” that curriculum support on teaching technical subjects such as welding, plumbing, bricklaying, plastering and hairdressing is available for them at districts. But the biggest union in the primary education sector, the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu), has raised doubts that districts had subject advisers with the requisite expertise. A circular that director-general Mathanzima Mweli sent to schools, provincial education departments and unions stressed that ordinary schools piloting the vocationally-oriented curriculum had support. A number of select schools across the country started offering the technical subjects in Grade 8 this year. The pilot will be extended to Grade 9 in 2022. The “three-stream model” was intended to ensure that learners were not only channelled to academic learning…

BONGANI NKOSI A LAWYER put it in black and white to Mpumalanga High Court Judge President Francis Legodi that he should order himself to pay penal costs because his judgment was “a mere joy ride on an ego trip” and “irritational” (sic). For this conduct that Judge Legodi deemed unbecoming of a court officer, Mpumalanga-based attorney Lufuno Ramarumo has become the latest lawyer to be referred to the Legal Practice Council (LPC) by a judge for disciplinary action. In a scathing judgment last week, Judge Legodi referred Ramarumo to the council, along with advocate A Zwane, who appeared for her on the application that was intended to appeal an earlier order. Zwane will have to answer for his role in the scribbling of the words Judge Legodi found disparaging and…

Mpiletso Motumi mpiletso.motumi@inl.co.za NAIROBI-based alternative R&B singer, Karun, is a trendsetter of note. The 26-year-old has already made a name for herself in the industry with her interesting sound. “Music has always been something I gravitated towards, ever since I was little, but the thing that got me into the music industry was an encounter I had when I was around 14. “My best friend at the time introduced me to her cousin Marcus at the studio near her house. We hung out with him and some of his friends, and made music. That was the start of the group Camp Mulla that thrust us into the spotlight.” Camp Mulla went on to earn a BET nomination for their music. For the last 10 years Karun, whose real name is…

CAN you imagine the scene? Andre de Ruyter saying “Don’t make me smile; my lips are cracked”. This was when he heard that Mayor Geoff Makhubo insisted that Johannesburg must take over electricity distribution in Soweto from Eskom, thus relieving Eskom of an impossible burden. Johannesburg’s City Power is responsible for electricity distribution in most areas in Joburg, while Eskom distributes in Soweto and some southern areas, as well as Bryanston and some areas north. The problem is that many in Soweto, Orange Farm and Ivory Park do not pay Eskom for their electricity, either because they cannot or because they do not wish to. The result is a burgeoning debt running into the billions. City Power suffers the same problem from the areas it supplies, particularly the informal settlements,…

Unlikely that herd immunity will be reached any time soon, but a new normalcy’s possible What is herd immunity? Herd immunity occurs when there are enough immune people in a population that new infections stop. It means that enough people have achieved immunity to disrupt person-to-person transmission in the community, thereby protecting non-immune people. Immunity can result from either vaccination or prior infection. Herd immunity may exist globally, as it does with smallpox, or in a country or region. For example, the US and many other countries have achieved herd immunity for polio and measles, even though global herd immunity does not exist. Has herd immunity been achieved globally for other infections? This has happened only once on a global scale, with the eradication of smallpox in 1980. This was…

Mumbai: Cyclone Tauktae hit Mumbai with full fury bringing heavy rains and gales of over 75-85 km/h, which wreaked havoc by uprooting scores of trees, damaged some homes, and disrupted road traffic, though there were no human casualties, officials said yesterday. In an alarming development, the Indian Navy has despatched two ships to rescue around 273 personnel of the Oil & Natural Gas Corporation who are stranded on a drifting barge near the Bombay High Fields, around 175km off Mumbai, in the direct path of the cyclone whirling towards Gujarat in the choppy Arabian Sea. There are reports of at least two deaths – one of a youth in Navi Mumbai and another of a woman in a wall crash in Raigad – but officials have not confirmed this so…

Bogota: The Colombian government said on Sunday that it would consider protesters’ demands to “guarantee the right to protest” as a condition for negotiations after 19 days of bloody demonstrations against President Ivan Duque. Triggered by a now-abandoned tax reform plan, the nationwide demonstrations have drawn thousands of pandemic-weary Colombians to the streets, venting their anger over poverty, yawning inequality and the government’s harsh response to the protesters. Spokespersons for the government and the most visible protester organisation met in Bogota for the second time since the protests erupted on April 28. Clashes between the police and protesters have resulted in at least 42 deaths.…

British heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has promised to smash compatriot Anthony Joshua in a video published on Twitter on Sunday that confirms their world title unification fight in Saudi Arabia on August 14. “Got some massive news for all you guys, I’ve just got off the phone with Prince Khalid of Saudi Arabia, he told me this fight is 100% on, August 14th 2021, summer time. All eyes of the world will be on the kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the 32-year-old Tyson said in the video. “I cannot wait, I repeat, I cannot wait, to smash Anthony Joshua on the biggest stage of all time. This is going to be the biggest sporting event ever to grace the planet earth. Do not miss it – all eyes on us.”…