Table of contents for 2021-09-02 in Star

GIVEN MAJOLA given.majola@inl.co.za SOUTH Africa’s unemployment rate of 34.4 percent in the second quarter of this year could have been worse if it were not for the efforts of women entrepreneurs who strove under difficult circumstances to keep their businesses afloat, the Lioness Business Agility Webinar heard this week. Dr Linda Zuze, a research director for Lioness Data, said it was important to keep in mind the role of women entrepreneurs in these difficult times. “Unemployment among women was at 36 percent, slightly higher. There are millions of women who are excluded from the calculation, because they were no longer actively seeking employment. Those are now grouped as discouraged job-seekers falling out of the 36 percent. So when those discouraged job seekers are factored into the numbers, the actual unemployment…

Liam Karabo Joyce liam.joyce@inl.co.za In May 1995, Nelson Mandela said: “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” National Child Protection Week is commemorated in South Africa annually to raise awareness of the rights of children. As we enter Child Protection Week 2021, 14-year-old singer and songwriter Gabrielle de Gama acts as a voice for the youth and draws attention to the dangers of bullying. A victim of bullying since she was in Grade 4, she helps others undergoing a similar experience through her new single, titled Nasty. “I wrote this song in 2020 during the level 5 lockdown. I had been bullied through primary school and, starting high school in a new environment, I tried making new friends.…

Sacha van Niekerk sacha.vanniekerk@inl.co.za IF YOU are a pet parent, beware of the poisonous plants that could harm your cats and dogs before you fill your home with fresh and lively greenery. 10 house plants that are poisonous to cats and dogs: 1. Lilies Although lilies may be a beautiful way to add freshness and colour to your home, your pets may not think so. Both lily-of-the-valley and the gloriosa (or lame lily) are poisonous to cats and dogs. All parts of the plant – including the pollen and stamens, the flower petals, sepals, leaves, stems and bulbs – are dangerous to your pets. If ingested, they can cause gastrointestinal upset, depression, anorexia and tremors. The common household plant contains toxins that do not agree with cats and dogs, causing…

Rapula Moatshe rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za THE administrator at the North West Department of Education, Johannes Mohlala, has been accused of having launched a witch-hunt against outspoken businessman Letlhogonolo Modise. Modise said Mohlala steered a campaign to intimidate him by laying charges of trespassing against him for an incident which allegedly took place early last year at the department’s offices in Mahikeng. Mohlala was appointed as the administrator for the provincial Education Department after the North West government was placed under administration under Section (1) (a) of the Constitution. The trespassing charges stemmed from a tender bidding briefing session convened by the department, which was attended by at least 10 people interested in getting a contract for renovating about four schools. It was estimated that a contract for each school was worth between…

AMANDA MALIBA AFTER Zulu Mkhathini’s exit from the once-popular group Dreamteam to focus on his TV career and other creative avenues, music seemed like the last thing on the cards. The muso has finally put an end to that tacit, releasing his debut solo album Spirit of Ubuntu on Friday under his independent stable, Mkhathini Creatives. According to Mkhathini, the title was inspired by the genesis to becoming the person he is today and was also telling on how the album has culminated – all resulting from his experiences of humanity coming together to achieve one goal, umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu. “I am the man that I am today because of my friends and the contributions they have made into my life. The community that I was raised in, the…

Peter Bachtis | Benoni André de Ruyter explained succinctly, the financial state of Eskom. A remarkable fellow, who goes to work daily, facing a myriad of problems and a massive loss of R19 billion for the year. He is clearly a resilient man, his hand firmly on the steering wheel, as he counters storms that a lesser man would have abandoned. How does he sleep at night, as he faces mounting political pressure, with the looming elections? There are strong signals that his no nonsense management style is slowly gaining traction, allowing a glimmer of hope for the rest of us. It will, no doubt, take time – as he travels along the spiked road less travelled … but success is imminent. I hope that business schools are…

SPRING is in the air, officially and visibly, for those who have clean air and trees which are starting to shoot as the sap rises. Chaucer celebrated the miraculous “regreening” of the Earth through the mystery of fertility, more especially for him in the appearance of the multitudinous daisy. Virtually all poets have formed through time a historical chorus celebrating spring time. But the spring seems to run dry in modern and contemporary poets. The Times has long ceased publishing letters which announced hearing the first cuckoo in spring, but Delius wrote a musical piece celebrating the moment. However, the word has been appropriated by politicians and even business folk. Thus back in the 1970s we read of the “Prague Spring” as totalitarian Communist control was resisted. More recently was…

Israel said yesterday it would expand Gaza’s fishing zone, increase its water supply and allow more Palestinian traders and goods to enter Israel, even as violence persisted on the border. The Israeli military body in the occupied Palestinian territories said the number of Gazan merchants with permits would be increased from 2 000 to 7 000. In May, Israel and Hamas reached a truce. But incendiary balloons still fly from Gaza towards Israel, with Israel often retaliating with air strikes. | AFP…

As US forces withdrew from Afghanistan, precipitating the chaotic collapse of its government, another American ally watched warily and hoped that its fate will be different. The painful memories of an earlier American military drawdown are still fresh for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in north-eastern Syria. Former US president Donald Trump blindsided his generals three years ago by announcing a withdrawal of the 2 000 US troops allied with the SDF in fighting the Islamic State. Although he was later persuaded not to remove the entire force, he did cut it by more than half the following year and, in doing so, cleared the way for the SDF’s adversary, Turkey, to invade part of the territory. The American move was widely criticised as a betrayal of the Kurds, who…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za TEMBA Bavuma wants to have face-to-face talks with the Proteas’ former assistant coach Enoch Nkwe to discuss the latter’s concerns about the side’s culture and environment. Nkwe shocked the national team and Cricket South Africa by resigning on the eve of the team’s tour to Sri Lanka, citing “concerns about the functioning and culture of the team environment”. Those concerns are the subject of an investigation by CSA which acting chief executive Pholetsi Moseki said would include gaining the perspectives of the players. Bavuma’s will undoubtedly be sought, but given his close personal relationship with Nkwe – built together at the Lions when Nkwe was coach and Bavuma captain – Bavuma wants to go deeper. “When I get back to South Africa, I’d like to sit down…

Ashfak Mohamed ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za ARNO Botha was regarded as one of the top loose forwards in South Africa as he came through at the Bulls in the last decade. He made his Springbok debut against Italy in Durban in 2013 as a 22-year-old, having captained the South Africa Under-20 side previously. But he sustained a serious knee ligament injury in his second Test against Scotland at Mbombela Stadium – where he was replaced by Siya Kolisi, who produced a Man of the Match performance – and things haven’t quite been the same for the Limpopo product. A number of other injuries played a big part in that, and following stints abroad at London Irish and Munster, Botha returned to the Bulls last year July – perhaps in an attempt to address…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za THE IMMEDIATE outlook for listed property remained uncertain as new variants of the Covid-19 virus were being identified, with possible further waves of the pandemic potentially leading to stricter lockdowns, Rebosis Property Fund said yesterday. Recovery remained dependent on an expedient roll-out of vaccines, the property fund that invests in early stage regional dominant shopping centres and large, single-tenanted office buildings in South Africa said in a pre-close update. The company is burdened with a relatively high level of debt with loan-to-value (LTV) at 72.2 percent at the end of February – generally, the market is comfortable LTVs of 50-40 percent – but in April it announced negotiations were under way with undisclosed, local and offshore parties on a potential transaction that could take LTV to…

GIVEN MAJOLA given.majola@inl.co.za THE RATE AT which people defaulted on their loans for the first time decreased in the second quarter of this year, according to the Experian Consumer Default Index (CDI). Although consumer debt remains at R1.9 trillion, the index improved from 4.33 points in March to 4.03 points in June. The improvement was attributed to the stringent lockdown imposed 12 months prior, resulting in a significant reduction in credit extension. Experian Africa’s chief decision officer, Jaco van Jaarsveldt, said new business volumes had decreased since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, reducing the population from which first-time defaults stemmed. “While we have seen the demand for credit improve to pre-Covid levels over the past 12 months, the supply remains constrained due to the continuous conservative lending criteria imposed…

Kedibone Modise kedibone.modise@inl.co.za South African hip-hop artist and composer Siyabonga “Big Zulu”’ Nene released his long-awaited third studio album titled Ichwane Lenyoka on Friday. Elaborating on the title of the album Ichwane Lenyoka, Big Zulu used a snake hatchling as a metaphor. He explained: “A snakelet has to learn to fend for itself straight from birth, unlike a bird that cares for its chicks. So when you bring the analogy back to me, I did not have anyone to open doors for me into the industry and teach me the ropes. “It was all up to me to get in, find out how the industry works. So I’m like that snakelet (ichwane lenyoka) because when I got into the industry, I had to figure out things for myself. The Bergville-born…

Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za AN ex-Transnet executive reportedly received R2 million of the more than R26m he looted from the state-owned rail, logistics, port and pipeline company. The money administered comprised 10 000 R200 notes. The unsolicited profits former Transnet Capital Projects’ chief executive Linyenga Herbert Msagala is accused of accessing were laid bare at the Special Tribunal in a judgment delivered by Judge Lebogang Modiba on Tuesday. Msagala is said to have looted over R26m from a scheme involving IGS Consulting Engineers and its sole member, Sipho Sithole. Transnet had initially claimed R18.4m from Msagala, his trusts, IGS and Sithole. According to court papers, Transnet wanted the return of various amounts totalling more than R15.6m, which were proceeds of cash cheques drawn against IGS’s bank account and deposited into the…

NOKWANDA NCWANE nokwanda.ncwane@inl.co.za THE lack of adequate sexual and reproductive health services and education are the main drivers of teenage pregnancy in South Africa. This emerged from a seminar on Tuesday on challenges relating to sexual and reproductive health rights in South Africa and teenage pregnancy. The event was hosted by the Commission for Gender Equality. Speakers included Deputy Minister of Social Development, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, Muzi Ndlovu of the Department of Basic Education, Beryl Traore of LoveLife, Steve Letsike representing the South African National Aids Council and Professor Mary Crewe, of the University of Pretoria. According to Ndlovu, early and unintended pregnancies among learners continue to undermine the department’s efforts. “Despite having policies in place, learner pregnancies are still on the rise. “If we provide adequate sexual and reproductive education,…

OUR unemployment rate has officially been backed by Bloomberg, putting the unofficial employment rate of just over 35%. Based on the expanded definition of unemployment, we are beyond 50%. We compare unfavourably to Namibia, Nigeria, Tunisia, even Spain and Brazil. Last week, we received the Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the second quarter of this year, which shows we lost another 50 000 jobs. These figures have been broken down and can be expanded to show the number of discouraged job seekers, which is greater. Over and above these horrific figures, we are still facing Covid-19-related hazards. A welcome relief fund opened on August 25 for TERS for workers and companies that suffered losses due to the recent violence in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. Thousands of employees are despondent after trying…

Allan Wolman | Tel Aviv, Israel The Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) issued a press statement on July 28 condemning the African Union (AU) for granting Israel observer status. Clayson Monyela, spokesperson for Dirco, wrote how his government was “appalled” by the AU’s action. The minister in charge of Dirco, a woman herself, has been conspicuously silent since the Taliban took over Afghanistan and will, in all likelihood, revert back to their old ways. This same ANC minister saw fit to fill half a page in a local newspaper, in an attack on the AU but not a word about the plight of Afghan women. One wonders if Naledi Pandor, who “stands by the people of Palestine”, is as concerned about the predicament of women in…

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Human Rights Court) holds great promise in protecting human rights and ensuring justice on the continent. But it operates amid resistance by states and this threatens its effectiveness and very existence. The court is the AU’s judicial arm, and sits in Arusha, Tanzania. It is one of three regional human rights courts in the world. The others are the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The African court began operating in 2006. The court entertains cases of alleged violations of human rights stated in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and other relevant human rights instruments that have been ratified by the state concerned. Its judgments are binding. Cases can only be brought…

AU member states will receive an additional 10 million doses of AstraZeneca and Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines over the next three months through a new partnership between the French government and the AU, The African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) and the Covax global vaccine initiative. AVAT has acquired enough vaccines for African countries to vaccinate 400 million people, or a third of the African population, by September next year, at a cost of $3 billion with World Bank backing. | African News Agency (ANA)…

The colonels who rule Mali have repeatedly said they will restore civilian rule in early 2022, but with less than six months to go before promised elections, doubts about the timetable are deepening. Already struggling with a bloody jihadist insurgency, Mali slid into political turmoil last year, culminating in a military coup in August 2020 against elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. In May, the military, irked by a ministerial reshuffle, forced out the interim civilian president and replaced him with the junta’s leader, Assimi Goita. But Mali’s leaders have persistently vowed to stick to an 18-month timetable for the civilian transfer of power – a key demand set by neighbours deeply worried by the turbulence. The official schedule calls for a constitutional referendum on October 31, followed by regional and…

ETHIOPIAN Tadu Nare is the favourite to win the Cape Town Spar Grand Prix 10km Ladies race at Greenpoint on Saturday. The 20-year-old Nedbank athlete won the opening race in Pietermaritzburg two weeks ago by more than a minute, storming to victory in 32:22 ahead of South African Glenrose Xaba (Boxer), who finished in 33.40 minutes. The path to another victory has opened after several top contenders withdrew from the Cape Town race. Namibian Helalia Johannes and Comrades Marathon winner Gerda Steyn are recovering from excellent performances in the Tokyo Olympics marathon, while Irvette van Zyl is injured. It will allow Nare to consolidate her lead in the race for the overall title, although she may face some stiff opposition on a flat course in Cape Town. Xaba, who is…

THE practice of PSL clubs buying and selling franchises is nothing new and will likely happen again. Most recently, Royal AM attained promotion to the top flight by purchasing the PSL status of the now defunct Bloemfontein Celtic and moving the club to Durban. This practice simply makes the league look shoddy and risks diminishing its value. If the Premiership wants to expand beyond South Africa to truly establish itself as one of Africa’s top leagues, and eventually a respected league worldwide, it needs to end this practice. While it’s easy to say that the practice should be ended, it’s much harder in reality. The reason it happens is due to the financial instability of SA football clubs. In reality, there are only a handful of SA professional football clubs…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za INDUSTRIAL activity in the South African manufacturing sector returned to strong growth in August following a record single-month decline in July. The Absa Purchasing Manufacturers Index (PMI) more than recovered from last month’s steep decline, rising to 57.9 points in August from a very low 43.5 points in July. In July, the PMI reading fell to the lowest level since May 2020 as the manufacturing sector suffered severe supply chain disruptions due to civil unrest and lockdown restrictions. Absa said both the output and new orders sub-indices recorded solid improvements during the month. Absa senior economist Miyelani Maluleke said the recovery was always on the cards in August due to normalisation of demand and output for businesses affected by July’s looting, and a further boost…

ITUMELENG MAFISA SAA has denied that it is experiencing any problems with its private equity partners Takatso Consortium. This comes after news broke on social media that Global Airways, which makes up part of the consortium, had pulled out of the deal. SAA denied this was true and said the deal would go ahead as planned. The Star posed a number of questions to SAA, including where the rumour that the deal was on shaky ground had come from. SAA spokesperson Vimla Maistry responded: “Really, how would we know this?” Maistry said SAA would launch this month without any funds from Takatso after its aircraft had been grounded for months. This has received much criticism from some unions, which have questioned why SAA would relaunch without funds from the…

the home invasion in Roodekrans last week has highlighted the importance of safety awareness for young teens and children left at home alone. Fidelity ADT issued a general alert to all residents across Johannesburg as a worrying trend was identified where criminals are targeting homes where teens and children are either home alone or left with caregivers. Last week, there were five reported incidents, and this has raised a red flag. Three reported incidents occurred in the West Rand, one in Ekurhuleni – Rhodesfield and one in the south of Johannesburg. In the latest incident, the criminals lifted the gate to gain entry into the property and broke into the house. A young girl had just got out of the bath as they entered the house and they instructed her…

ZELDA VENTER zelda.venter@inl.co.za FOLLOWING a failed marriage of 24 years and a pending divorce, a father has to cough up and ensure that while he is still living in comfort, his estranged spouse and children also still enjoy their comforts. The wife took her husband to the North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria to ensure that he continued to maintain their two children at university, and that he increased her maintenance, as her expenses a month ran up to R111 096.00. The wife said this left her with a shortfall of R56 628.13 each month. She complained that her husband continued to live in luxury all by himself in their four-bedroom matrimonial home, with a full-time domestic worker and gardener. These were all luxuries that she and the children did not…

Samaoen Osman | Cape Town Those great American tentacles that gripped our world are suddenly weakening and the multinational global capitalist system is increasingly looking pale and weak. America and its unsustainable greedy capitalist system is the root cause of all global evils – climate change, economic crisis, unjust wars, materialism, consumerism, terrorism, racism, globalisation, greed, environmental degradation, propping up the oppressive Zionist State of Israel, supporting cruel and unjust dictators in the Middle East and around the globe, pollution, 9/11, etc. If arrogant America can learn from its mammoth global problems, instead of blaming others, it will come back stronger. Nations, like people, occasionally get the blues, and right now the US, normally the world’s most self-confident place, is glum. Eight out of 10 Americans think their country is…

FOLLOWING the introduction of the Reconstruction and Development Plan (RDP), the ANC’s first post-democracy policy, which was aimed at getting the country back on its feet following the transition from apartheid, the party introduced its most audacious second policy – the Growth Employment and Redistribution policy. Referred to by its acronym, Gear, this policy was not met with fanfare by the ruling party’s alliance partners – the Congress of South Africa Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Communist Party (SACP). So despised was Gear that it became the tripartite alliance’s weapon against then deputy president Thabo Mbeki and those who were seen to be proponents of the policy in his inner circle, especially the then minister of finance Trevor Manuel and his deputy, Gill Marcus. To this day, Gear…

Pope Francis is not thinking of resigning and is living “a totally normal life” following intestinal surgery in July, he said in a radio interview yesterday. Speaking to Spanish radio network COPE, Francis, 84, dismissed a report that he might step down. He also said he would attend the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November. He also plans to travel to Hungary and Slovakia this month and visit to Cyprus, Greece and Malta. “My choice of travel to Europe is the small countries,” he said. | Reuters…

BARCELONA players Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba have agreed to salary reductions in order to get new signing Sergio Aguero registered and to extend the club’s limit with regards to financial fair play regulations, the Catalan side said on Tuesday. The gesture comes after defender Gerard Pique took a similar step that allowed teammates Memphis Depay, Eric Garcia and Rey Manaj to register with LaLiga. The details of the wage cuts were not disclosed. Speaking after Lionel Messi's departure to Paris St Germain earlier this month, Barcelona president Joan Laporta said that without the Argentine superstar’s salary, the club’s annual wages were still around 95% of their revenue, exceeding the 70% cap set by La Liga. Barcelona sit fourth in La Liga with seven points from three games. They take…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za DALE Steyn took enjoying life away from cricket seriously. He surfed, he ran his dogs through Tokai forest, speared his leg with a hook while catching tiger fish in the Okavango, caught a crocodile (a baby one, not a man eating giant like some overseas made it out to be), played street football barefoot with kids in Dhaka and enjoyed a midnight burger at a fast food joint during a Test match in London. On the field cricket was a serious business. Off it, he made a point of getting away. Now he can do so properly, although, given his social media comments and the fact he’s thrown himself into doing analysis for website espncricinfo.com, you suspect he’ll never leave the sport entirely. It will be difficult…

MIKE GREENAWAY mike.greenaway@inl.co.za SPRINGBOK coach Jacques Nienaber says that playing the All Blacks and Wallabies without having warmed up against their players in Super Rugby will make no difference to his team’s chances of beating them. When Super Rugby was paused in March last year as the world went into lockdown, it ultimately meant the end of the competition in the format that had run since its inception in 1996, with South Africa aligning with the northern hemisphere for its future provincial competitions, and New Zealand and Australia doing their own things. Nienaber said from Brisbane, where the Boks are preparing to play the Wallabies next Sunday, that it is of little consequence that his players have had no interaction at provincial level with their counterparts from New Zealand and…