Table of contents for 2021-09-30 in Star

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za DISTELL Group Holdings said yesterday that “satisfactory progress” had been made regarding its potential transaction following a bid by Heineken, Europe’s biggest and the world’s second biggest brewer, to acquire full control of the South African liquor group. However, Distell, with brands such as Amarula, Savanna, Hunter’s Dry, Durbanville Hills and Nederburg, warned in a trading update yesterday that there was no certainty at this stage that a deal would be concluded, and discussions about certain issues still needed to be agreed. “The parties are committed to finalising these outstanding issues in the shortest possible time frame and Distell will inform shareholders immediately upon their finalisation,” the group said Heineken first expressed its interest to acquire Distell on May 18, saying at the time this would be…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za THARISA Minerals, the platinum group metals (PGMs) and chrome co-producer dual-listed on the Johannesburg and London stock exchanges, has unveiled its target to reduce emissions by 30 percent in 2030, and aims to be carbon net neutral by 2050. Tharisa told the market yesterday that its investment decisions would be informed by these decarbonisation targets, alongside the current financial investment criteria. Chief executive Phoevos Pouroulis said: “We have today outlined our decarbonisation targets to be achieved by specific points in time. “Further refinements in, and details about, these targets will be announced over time, but we will strive to exceed these initial targets, both in quantum and speed of achievement. “The world faces an enormous challenge to decarbonise rapidly and Tharisa will do its part to…

Given Majola WHILE consumers contended with a difficult economic environment, creditors were being repaid between R700 million to R800m on a monthly basis, according to National Debt Counsellors’ Association chairperson Benay Sager. The association said that last year consumers under debt counselling paid creditors an amount of R10 billion. Sager said the South African debt counselling industry has proved to be “extremely impactful”, because it was able to negotiate lower interest rates. Most consumers who successfully completed the process saved between R50 000 and R80 000 in interest and fees. Each quarter around 10 000 consumers were said to complete debt counselling and get clearance certificates, which was a considerable improvement since the early days of the industry. Since 2016, more than 150 000…

Veruska D’Onofrio Screens and electronics have become increasingly prevalent in children’s lives. This is partly because of the necessity for online learning and the baby-sitting needs of parents who have to work from home. But what about a child’s mental, emotional, and physical development? While devices and battery-powered toys are stimulating with their flashing lights and sounds, they don’t always feed the development of skills required to live in the real world. Philip Galliford, marketing manager of toy distributor Solarpop, says children need different play patterns to develop particular skills and playing with imagination-fuelled toys ticks several developmental boxes. “There is a concept called 3D brain training that is vital to the development of the brain-body-environment connection. It helps to develop reasoning, curiosity, creativity, imagination, scientific and mathematical thinking.…

SONRI NAIDOO THE GAUTENG provincial government has declared the sinkhole situation in Khutsong a disaster. Over the years, the area has been battling with leaking sewage pipes caused by ageing underground pipes, with the resultant constant wet soil causing the sinkholes. Many residents have lost their homes and their valuables in the sinkholes. The Gauteng government has assisted residents who are still affected by the sinkholes by moving them to a new housing project in Khutsong South. Premier David Makhura said during his visit to the area that residents were complaining about the size of the RDP housing project which has been provided by the government and that the sinkholes were affecting the government’s infrastructure. “Mining activities which have taken place over the years are impacting the city’s geological stability.…

NOKWANDA NCWANE MURALS to highlight Pretoria’s unique strengths and biodiversity will be the order of the day when the annual Feast of the Clowns festival returns this year. Hosted in collaboration with the Tshwane Leadership Foundation, the festival was launched at a mural art workshop at Burgers Park. The theme this year is “The Courage To Be”. The first mural to be unveiled was Vektor Productions muralist Johnny Allison’s Courage To Be, which aims to tackle the theme of bravery by highlighting three figures – The Impaired, The Elderly and The Creators. Allison said it was important to highlight the unique strengths of Pretoria and its incredible biodiversity. The foundation’s Victoria Boshoga said 10 murals were being produced in 10 different inner-city sites and buildings, and all of them…

When we think of the origin of inventions and innovations, the first country that comes to mind isn’t necessarily our own beautiful country. We all know that Dr Chris Barnard performed the world’s first heart transplant, but there are a number of other inventions we, as South Africans, can be proud of. Sure, South Africans didn’t invent the first car or telephone, but there were inventions and innovations that made life easier, helped save lives and put South Africa on the map. Sasol Sasol is the world’s first oil-from-gas company and was founded on South African shores. It is also the country’s largest fuel producer. It built on processes that were first developed by German chemists and engineers. Q20 A Mr Robertson, hailing from Pinetown in KwaZulu-Natal, invented…

THE PEUGEOT 2008 has beaten 23 other finalists to emerge as the 2021 South African Car of the Year. The competition, which has been staged by the South African Guild of Mobility Journalists since 1986, also included nine category winners (see below), covering every segment from budget cars through to adventure vehicles, double cabs and new energy vehicles. But there can be only one overall winner, and this year the Peugeot 2008 compact SUV was the vehicle that impressed judges the most, with its combination of sophistication and value. The 2008 was also the most popular vehicle with jurors before the value-based automated scores were added to the overall tally, leading to it also scooping the Juror’s Excellence Award. Second place overall went to the Toyota Hilux, while…

SOUTH AFRICAN motorists and commuters are buckling under the pressure of record fuel prices, but further hikes are looking likely for the coming months unless the current international oil price surge loses steam. The price of Brent crude oil jumped $80 on Tuesday for the first time in almost three years. This comes on the back of expectations for surging demand and concerns about supplies as the world slowly emerges from the pandemic crisis. It’s not clear how October fuel prices will be affected as the Department of Energy’s most recent fuel price update was released around mid-month. Although this data had pointed towards a small petrol price decrease, the recent surge in international oil prices is likely to have tipped the scales. The currency is not helping, with the…

IT is amazing what a difference a two-point margin in a Test match can make to the tone of conversation afterwards in the two camps. The victors savour the spoils and the losers can only lick their wounds and aim for redemption in their next match. That is how it was in Townsville after a Jordie Barrett penalty three minutes from time won his team the Centenary match, with All Black coach Ian Foster immediately setting his team the goal of a “grand slam” of Rugby Championship wins. The Kiwis have beaten the Wallabies twice, the Pumas twice and the Springboks once, and if they beat the South Africans again on Saturday, Foster will have his clean sweep. “Quite frankly, you go up to the Six Nations and…

Zaahier Adams zaahier.adams@inl.co.za BANYANA Banyana coach Desiree Ellis believes there is still plenty of work to do despite her team starting their Cosafa Women’s Cup defence with a 2-1 victory over Malawi in Gqeberha. Goals from Melinda Kgadiete and Noxolo Cesane were enough for Banyana to take the points on Tuesday, despite a late surge from the visitors, who created some tense moments at the death due to an 89th-minute strike from Wezzie Mvula. This forced the South Africans to scramble a bit at the end to hang on to all three points at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, which frustrated Ellis as her team usually sets higher standards for themselves, especially as they had numerous earlier opportunities to close out the game. “We were in control most of the…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE BUREAU for Economic Research (BER) has warned of a prolonged recovery in industries including real estate, transport and hospitality due to continued subdued activity even after the easing of lockdown restrictions. The BER yesterday said harsher lockdown and unrest had hit transport, real estate and hospitality industries in the three months to September, in spite of confidence in the other services sector rising for the fifth consecutive quarter. Data from the BER showed that confidence in the other services sector rose from 34 index points in the second quarter to 37 index points in the third quarter of 2021. The “other services sector” is made up of the hotels, restaurants, transport, real estate and business services, to distinguish them from the retail, wholesale and motor trade…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za AFRICA’S mobile giant MTN retained its ranking as the continent’s most valuable brand and retail bank Capitec overtook Vodacom to be crowned Africa’s strongest brand in the Brand Finance 2021 Top 150 survey. According to the 2021 Brand Finance Africa Top 150 survey MTN was this week named Africa’s most valuable brand despite the group recording a 19 percent decline value to $2.7 billion (R41bn). MTN South Africa also towered above competitors on home soil and held on to its decade-long reign as South Africa’s most valuable brand. South African companies dominated the survey with a total of 81 brands featured to the value of $29bn, equating to 73 percent of the total brand value. MTN and Vodacom with a brand value of $1.7bn…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za SASOL is in a better position to deliver a R400 share price given the recovery in the oil price environment, head of Equity Research at PSG Wealth, Vaughan Henkel said yesterday. Henkel said the R400 share price was found by multiplying the earnings by 10, which is the historical relationship with the share price over the past 15 years. The Sasol price is 108 percent stronger than a year ago when the Brent crude oil price collapsed to below $20 (R301) currently a barrel for the first time in 18 years after US oil benchmark prices plunged to below $0 a barrel. The stock closed 0.36 percent higher at R277.90 on the JSE yesterday,. “What underpins the share price growth is the oil price. The…

Given Majola THE GOVERNMENT and business sector needed to re-examine their priorities and move away from ad hoc interventions in failing systems and “boutique projects” that could not deliver anything that was really transformational, according to Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) executive director Ann Bernstein. Launching a new report yesterday, Bernstein called for decisive action to tackle South Africa’s crisis in employment, education or training (NEET). “There are now 9.1 million people between 15 and 34 years of age who are not in employment, education or training,” she said. “Government’s focus on projects, special initiatives, summits and talk shops is the wrong priority. They divert resources and leadership from absolutely essential reform which is the only way to start tackling the scale of South Africa’s youth challenge.”…

Liam Karabo Joyce liam.joyce@inl.co.za After a lengthy hiatus, singer and songwriter Lungi Naidoo has returned with a new EP to the industry that made her famous . Known for working with some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Black Coffee, Lungi scored a Metro FM Music Award nomination for Best RnB Album for Black Diamond, her debut album back in 2016. Born and raised in KwaDukuza in KwaZulu-Natal, the star took a hiatus after a bad and public break-up with her then-partner, actor Brian Temba. Now, after working with producers like Dantae Johnson and Nigeria’s Tega, she has released Courage. Naidoo started work on her new EP in February after countless video calls, where she workshopped the songs with her producers who are based in London and…

Marchelle Abrahams marchelle.abrahams@inl.co.za THE Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown has deprived us of many things. We’ve lost loved ones along the way, while for many it’s forced us to reassess what’s important in our lives while grappling with the crippling fear of anxiety of when it will all end. It’s been hard for new parents. We’ve heard stories of fathers not being allowed in the delivery room due to strict Covid protocols or mothers not having their birthing plan go according to their wishes. The introduction to parenthood during lockdown has not been a happy one for many couples, and while this time is one to be cherished, it’s been a breeding ground for increased mental health illness among first-time parents. A recent study conducted by an all-female research team…

Peter Bachtis | Benoni The minister of cops has never covered himself in glory, ever – least of all not since Babita Deokaran’s assassination. The vermin who squeezed the triggers have been arrested, but where is the mastermind puppeteer who pulled the strings and paid those cold-blooded killers? Sensible South Africans know that the perp was strongly aligned to the ANC because he had access to multi-million government contracts. Yet Cele is dragging his feet and as yet no arrest, but then this is becoming Cele’s trademark modus operandi – delay, delay, until it’s forgotten. Arrest this murderous scumbag now, minister. Show the country that Babita’s death was not in vain.…

Jason Woosey jason.woosey@inl.co.za LOOKING FOR a bakkie with some rugged local flavour? The Mahindra Pik Up Karoo Dusk S11 Automatic, to give you its full name, has just hit local showrooms in limited numbers, offering some unique off-road kit and upgraded suspension. Priced at R549 999, the new edition commands a R98 000 premium over the regular S11 Karoo model. Based on the S11 Karoo double cab, it features a combination of accessories and parts, some of which are not available on the regular Pik Up models. For starters, the Mahindra Pik Up Karoo Dusk S11 is wrapped in a “hard-wearing” matt-black film, and this dark colouring has also been applied to the styling bar, steel side steps, roller shutter door and fender flares. Like the Mahindra Scorpio S11 Adventure…

MOST MERCEDES-AMG models, including the next C63, are looking set to downsize to the firm’s 2-litre turbopetrol engine. However, the 4-litre twin-turbo V8 recently got a stay of execution, with the announcement of a new hybridised powertrain that will offer up to 620kW and 1 400Nm. This system will be introduced with the recently announced Mercedes-AMG 63 S E Performance hybrid. But in a world that’s rapidly moving towards greener solutions, how much longer will the decadently rumbly V8 engine still be around? At least 10 years, Mercedes-AMG boss Philipp Schiemer recently told American publication Road & Track in an interview. “I think there will be a future, yes,” Schiemer said. “I think for the next 10 years we will see the V8s, for sure. We have a lot of…

PHILLIPINE boxing legend and 2022 presidential hopeful Manny Pacquiao said yesterday that he is hanging up his gloves after a glittering decades-long career in the ring. The multi-division world champion and senator, who has his sights set on a high-stakes rumble to replace president Rodrigo Duterte, said quitting the sport that lifted him out of poverty was the “hardest decision” of his life. “It is difficult for me to accept that my time for me as a boxer is over,” the 42-year-old said in a video message on Twitter that quickly went viral. “Today I am announcing my retirement,” added Pacquiao, whose fights during his heyday stopped traffic in the Philippines - and even supposedly crime. It comes weeks after Pacquiao, considered one of the best boxers of all time,…

Herman Gibbs THE impact of Mamelodi Sundowns’ key players is unnerving the opposition at the start of matches, and statistics show that opposition teams seldom recover. In Tuesday’s MTN8 semi-final second leg, goal-poacher supreme Peter Shalulile scored in the opening minutes, and Sundowns ran out eventual 3-0 winners against Lamontville Golden Arrows. Last Saturday, in a Premiership clash against Orlando Pirates, Thabiso Kutumela – the former Maritzburg United striker – came close with two scoring attempts in the opening minutes. These let-offs seemed to sting Pirates, and nearly 20 minutes went by before they managed to take an attack into the opposition goalmouth. Pirates lost the match 2-0. The other player who has helped Sundowns to impose the game plan is central midfielder Andile Jali, who has just won back-to-back…

A BRACE from Bradley Ralani, combined with goals from Fagrie Lakay and Edmilson Dove, propelled Cape Town City to the MTN8 final with a 4-0 thrashing of Moroka Swallows at the Dobsonville Stadium in Johannesburg last night. The Capetonians won the tie 4-0 on aggregate after a 0-0 draw at home. Swallows made a fast start to the game as they probed the City defence. After taking time to adjust to the away territory, City made their first attacking foray after 10 minutes as Lakay managed to pick out Mduduzi Mdantsane who had his shot blocked. The game had a fast start, with both sides getting opportunities, but the pace of the match deteriorated after 20 minutes as heavy rainfall and wind impacted both sides. Picked out well…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za ORGANISED labour has strenuously stated its case for a 75 percent shareholder majority to vote on remunera- tion implementation in companies rather than the current 50 percent plus 1 percent, the only sticking point in the amendments to the Companies Bill, which is due for publishing tomorrow for public comment, flighted by Department of Trade Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel. He also said the buzzword of the amendments to the bill was greater transparency. Briefing the media on the amendments yesterday, Patel conceded that organised labour opposed the approvals of business forums – including Nedlac and Business Unity South Africa – on the voting power of shareholders on major resolutions affecting remuneration in the workplace. The bill largely seeks to…

WHILE the number of complaints received by the Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator (Opfa) in the last financial year declined, withdrawal benefits complaints registered the highest number of complaints at close to 53 percent of the 7 014 complaints received, according to the office’s 2020/2021 annual report. Complaints relating to the non-payment of retirement fund contributions came in second at close to 24 percent. Both the withdrawal benefit complaints involved complainants experiencing delays in payment of withdrawal benefits either because proper documents were not submitted to the fund or, more commonly, a partial payment had been made or no payment had been made at all owing to non-payment of contributions by the employer or the failure to register the complainant as a member of the fund…

DARCEY & STACEY S2 TLC, DSTV CHANNEL 135, 8.55PM S1 ended with Darcey engaged and her twin, Stacey, married. As S2 begins, 46-year-old Stacey is hoping to become a mom but there are fertility issues. Darcey and Georgi’s engagement is in deep trouble. MOUNTAIN MEN S10 HISTORY, DSTV CHANNEL 186, 7.25PM Winter is loosening its grip on the mountains of North America, but that doesn’t mean life will be getting any easier – the rivers and lakes are still iced over, the animals are starving as they wake from hibernation, and supplies are running critically low for the families as they start scavenging. UMAKOTI WETHU SHOWMAX Fulu Mugovhani stars as Khatu, who finds herself in crisis when her husband's new job ignites old flames. Melusi Mbele co-stars as…

Jehran Naidoo Jehran.Naidoo@africannewsagency.com With yesterday’s release of the damning report by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) into the matter involving the former health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, and a contractor, Digital Vibes, further investigations by Independent Media have found the registered address of the contracted company appears to be an abandoned and dilapidated house in KwaDukuza, north of Durban. Neighbours have said the house, which is registered as the Digital Vibes “office”, a company that scored a R150 million communications contract from the Department of Health (DOH), has been lying in a poor state for five years. According to the SIU report, Digital Vibes was irregularly appointed by the department to run its National Health Insurance and later its Covid-19 media communications strategy. The report implicates Mkhize and several…

NOKWANDA NCWANE nokwanda.ncwane@inl.co.za AT LEAST 40 women from across Africa and abroad have collaborated on a poetry book called Wild Imperfections: A Womanist Anthology of Poems. It seeks to question and disrupt patriarchy and other challenges women face. The poems have been collected into a book which features the work of black women poets from Botswana to Brazil and which will officially be launched in South Africa on October 5 at Exclusive Books in Brooklyn, Pretoria. Wild Imperfections opens with poems honouring different generations of women like Sarah Baartman and Rosa Parks – born at different times, yet all of them are cultural and political mirrors to black girls and women. These poems speak about birth and death, fertility and infertility, rape and genital mutilation, war, exile and forced…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za CHAPTER 9 body, the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE), is seeking contributions to identify key areas of intervention for the achievement of LGBTI+ equality in South Africa. The CGE on Tuesday launched a national campaign calling for public comment and contributions on the state of LGBTI+ equality in South Africa. The Chapter 9 institution said the comments will be used to identify key areas of intervention for the CGE to ensure the achievement of LGBTI+ equality in South Africa. “The CGE is a Chapter 9 institution tasked with ensuring the promotion of respect for gender equality and the protection, development and attainment of gender equality. In line with its powers to monitor, investigate, research, educate, lobby, advise and report on issues concerning gender equality, the CGE launches…

Jada Pinkett Smith and Willow Smith both considered getting their butts surgically enhanced. The mother and daughter have revealed they thought about getting a BBL – which is also known as a Brazilian butt lift – , although neither of them went through with the procedure. In a clip from this week’s Red Table Talk Jada said: “I’m glad we’re here talking about this today, the BBLs, because I was considering getting one.” Willow, 20, then interjected: “Me too! I considered getting the tiniest little bit, but then I just got into the gym and got it anyway.” Jada, 50, who was tackling the subject with Willow and her own mother Adrienne Banfield-Norris, admitted she told Willow to take a more natural route to “build a butt”. She laughed: “I…

Jason Woosey jason.woosey@inl.co.za NISSAN IS taking aim at the Volkswagen Caddy and Peugeot Partner with this new compact van contender. Revealed for the European market on Monday, the Nissan Townstar will replace the NV250 and there is also a fully-electric version to succeed the e-NV200. Like its rivals, the Nissan Townstar will be available in both passenger-carrying station wagon and load-lugging panel van configurations. Built around the Alliance CMF-C platform that also underpins the new Nissan Qashqai, the newcomer boasts up to 3.9m² of cargo space and a payload of 800kg. The panel van is also able to cope with longer loads thanks to a swiveling partition that turns the passenger seat into an extended cargo area. The 60:40 French rear doors with 180-degree opening further enhance practicality. The petrol…

LEWIS HAMILTON retook the lead in the Formula One championship with his 100th win in Russia on Sunday but engine concerns are hanging over the Mercedes driver’s bid for a record eighth title. Team-mate Valtteri Bottas took a hit and started 16th on the grid in Sochi after Mercedes replaced some power unit elements in his car. While the Finn is now using his fifth engine, two more than permitted without penalty, Hamilton is still within his allowance. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said there were “some question marks” and decisions to be made regarding the power units, with customer teams Williams and McLaren also experiencing problems in Sochi. “We are in a phase of assessment how to continue this season in terms of power units,” added the Austrian. Adding…

THE Kaizer Chiefs management has maintained a stony silence while the “should he stay, should he go” storm rages on around coach Stuart Baxter’s continued stay at the club, which have plumbed the depths of desperation for some time now. Chiefs are far and away South Africa’s most popular football club, and their supporters have wasted no time to express their feelings. In the aftermath of the recent 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Premiership upstarts Royal AM, a tidal wave of emotion from the supporters’ base is building to a crescendo. The question on everybody’s lips now is: “Will he stay, or will he go?” And it is only a matter of time before emotions boil over, unless Baxter can change the club’s fortunes in their next outing…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za GERALD Coetzee and Migael Pretorius have been on the national team radar for some time, but it feels like the 2021-22 season could be the summer where they really push their claims for Proteas selection. The two seam bowlers have started the T20 Knock-Out competition in excellent form for the Free State Knights. Both have bowled quickly when they’ve pushed themselves to do so, getting the speed gun to read 140km/h, while their changes of pace have shown skill and street-smarts. Coetzee, who turns 21 at the weekend, was a star schoolboy cricketer out of St Andrews in Bloemfontein. He was one of three South African players named in the team of the tournament following the 2018 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand – the others are…