Table of contents for 2021-06-21 in Star

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za CONSUMER spending is expected to have come under pressure in May as high food inflation showed no signs of abating, driven by high producer prices and low statistical base effects. Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) will this week release the consumer price index (CPI) and producer price index data amid rising unemployment in the first quarter despite encouraging economic performance. The CPI inflation is forecast to have accelerated to 5.2 percent year-on-year in May from 4.4 percent in April, affected by the statistical base comparison after last year’s lockdown. Aside from the impact of the base effects, economists said the upward food price pressures were expected to have remained evident in May. Investec’s Kamilla Kaplan said May CPI would be driven higher by base effects and…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za GLOBAL life sciences group Bayer is set for further expansion in the southern African region as it cele- brates 100 years of operations in the country capped by a vibrant performance even in the Covid-19 lockdown period. The group enthused this week that it ended off a turbulent 2020 by celebrating 100 years in South Africa, a century in which its operations across agriculture, pharmaceutical and consumer health have grown substantially. “This South African operation leads the market sales across all three business units on the continent and plays a vital role in facilitating Bayer’s expansion into the southern African region. To be most effective, we focus our efforts on areas where our business has the greatest impact and where our efforts can have the greatest benefit,”…

BALDWIN NDABA and TARRYN-LEIGH SOLOMONS THE Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is adamant that it will meet the deadline to hand President Cyril Ramaphosa a report on its investigations into the Health Department’s decision to award a R150 million tender to Digital Vibes. Spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said yesterday the SIU was not commenting on progress in its investigations, but said the unit was working very hard to meet the June 30 deadline and hand over its findings to Ramaphosa. Earlier, Kganyago said: “We promised to complete our investigation by the end of this month, but we have to brief the president first, especially about the Digital Vibes probe. We will have to brief him if there are any referrals for disciplinary action to be taken. If our investigation finds any…

THE GAUTENG economy is in recovery despite the increasing number of Covid-19 infections and the growing unemployment rate in the province and the country. These were the bitter-sweet remarks made by Gauteng Finance and eGovernment MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko when she delivered her Provincial Treasury’s budget in the Gauteng provincial legislature. She applauded the recovery of the provincial economy, but expressed concern about the devastating effect of Covid-19, saying: “The recent rapid rise in Covid-19 infections in our province and the stubbornly high unemployment rate with the resultant consequences of poverty and hunger continue to be a cause for concern. “However, we remain hopeful that as we scale up the vaccination programme, we will win the fight against the pandemic. Our country and indeed our province are also experiencing a sustained…

Jeff Miller | Grovest MANY South Africans were given advice by their financial advisers last year which, in hindsight, has not delivered a decent return on investment. In fact, quite the contrary in many instances. In April last year, the rand reached an all-time-record weakness of R19.35 to the US dollar. Although there was clear economic danger ahead, technical analysts and economists correctly asserted that the rand was dramatically undervalued. Despite the strong likelihood that the rand’s weakness, from March to May last year, would be short-lived, thousands of South Africans were advised by their financial advisers to move their money offshore, especially to US dollar-denominated investments. Those investors have lost up to 30% on their investments in rand terms on the exchange rate. Many South African financial…

FARMING and agribusiness play a crucial role in sustaining the economies of small towns and rural areas. There is a lot of evidence of this in the economic literature and in the popular media. This dependency has its inherent risks. International literature tends to focus on the devastation of small towns in times of drought or when farming lobby groups argue for particular policies. In South Africa a different pattern has emerged. This is when municipalities fail to provide basic services to their communities and businesses. These services include water and sanitation, electricity, roads and technological infrastructure. South Africa has a three-tier system of governance. National government sets national economic development policy and drives the search for investment by both domestic and international investors. Provincial government plays a big role…

IF the PSL doesn’t change its administrative ways, then the league is nowhere near to being one of the best. Not only globally, but on the continent as well, especially after their recent court battle with first division side Royal AM. A few days ago, the English Premier League released a full list of fixtures ahead of the new season. But the PSL was still caught up in a fiasco – trying to resolve which of the two teams will be promoted to the top-flight and which will play in the relegation/promotion play-offs. This could have been avoided – if and only if – the league attended to matters instantly, upon arising. Sekhukhune United were convinced they were the rightful champions after being awarded three points by arbitrator Hilton Epstein…

The leader of Lebanon’s biggest Christian political party said yesterday he still wanted Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri to form a new government. He blamed political opponents formonths of political paralysis. Lebanon’s politicians have argued over the structure of a new government since the last one quit in the aftermath of the devastating August 2020 Beirut port explo- sion. This left the country adrift as it sinks deeper into economic crisis. Veteran Sunni Muslim politician Hariri was named premier for a fourth time in October, promising to form a cabinet of specialists to enact reforms needed to unlock foreign aid. The the process has stalled over nominations of ministers. “We want a government today, not tomorrow and with the leadership of Saad al-Hariri,” Gebran Bassil, leader of the Free Patriotic Movement,…

Jerusalem: Israel’s new government yesterday ordered a commission of inquiry into the “awful disaster” of 45 Jewish pilgrims crushed to death at Mount Meron in April. Setting up the inquiry was an electoral promise of several parties in the coalition government led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who unseated veteran premier Benjamin Netanyahu last week. Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews had packed a site at Mount Meron in northern Israel on April 30 at a pilgrimage to the tomb of second century rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. The stampede in the male section of the gender-divided site is believed to have started as people moved through a narrow passageway that became a deadly choke-point. At least 16 children and teens were among the 45 dead.…

TOKYO: Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato yesterday said that it is possible that the Olympic and Paralympic Games will proceed without spectators this summer if Covid-19 cases in the country continue to grow. “If we see an increase in the number of coronavirus infections, the basic rule is to take the necessary measures and deal with the Olympics in the same way as other events,” Katsu said, as quoted by Japanese news agency Kyodo. According to the minister, as cited in the report, such measures may include limiting the number of spectators up to barring them altogether. The Olympic Committee in Japan already prohibited overseas fans from coming to the Games back in March.…

MIHLALI BALEKA Comment Bruce Bvuma’s perseverance is finally paying off. That’s why he’s slowly becoming a cult hero among the Kaizer Chiefs faithful, given that he spent the better part of his professional career behind the scenes or being subjected to scrutiny after receiving national team call-ups. After making his senior debut against Cape Town City in 2017, what followed Bvuma at the end of the season was not an analysis of his first few months as a professional but reports of how he was “subjected to exploitation at the club” after receiving a paltry R5 000 wage. That leaked report must have knocked his confidence, given the public knowledge of the handsome wages his teammates were being paid. Even though the matter was resolved by the club, Bvuma was…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za STEINHOFF Investment Holdings (SIHL), a subsidiary of Steinhoff International, recorded a R5.2 billion operating profit after material expenses in the six months to the end of March compared with a R10.6bn operating loss in the prior year, after foreign exchange gains and a strong performance by Pepkor Holdings (Pepkor) boosted the results. SIHL, wholly owned by Steinhoff International Holdings NV, is the issuer of preference shares with a R1.5bn capital value, which are listed on the JSE, and it holds Steinhoff’s South African assets, including Pepkor. Revenue from continuing operations jumped 8 percent to R36.5bn. The company said it had realised an interim foreign exchange gain of R3.7bn versus a forex loss of R4.8bn last year. SIHL said the litigation settlement proposal provision was increased to…

Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, can’t wait to meet Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan's baby daughter Lilibet Spencer – the brother of the late Princess Diana, who was Prince Harry’s mother – is proud to now have “10 great-nieces and nephews” and he cannot wait to meet the latest, Prince Harry and Meghan’s daughter who was born on June 4. Speaking on LBC Radio, Spencer was asked by host Nick Ferrari if he was looking forward to meeting the most recent addition to the British royal family, to which he replied: “I am of an age where I now have 10 great-nephews and great-nieces, but everyone genuinely is a joy. “So I genuinely can say yes, I very much look forward to that.” The 57-year-old also spoke about journalist Martin Bashir…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za THE BASIC Education sector vaccination programme is expected to start this week as schools across the country remain open despite the rising cases of Covid-19. Minister Angie Motshekga held a media briefing on Friday to provide an update on the sector’s response to the impact of Covid-19 to schooling. “Doing business under Covid-19 means that one needs to also strike a balance between saving lives and livelihoods. In the case of the Basic Education sector, this means that we need to do all that we can to prevent a potential academic disaster,” the minister said. She said the Department of Basic Education believed schools must remain open. “In saying so we are not insensitive to the concerns raised about the rising infections. “The position is that we…

DURING National Youth Month, we reach out to all the young people in the country with a message of solidarity and hope, realising the burdens that many of you carry, especially the burdens that came as a result of the socio-economic effects of Covid-19 and youth unemployment. Our message of hope is also an invitation to imitate the class of 1976 and confront the challenges that we face as a society, including racism, corruption and violence. Why are we sending a message of hope when we have just commemorated June 16, 1976? In the words of Vaclav Havel, “I am not an optimist because I am not sure that everything ends well, nor am I a pessimist because I am not sure that everything ends badly. I just carry hope…

Muhammad Omar | Durban North IT IS with a strange sense of irony that in 1976, minister Andries Treurnicht imposed a ruling that a Dutch/African dialect, called Afrikaans, would be the medium of instruction at Bantu schools with immediate effect. The result was the opening of fire on a peaceful protest by scholars in South Western Township (Soweto) which sparked the June 16 riots. The June 16 protests sent the currency plummeting and drew international condemnation which intensified South Africa’s polecat status; especially among Third World countries. Fortunately, and rather lately, South Africa passed that phase. However, an interesting irony is being dealt with. Victoria College, renamed Stellenbosch University, is undergoing a serious issue regarding the banning of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction. Sadly, the input…

Amanda Maliba amanda.maliba@inl.co.ca THEO Baloyi, the founder of the much-celebrated Bathu brand, made two significant announcements this past week. He launched the first Walk Your Journey Series (#BathuWYJSeries) mentorship programme and a CSI school care project Bathu for Batho, that centres around giving 100 000 school shoes to underprivileged learners by February next year. At the launch, 100 chosen innovators and entrepreneurs gathered at the Market Theatre for the beginning of their mentorship programme with Baloyi, where aspiring business people heard Baloyi’s wisdom on business. Baloyi, whose story started in a small back room in Alexandra manufacturing his Bathu (shoe in local slang) shoes, has won many accolades in the five years of his business’s existence including recently being voted Africa’s 10th most admired brands in Africa by Brand…

Eurie Dahn USING punctuation and capitalisation as a form of protest doesn’t exactly scream radicalism. But in debates over racial justice, punctuation can carry a lot of weight. During the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, mainstream news organisations grappled with whether to capitalise the first letter of “black” when referring to black people. Of course, writing “black” was already common practice in activist circles. Eventually The Associated Press, The New York Times, USA Today and many other outlets declared that they, too, would capitalise that first letter. It turns out the push to capitalise “black” is only the most recent way black writers and activists have pushed back against entrenched power through ostensibly bland elements of writing. As I discuss in my recent book, Jim Crow Networks: African…

Addis Ababa: Twice delayed, hobbled by the coronavirus pandemic, violent insecurity and planning chaos, Ethiopia’s electoral board says it is ready for today’s crucial vote and assures it will be credible. “We’re actually very confident about it,” the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) spokesperson Solyana Shimeles said. It is not optimism shared by all, with serious doubts remaining over the vote Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed pledged would be the most competitive in Africa’s second-most populous nation. Voting won’t proceed in about a fifth of the country’s 547 constituencies due to unrest and logistical problems. Those constituencies will mostly vote in September, but no ballot is scheduled in Tigray, a war-torn region of six million. In some areas where voting will proceed, opposition boycotts have further undermined inclusivity claims. The…

Mumbai: Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchan has paid homage to athletics legend Milkha “Flying Sikh” Singh, who died of Covid-related complications. Bachchan shared the last page of Singh’s autobiography, titled, The Race of My Life on Twitter. It reads: “At times you might be tempted to quit, or take shortcuts – but there are no shortcuts to success. At such times try derive inspiration from this Urdu couplet: “Destroy your entire existence if you want to reach the zenith, ’cos a seed has to be one with dust to sprout into a flower.”…

New Delhi: The WHO yesterday called on countries in the WHO South-East Asia region to scale up public health and social measures, along with efforts to accelerate vaccination for Covid-19 and prevent another surge. Besides personal protective measures, the measures include cleaning, disinfection, ventilation, surveillance, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine. Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, regional director, said: “Even as countries scale up vaccination against Covid-19, they need to implement public health and social measures in a tailored and agile way. It should be implemented by the lowest administrative level and continuously adjusted to the intensity of transmission and the capacity of health systems.” | IANS…

Italy topped their group in the European Championship after a third consecutive win yesterday, with a first-half goal from Matteo Pessina giving them a 1-0 victory over 10-man Wales, who also advance to the knockout stage of the competition. The Italians had already guaranteed their progress, while Wales secured a berth too by finishing ahead of Switzerland on goal difference. Italy manager Roberto Mancini made eight changes to rest most of his first-choice starters, but Italy still dominated and missed several chances either side of Pessina’s 42nd-minute goal, when he steered a low Marco Verratti free-kick into the far corner. Welsh centre-back Ethan Ampadu was shown a straight red card in the 55th minute for stamping on Federico Bernadeschi’s foot, and Wales then missed their best chance of an equaliser…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za AS THE QUIET storm over import tariffs for poultry rages on behind the backs of consumers, Emerging Black Importers and Exporters of South Africa (EBieSA) last week appealed to the Minister for Trade Industry and Commerce to halt further reviews of the structure as the last increments last year distorted the market. This follows an ongoing review of the tariff structure last upgraded in March last year, which resulted in increases from 37 to 62 percent on frozen bone-in chicken portions and frozen boneless portions tariff increases from 12 to 42 percent. EBieSA chairperson Unati Speirs said further tariffs on imports could impact food security for the poorest of the poor and called on the industry to urgently implement the transformation commitments contained in the…

ITUMELENG MAFISA THE PUBLIC Servants Association (PSA) has expressed concern at the involvement of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) in the new ownership of SAA. The union said it was concerned that public servants’ pensions could be lost once more – as in the case of Steinhoff – should the new owners fail to make it profitable. Spokesperson Reuben Maleka said the union would be meeting the Government Employees Pension Fund to demand an explanation regarding the PIC’s involvement in the deal. The PIC, which manages public servant pensions, has confirmed that it owns 30% of Harith General Partners, an infrastructure investment group that is part of a consortium that will now own the majority stake in SAA. Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan announced a few days ago that…

James Mahlokwane james.mahlokwane@inl.co.za THE DEPARTMENT of Public Transport and Roads Infrastructure in Gauteng is introducing interventions to curb corruption at driving licence testing centres. MEC Jacob Mamabolo revealed this during his department’s budget vote in the legislature. Mamabolo said the department subsequently appointed Ligwa Advisory Services to intervene and combat this problem that hindered ambitions to build smart institutions. The company started work last week and is set to improve the availability of slots for thousands for in-demand services such as the renewal of driving licences and learner tests. Mamabolo said: “In the medium term, we are expanding the roll-out of our smart queue management solution at all our drivers licence testing centres to track real live performance of personnel at every given moment, the performance of the equipment and…

BONGANI NKOSI bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za THE GAUTENG Department of Education has been ordered to reinstate a teacher it suspended over what now appear to have been false charges of sexually abusing a pupil and smoking drugs in class. Mario Marshal Mokwena, a Randfontein Secondary School teacher, has been found not guilty at an inquiry at the Education Labour Relations Council. Arbitrator Themba Manganyi presided over the inquiry intended to determine whether Mokwena was guilty of smoking the drug Cat in class and sleeping with a Grade 9 learner. The incidents were said to have happened in 2017 and were reported to authorities last year after the accuser’s mother learnt of them. Mokwena was placed on precautionary suspension after being charged. According to evidence before Manganyi, the allegations came about after the accuser…

ITUMELENG MAFISA THE SOUTH African black community is suffering from a “fatherhood crisis” caused by the apartheid regime and colonialism. University of SA (Unisa) professor of psychology Puleng Segalo says the brutality of apartheid on the African family structure was so toxic that it affected the roles of males in their family and perpetuated the culture of absent fatherhood as a norm. Segalo’s remarks come as the country marked Father’s Day yesterday. “The history of South Africa is complicated … structural issues that affected family life, particularly black families, because of forced removals and migrant labour,” Segalo said. “In most instances black mothers had to play the role of both mother and father because of the nature of the disruption of the family structure.” According to Segalo, this was…

Dalsy Manganyi THIS year marks 45 years since the youth of Soweto rose up. Their resilient spirit and common purpose achieved what many at the time thought impossible. They made history. We all celebrate that youthful heroism. Or I should qualify: by at least 60% of Generation Z (those born 1997-2015) who somewhat know the history of June 16. That is according to the 2019/20 SA Social Attitudes Survey But the young of today face different challenges than their 1976 counterparts – racism in our so-called multi-racial schools to fighting for entry and funding into the higher education system, and unprecedented levels of unemployment and poverty, etc. Some of these have to do with the legacy of apartheid. But closer introspection leads me to question if sufficient progress…

China yesterday announced it had administered its one-billionth shot in the world’s biggest coronavirus inoculation drive as Brazil’s death toll from the pandemic passed 500 000. The global Covid-19 death toll is now more than 3.8 million. Many nations are still battling outbreaks, but vaccine drives in some countries are allowing activities, unthinkable a few months ago. China’s vaccine milestone comes after the number of shots administered globally passed 2.5 billion on Friday. But the Asian giant’s vaccination efforts initially got off to a slow start after a successful fight against the virus left little sense of urgency to get jabbed. A lack of transparency and previous vaccine scandals have also led to resistance among many residents. Authorities have set an ambitious target of fully vaccinating 40 % of China’s…

Rome: Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday said that he was doing better after repeated hospital stays in recent months and would remain active in politics. “Fortunately I’m doing better, but the doctors won’t let me take part in public events yet. Nevertheless, I promise to be with you soon,” the 84-year-old told a meeting of his Forza Italia party by phone. Berlusconi’s four hospital stays this year – most recently in May – were prompted by complications from a coronavirus infection in 2020.…

KABUL: The Taliban said yesterday they were committed to peace talks, adding they wanted a “genuine Islamic system” in Afghanistan that would make provisions for women’s rights in line with cultural traditions and religious rules. The statement came amid slow progress in the talks between the hardline Islamic group and Afghan government representatives in Qatar and as violence rises dramatically around the country. This comes ahead of the withdrawal of foreign forces by September 11. Officials have raised concerns over the stalling negotiations. They have said the Taliban has not yet submitted a written peace proposal that could be used as a starting point for substantive talks.…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za The Proteas’ rebuilding – which has been going on for far too long – finally looks like it’s got a sturdy framework. Stiffer examinations await – most notably (and hopefully) India in the summer – but South Africa’s Test team needed a solid base to work off and it looks like they are finally getting that in the West Indies. That foundation is not only made up of personnel but understanding each other, seeing rewards for their hard work, playing consistently and importantly, gaining confidence. The Proteas’ sole series win last season against Sri Lanka lacked consistency. They were helped by the Sri Lankans suffering so many injuries in the first Test, but in the second when they really should have put the Lions away, the South…